Following the recent acquisition of C-Suite Communications by Jacksonville marketing firm On Ideas, management at the Sarasota company says a wider range of services including animation will now be available to clients. “What it allows us to do is tap into digital creation, in-house video and brand strategy skills that enhance our overall offerings,” says Patricia Courtois, president and CEO of C-Suite.

Courtois will continue to lead the Sarasota office but also now serves as executive vice president and chief client officer for On Ideas. Leadership at the Jacksonville office say the new position plays to Courtois’ strengths and will be useful in dealing with clients already working with On Ideas. “One of the things that has become very clear getting to know Patricia is that she has the inherent and implicit trust of all of her clients,” says West Herford, president and CEO of On Ideas. “She has an ability to not only understand the intricacies of a client’s industry but also the very specific and nuanced needs within an organization.” 

There are currently 11 employees operating out of the Sarasota office, which will continue to operate with the C-Suite brand for the time being. The company in total now employs 35 people in both locales. The Sarasota team will continue to work on specialities such as social media management, while content creation like animation can be handled by the digital creative team in Jacksonville. Herford notes that On Ideas has invested in a 6,000-square-foot video and animation production facility there to deal with increased demand for content, but that the synergy with social media distribution will amplify the value of offerings in both offices. 

Tom Bolling, founder and chief operating officer of On Ideas, has known Courtois for years and says the combination of the companies made sense. “Any business that is dependent upon advertising will look at the senior personnel of the agency they are considering working with,” he says. The combined staffs boosts the reputation of On Ideas substantially. Bolling has worked with companies such as Citibank, IBM and Fisher-Price; he helped with the transition from Marine Midland Bank to HSBC and helped introduce that brant to the United States. Courtois, meanwhile, has experience with brands including Pure Premium Orange Juice, Sunkist and Sweet ’N Low. Herford’s experience includes work for Jack Daniel’s, Budweiser and Carnival Cruise Lines.

C-Suite has also worked with major local entities such as the Sarasota Orchestra and The Mall at University Town Center, along with Benderson Development. As it happens, Bolling worked with Benderson leadership in Buffalo, NY years before the firm moved to Sarasota, so the advertising and marketing executives begin with a certain level of overlap in experience with clients now in the On Ideas portfolio. 

Roger Pettingell has once again broken his real estate sales record and ranked as the No. 1 individual Realtor in Sarasota county, according to the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee. Pettingell has accomplished a No. 1 one ranking seven of the past eight years. A Previews® Property Specialist with Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate's Longboat Key office, Pettingell closed 66 sales transactions in 2016 with a total sales volume of $77.53 million, up from $72 million in 2015. Pettingell is among the first Realtors nationwide to hold a Smart Home certification, the first in Sarasota. 

Coldwell Banker

Music Compound is ringing in the new year and celebrating one year of business. On January 4, 2016, the Music Compound opened its doors to aspiring musicians of all ages in the Sarasota area. Originally located in an 1,800-square foot space, teachers and students continued to join and now the school now occupies a 6,500-square foot space. This new space, which has been in use since the summer, has its very own concert/event venue known as Studio 32. Throughout 2016, Music Compound continuously worked to provide a positive impact on the community. The highest recruitments of students were from Tatum, Pine View and Sarasota Middle Schools. Several events for various nonprofits were hosted by Music Compound and more than $5,000 in gift certificates were donated by Music Compound to students. The Backstage Tour to six local entertainment and arts organizations for 27 high school students was fully funded by Music Compound as well.  

Music Compound

Grapevine Communications, one of the area’s leading full-service advertising, marketing and public relations firm, is celebrating its fifteenth year of business in Sarasota. Accompanying this anniversary milestone, Grapevine earned the Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 2016 Corporate Philanthropy Award for “Nearly Big” companies—the firm’s second recognition for its widespread philanthropic efforts in 2016. 

Grapevine Communications

On February 9 at 5:30pm, SRQ MEDIA will host SRQ SkillSHARE: Mentorship at the Speed of Life powered by the Women in Business Initiative. Made for speed, SkillSHARE is professional mentorship concentrated into mini-sessions that encourage honest interactions and allow for spontaneous connection. Send us your most burning questions about career and personal development. Each participant will be paired with several mentors for 10- to 12-minute sessions curated to address those burning questions. Applications for SkillSHARE are accepted through Friday, January 20, 2017.  

Register for SkillSHARE