This year’s Adrian Awards was everything we expected. We came, we saw, and yes, once again we conquered. But what wasn’t anticipated – at least by everyone else – was the revealing of H|L’s keenly targeted, shiny new blog, TheTravelVan.com.

Using branded business cards, door hangers, elevator videos, and free Internet access to a few select guests at check-in, we busted out the metaphorical sniper rifle at the travel industry’s biggest gathering of the year.

And it was a bull’s-eye. The travel and tourism blog (produced by our very own team of travel and tourism marketing experts) has been well embraced by the industry, and continues to grow.

Proving yet again, you never know what to expect from H|L.

These days, the first thing a potential guest at your hotel sees is not the exquisite foyer. In the luxury hotel game, your website is just as important as the lodgings themselves.

H|L is proud to announce the all-new Moonrise Hotel website, featuring a simplified user interface and more elegant look and feel. Shifting the focus from copy to photography, the Four Diamond Award-winning hotel’s website now reflects its most indisputable characteristic: Beauty.

Check out the before and after shots below.

Each spring hordes of artists, innovators, geeks and other types of humans amass in Austin, Texas for the biggest and best celebration of music, film and interactive in the country. SXSW is a cultural phenomenon, and H|L is sending two of our creatives to sop it all up like gravy.  Follow Shaun (@shaunyoung) and Corey (@coreysmale) as they smash culture and document the whole trip through updates, photos, tweets and more at hlstl.com/sxhl.

True to form, H|L has nabbed even more coveted Adrian Awards for our work with Missouri Division of Tourism and the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission.

Missouri Tourism’s “What’s Not to Like?,” and the CVC’s “The Meeting Guru,” “St. Louis Summer Blockbuster Radio” and “St. Louis Welcomes ASAE” have earned six of the prestigious honors, which celebrate the travel industry’s very best advertising. Not too shabby. Two of the campaigns have won gold. Which means they are in the running to bring home platinum. Which is the best you can get. Really not too shabby. At least until you can win weapons-grade titanium.

More on this after the event in late February.

Mom Bomb 	

Dad Freaks Out 	

Kid Caribbean 	

To some, sending out a holiday card is just a formality. To the St. Louis CVC (and H|L), it’s another opportunity to do something different. Like taking St. Louis-based street artists The Screwedarts Collective, spray-paint, and a camera and creating something memorable. Got your attention? Check it out here.

There are a million and one things to like about our home state. And that’s exactly what we showcased in our latest Facebook campaign for The Missouri Division of Tourism. From having “zero recorded freshwater shark attacks,” to being “the best state between Kansas and Illinois,” the tongue-in-cheek Facebook posters struck a serious chord with users. So much so that the campaign resulted in over a 1,000% increase in likes and a 574% increase in engagement on VisitMO’s page in just over a month. Those are some serious numbers.

So what’s not to like about this campaign? About the same as what’s not to like about MO.

Always wanted to see Venice? Paris? Copenhagen? Well no need to renew your passport, because the STL has got you covered.

Our latest spot for the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, “Jetsetter,” shows those within driving distance just how close to a world-class city they really are. And it does so by driving a 747 right through it.

Simple idea. Big execution. No TSA pat-downs necessary.

And a big shout out to Coolfire Media, who did a killer job of making this idea come to life.

Landing on the moon is hard.  Landing the Moonrise Hotel‘s PR, digital and social media business… that was slightly easier.  Maybe it was the will of the universe.  Maybe it was our star-studded team of creative thinkers.  Or maybe we’re just lucky.  Regardless, all the stars aligned and we couldn’t be more excited to be adding the Moonrise Hotel to our ever-growing list of great clients.

All which was made official when some aliens from space dropped off a case of Moon Pies at our office. Or at least that’s what one eyewitness claims.  Either way, we can’t wait to use our creativity to tell the world about this wonderful local destination.

And we begin in exactly T-minus 5… 4…3…

The band OK Go has a reputation for taking creative risks, stepping away from easily produced methods, with their videos. Their current project is no exception. Not to mention creatively AND technologically cool, if you have Google Chrome installed on your computer. Which could be a problem if you are an OK Go fan, since only a small percentage of the web-surfing population use the Chrome browser, (only 7-12% depending on the site).

So download Chrome and install it, then go to http://www.AllIsNotLo.st to view the video the way it was meant to be seen.**

How does this all tie into advertising / marketing? My thoughts went to Google. They’ve leveraged this project as a viral way to get users to download (and use) Chrome. Will Google Chrome see a boost in long-term users thanks to OK Go’s video? Remains to be seen. However, this is a smart, simple, cost-effective and engaging marketing effort by Google. A company that has enough money they really don’t have to go the viral route, but they did.

I love it when a big company thinks like a small company.

Here is a link to some of OK Go’s other work if you aren’t familiar with their music.

** = The actual site content takes a while to load. But worth the wait.

It’s not often that we report on meetings. But Tuesday’s was full of potential, hope and tons of enthusiasm.

That’s because it was a meeting with twenty-three students from the Youth Learning Center. The YLC “provides unique academic and enrichment experiences for youth from underserved communities to inspire lifelong learning, social responsibility and moral leadership.”

Specifically, these high school freshmen and sophomores are participating in a five-week course on entrepreneurship. As a supplement to their curriculum, they came to learn about what an advertising agency does and to practice their skills as budding entrepreneurs.

But the early indications around the office show that the agency benefitted just as greatly. If not more.

It was a chance to give back. A chance to learn about a great organization. And an overall fantastic meeting.