By:     Jackie Hirschhaut

High Point, NC – Jackie Hirschhaut, vice president of public relations and marketing for the American Home Furnishings Alliance, has received a second 2007 “Golden Thinker” award from the North American Precis Syndicate.

The first award recognized an AHFA press release that received widespread pick-up by American broadcasters. The second award recognizes the print version of the same press release.

The press release that garnered the outstanding media attention in 2006 was AHFA’s Outdoor Furniture Trends Report, distributed in February 2006.

“We know from experience that stories we distribute for our clients generate 100 to 400 (print) placements, with 400 rarely being reached,” states Dorothy York, NAPS president. “However, your release brought in 972 placements, with a full 52 percent of them being from the top 50 markets!”

York previously described results of the broadcast version of the release as “absolutely extraordinary,” with 187 placements. NAPS reported that 63 percent of those placements also were in the nation’s top 50 markets.

NAPS distributes press releases for most Fortune 500 companies, nearly all of the 100 largest national advertisers, all of the nation’s 20 largest PR firms, over 100 associations and many governmental agencies.

NAPS distributed an abbreviated version of AHFA’s 2006 Outdoor Furniture Trends Report to print and broadcast outlets nationwide. AHFA mailed the full report, including more than a dozen photos of new products from AHFA-member companies, to 1,200 of the nation’s largest circulation newspapers and more than 200 magazines. The full press package was titled, “2006 Forecast: Tranquil Skies Over Backyard Retreats.” It focused on outdoor furnishings that help Americans create “a relaxing backyard oasis.”

The full press release resulted in about 500 print articles reaching more than 148.5 million consumer impressions.

A 2007 Outdoor Furniture Trends Report was mailed in February and is currently generating feature coverage across the country. It is just one of many press releases on new home furnishings products and trends that AHFA distributes to print and broadcast media each year. The mailings are part of the organization’s highly successful public relations effort designed to inspire American consumers to take a greater interest in furnishing their homes – thereby dedicating a larger share of their disposable income to the industry’s products. Products featured in the press releases come from AHFA member companies.

The American Home Furnishings Alliance –located in High Point, N.C. and Washington, D.C. – is the largest association of home furnishings companies in the world and represents more than 250 leading furniture manufacturers and distributors, as well as 225 suppliers to the furniture industry worldwide.