Greetings,

2008 has been a transformative year for SimpsonScarborough and I thank you sincerely for joining us on our journey.  

We began the year with an emotional goodbye to our founding partner and friend, Christopher Simpson. His greatest gift, among many, to the SimpsonScarborough family was the framework and vision for our company, but we will always remember how his eyes twinkled when he was pulling your leg, and his unparalleled ability to stretch a simple conversation into numerous email strings.

We were not alone in our belief that Christopher was a pioneer in the field of marketing and communications as evidenced by his book, Weathering the Storm, which earned the 2008 Council for Advancement and Support of Education's (CASE) Summit for Advancement Leaders Award and the 2008 CASE Alice L. Beeman Research Award, as well as the creation of the Christopher Simpson Communication Achievement Award by the College Communicators Association of Virginia and the District of Columbia (CCA).

As Christopher would want, SimpsonScarborough moved forward at lightening speed and grew stronger this year.   

2008 celebrations included:

• Partnering with a record number of new colleges and universities, renewed institutions and crisis clients (38 total), and growing our business 30% from 2007
• Experiencing, in one year, both the Spartan and Wolverine love, becoming Ambrosians, supporting the Rose Monsters and the Blue Hens off the field, and crossing the pond to work with Cambridge University
• Chairing my penultimate AMA Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education and reaching a record number of attendees
• Seeing two books published by Vice President Tom Hayes and one by Senior Consultant Strategist Jerry Israel
• Presenting to and/or working with higher education associations including ACE, CASE, AASCU, NAGAP, NAPAHE, NASPA, CIC, AGB, AIMHO, GMAC, NASPA, ICHEM, CCAS, CCA; and Academic Impressions and AMA
• Adding new staff members Patt Nitikarn and Renee Kart, and recruiting Senior Consultant Dana Edwards
• Promoting Vice President Teresa Valerio Parrot, Project Director Meredith Simpson, and Project Manager Emily LaRue
• Serving as an approved Crisis PR firm for United Educators
• CASE presenting partner Tom Hayes with a crystal apple for the excellence of his presentations at CASE conferences across the world
• Moving, under the direction of Director of Business Operations Maura Porcelli, to our new home in DuPont Circle: 2122 P Street NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC  20037 (update your files!)
• Hosting the first ever SimpsonScarborough Wii Olympics

With your support, 2009 will be a banner year for SimpsonScarborough. We are pleased to have Jeff Papa, Ph.D., joining us in January as President, and I will fill the large shoes left by Christopher as the firm's CEO. Our success would not be possible without your support of SimpsonScarborough during such an amazing year. We will continue to provide colleges and universities with brand strategies that endure, media and crisis communications that advance institutions, and sound market research that serves as the framework for all marketing initiatives.

Happy holidays to you and those you hold nearest to your heart.

Sincerely,

Elizabeth Scarborough
President and Partner, SimpsonScarborough