Children’s Miracle Network Hospital

Children's Miracle Network Hospital Award

Children’s Miracle Network Hospital's goal is to raise funds for children’s hospitals and to keep the funds in the community in which they were raised to help local children. The organization was founded in 1983 by Marie Osmond and her family, John Schneider, Mick Shannon, and Joe Lake. As of 2011, Children's Miracle Network Hospitals has raised more than $4.3 billion—most of which is donated a dollar or two at a time. Its most recognizable symbol and greatest fundraising tool is its red and yellow Miracle Balloon icon.

Sketch for Original Children's Miracle Network Hospital Awards

MK Shannon Awards and Rewards specializes in the creation of awards that are crafted using a company's logo. That is what was done for the Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. The logo provided to us was used all over North America as their symbol. This is the second rendition of the logo over the past several years. This project has been in place since 2007. The old logo is a familiar site in stores all over the nation where individuals donate a dollar or more and place their name on a paper balloon that is displayed on the wall of the store after each donation is made.

Original Version of Award for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals

The more modern version from 2011 represents a more contemporary “balloon”. Once the company provided the new logo, it was just a matter of weeks before the new design was modeled, molded, and cast.

The awards were created to honor various donors each year.

A Special Award for Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) Program

CASA volunteers are ordinary people doing extraordinary work for abused, neglected and abandoned children in Contra Costa County, California.

Appointed by a judge in the dependency courts, a CASA volunteer speaks up for the best interests of a child in court. Many times the CASA volunteer may be the only consistent and caring adult presence in the life of a child in foster care.

This program has used MK Shannon Awards for over a decade. The piece they chose to use is part of a series of small sculptures designed to be placed in the “arms” of a sculpted award figure titled “Appreciation.” This award, to many, looks like a little “Oscar” but it is designed to hold a heart, a star, or a child figure. It can also be customized by having MK Shannon create “your company logo” in metal to be held by the figure.

The CASA program presents one award yearly to recognize a special volunteer.

Annual Award of Excellence for the Catering Industry

Fork and Spoon (18.5" High)

Catering Magazine has used MK Shannon Awards for over a decade. The award they selected was designed for another event company that is no longer using this award. The magazine's management team took advantage of the opportunity to use this award for their most prestigious event of the year.

In designing Fork and Spoon, MK felt a strong desire to create an award that represented food as art itself. She created a contemporary design in the graceful lines of the fork and spoon. The piece is meant to convey the power of wonder and elegance. Food engages so many facets of ourselves and this piece tries to convey that message. It is an annual award of excellence for the Catering Industry.

General Electric Aviation's "Blade" an Extraordinarily Engineered Work of Art!

This custom project involved the reproduction of a portion of a GE engine blade whose unique and innovative design is displayed at the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. There is only one word to describe the elegance of this “blade”, gorgeous! It was a joy for MK Shannon to recreate and experience this exquisite piece of work. It is about two feet tall and very dynamic. A black patina was used to create a contrast that allows the beauty of the blade to exhibit itself sharply.

It took several weeks to complete the model . The base of the award was also designed by GE Aviation and then executed by MK Shannon Awards following specific directions provided by GE. The name plate is imprinted on clear Lucite and raised off the marble base with small aluminum tubing to make it stand out.

As an award for engineers it is pretty extraordinary.

Close up of Clear Lucite Nameplate

MK Shannon Turns 2D Graphic Logo into Elegant 3D Company Award!

Experient "I-Guy" Award

Experient called MK Shannon Awards and Rewards, Inc. asking for a custom designed award using their logo. The award, affectionately referred to as the I-Guy within the company, was designed and approved for production within a few weeks.

MK was able to transpose their 2-dimensional graphic logo into a 3D sculptural figure that appears both energetic and elegant. The award is cast in pewter and plated in sterling silver. The finish is non-tarnishing. Mounted onto a black marble stand, the award is presented each year as the Pinnacle Award and the Envision Award—these are Experient’s highest awards.

Experient, a Maritz travel company, leads the industry as one of the best-known and most respected brands in the meeting planning and event management world.

The Luxury of Time: The Making of Four Customized Awards for Applebee's

We were contacted by an executive assistant of Applebee's Services, Inc. in Kansas City, MO to create four distinct awards for Applebee’s Honors program. After several meetings via email and phone conferences where we discussed the purpose of each award, MK Shannon suggested awards that were available in her present collection that could be customized to fit the needs expressed by Applebee’s.

A model of a stylized apple was created by MK Shannon to replace a globe held by two figures in an existing MK Shannon award. The Applebee’s logo was mounted on the Apple. This customization option vs. designing a commissioned award saved Applebee’s the cost of designing, modeling, and molding a new award. It still provided them with an award that is unique to Applebee’s and is used as their Operator of the Year award. All four of the awards were created by using an existing award and customizing it for Applebee's Honors program. The Heart of Applebee's uses an award which was customized by using a heart shaped piece with Applebee's logo held in the circled arms of a person. The Neighbor of the Year is an award holding a house. And the Franchisee of the Year award uses a globe with Applebee's logo.

Applebee's Operator of the Year Award

“We started in late July and completed the awards in late October, “ says MK. “Because of our early involvement with Applebee's, we had the ideal situation— 3 months to complete a project of this nature. This is as good as it gets to have this kind of client and this kind of relationship. We're establishing a strong precedent for years to come.”

Heart of Applebee's Award

Applebee's Neighbor of the Year Award

Applebee's Franchisee of the Year Award

“One of the most important aspects of this project,” says MK, “is that the client allowed ample time for discussion and development of the awards. We normally require at least two weeks development time and then four additional weeks for casting, finishing, and shipping the awards. Because Applebee’s “planned ahead” there was adequate time for development and all parties were satisfied with the results that ensued.

Once a year Applebee’s honors the following with the presentation of awards nationally and internationally:

Heart of Applebee’s Award
The Heart of Applebee’s award (approximately 15” tall) recognizes the Applebee’s Franchise organization that has shown the greatest commitment to an individual cause or organization.

Neighbor of the Year Award
This award (approximately 15” tall) recognizes the Applebee’s Franchise that has demonstrated the greatest commitment to serving its neighbors and neighborhood through a variety of methods and causes throughout the past year.

Operator of the Year Award
Each year Applebee’s Services, Inc. awards a senior operator within a franchise organization the honor of Operator of the Year. This award is approximately 13” tall.

Franchisee of the Year Award
Each year Applebee’s Services, Inc. awards a franchisee with its highest honor by naming them the Abe Gustin Franchisee of the Year. This honor is awarded to a principal shareholder that has made great contributions to the Applebee’s system. The award is approximately 13” tall.

The relationship developed throughout the creation of the awards and was a very positive experience judging from some of the comments sent to me by Applebee’s:

“I think you’ve gone above and beyond.”

“The awards were stunning and arrived in beautiful shape. Everyone was thrilled with them, especially the recipients. Our international franchisee from Qatar who received two of them (Foodvest Company) barely wanted to let go of them so we could ship them to him.”

The Making of the Waxy Awards for the Hollywood Wax Museum

A little history about the Hollywood Wax Museum:

The Hollywood Wax Museum, located on Hollywood Boulevard along the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, California, is the longest running wax museum in the history of the United States, with more than 48 years of continuous operation by the same owners since 1965.

--HollywoodWaxMuseum.com/

In the fall of 2012, for their new Waxy Awards program, they commissioned MK Shannon to interpret and copy their company's highly-recognized outdoor display sign (shown here).

This design is very complex and required several days work to construct as a model for final approval by the owner (see mockup in black and white). The original artwork had to be redrawn to make it suitable for model making and casting. Aileen Stein, Director of Corporate Communications for Kuvera Partners Inc., was tireless in her efforts to co-ordinate this project quickly and efficiently, assisting MK at every turn and providing excellent support. This project could not have succeeded without her.

Once the designs to be modeled and cast were approved, MK constructed the model, worked with the mold-maker, and oversaw final assembly of the cast parts. Five awards were completed and plated in Sterling Silver for the first Waxy Awards event at the new Hollywood Wax Museum in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee (see photo of final Waxy Award).

Within four weeks and a lot of phone calls, emails, and hard work, the awards were completed and shipped. Aileen's comments say it all: "Approved. It's looking great. Please proceed. Thanks so much for your amazing effort!"

These are the names of the 5 WAXY AWARDS presented on October 24, 2012 and their recipients:

WAXY AWARD—Creativity: Studio Y Creations

WAXY AWARD—Excellence: D and S Builders

WAXY AWARD—Community Service: Boys and Girls Club of the Smoky Mountains

WAXY AWARD—Camaraderie: City of Pigeon Forge Community Development

WAXY AWARD—Founder's Award: Chanchil Sundher