Cooksey Communications

March 2003 was significant for Cooksey as we won a Silver Spur Award from the Texas Public Relations Association (TPRA). TPRA's highest recognition for superior public relations achievement, The Silver Spur Award recognized our crisis communications efforts on behalf of The Fairmont Dallas during the 2002 annual meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Hundreds of credentialed, international media organizations covered the event at The Fairmont Dallas amidst a global scandal involving the church. #30thAnniversaryCelebration #Celebrating30Years

In January of 2003, the Dallas office of the international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP (Weil), engaged Cooksey for PR, marketing and community involvement services and is currently Cooksey’s longest-tenured client as of 2024. Other large agency clients at the time included JPMorgan Chase, Devon Energy, McQueary Henry Bowles Troy LLP and The Fairmont Dallas. #30thAnniversaryCelebration #Celebrating30Years

For the first of many to come, Cooksey achieved a top-20 ranking in the 2001 Dallas Business Journal’s list of Largest DFW Public Relations Firms. Cooksey would then continue to build itself as a mainstay of DFW communications and public relations, consistently joining the top-20 rankings of the DBJ's Largest DFW Public Relations Firms, coming in at number 11 in 2024. #30thAnniversaryCelebration #Celebrating30Years

Our work with nonprofits has always played a major role in our 30-year history and in the fall of 2000, we began providing public relations counsel and managing communications for the Dallas nonprofit Vogel Alcove’s major annual fundraiser, the Arts Performance Event. The one-night extravaganza featured top Broadway performers and recording artists such as Heather Hedley, Johnny Mathis, Lyle Lovett, Audra McDonald, Liza Minnelli, Michael Bolton, Kenny Loggins, Gladys Knight, Vince Gill, Terry Fator and Lily Tomlin, which at the time, helped raise 50 percent of the organization’s operating budget. In each of the years Cooksey helped promote the event, the show earned more than in the preceding year, resulting in a variety of radio, television and newspaper coverage as well as a strong, long-standing client relationship that exists to this day. Cooksey's President, Jason Meyer, is a member of Vogel's board of directors. #30thAnniversaryCelebration #Celebrating30Years

Right before the turn of the century, in December 1999, the agency became Cooksey Communications and relocated its offices from 703 McKinney Avenue (The Brewery Building) in Dallas to 5525 N. MacArthur Blvd. (MacArthur Plaza) in Irving, Texas, where it remains to this date. From its new office, Cooksey would be (and has been) able to better serve clients across the entire North Texas region and the state of Texas. #30thAnniversaryCelebration #Celebrating30Years

Current Chairman and CEO Colby Walton joined the company in April 1998 after serving as a business development coordinator for law firm Haynes and Boone (then a Cooksey client). Colby starts out answering phones, faxing(!) press releases and learning the ropes of being on the agency side of the business. Gail and Colby's working relationship would continue for years, leading to Gail passing the baton over to Colby and furthering Cooksey Communications into the company we know today! #30thAnniversaryCelebration #Celebrating30Years

Last week, we had the pleasure of coordinating an interview with NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth for our client, The Gatehouse at Grapevine. We love opportunities to highlight not only our clients but the great work they do for the community. To watch the full story highlighting one of the first graduates of The Gatehouse’s Education Track, click here: https://lnkd.in/gJTiiHyU 

Today, we celebrate Juneteenth and the end of slavery in our country nearly 160 years ago. Last week, our Real Estate and Development Practice Group team members, Mary Kate Jeffries and Owen Ramsey, worked alongside one of our clients, HistoryMaker Homes, and Texas Capital and Trinity Habitat for Humanity to welcome Dr. Opal Lee, known as the "Grandmother of Juneteenth" for her 1,400-mile walk from Fort Worth to the White House to make Juneteenth a national holiday, to her new home. The new home was built on the same lot that Dr. Lee and her family used to live on before they were violently forced out by a racist mob on this day 85 years ago. Our team was honored to be a part of such an amazing project for one of our nation's most inspiring and important civil rights activists, Dr. Opal Lee.

Last week was an exciting one for Team Cooksey! On Tuesday, our client, the Greater Irving - Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, had the honor of hosting actor and director Kevin Costner. The City of Irving presented him with a key to the city during his visit for his new film, Horizon: An American Saga. Then on Friday, we had the privilege of joining our client, HistoryMaker Homes, in welcoming Dr. Opal Lee, the “Grandmother of Juneteenth,” to her new home, built on the same land where her family home was tragically destroyed by a racist mob in 1939.

Cooksey is proud to celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers (TAMIO) as the TAMI Awards Banquet Sponsor. We’re excited to see all the great work recognized next week at the 2024 TAMIO annual conference! It’s not too late to make plans to join. Conference registration is still open: https://lnkd.in/gB_52VPb