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“Let’s Be Blunt” named a finalist in PR Daily’s Nonprofit Communications Awards; winners to be revealed at The Yale Club in New York City on Sept. 30 “Let’s Be Blunt,” a campaign created by UpHouse for UFCW Local 832 to bring attention to the safety issues facing cannabis retail workers in Manitoba, has been named a finalist in the Advocacy or Awareness Campaign category of PR Daily’s 2026 Nonprofit Communications Awards. Winners will be revealed at the Nonprofit Communications Awards Luncheon on September 30, 2026, at The Yale Club in New York City.
The recognition follows a national win for the campaign, which was named Best Provincial or National Campaign at the 2026 CALM Awards, presented by the Canadian Association of Labour Media.
PR Daily, published by Ragan Communications, is one of the most respected authorities in public relations and communications, reaching more than 600,000 communicators and marketers each month. Its Nonprofit Communications Awards recognize the campaigns and teams behind the year’s most effective mission-driven work, judged on strategy, creativity, and measurable results.
“This recognition reflects something we believe at our core: the most important stories are often the hardest to tell, and the right communications can move people to act. We’re proud of this work, and prouder still to share the honour with UFCW Local 832 and the workers whose experiences made it matter,” shared Kiirsten May, Co-founder, UpHouse.
“Let’s Be Blunt” set out to surface a problem that legalization left unaddressed. Unlike government-regulated industries such as liquor sales, cannabis retail launched without safety protocols to protect the people working the floor. Rooted in the lived experiences of workers who had been robbed, harassed, or worse, the campaign borrowed the visual language of the industry itself, spoofing cannabis product-label warnings under the message “Cannabis Workers Deserve Better,” and invited current and former workers to share how safe, or unsafe, they felt at work.
The results made the issue impossible to ignore. The campaign drove 3.33 million paid impressions and 879,000 video views, and earned 1.4 million additional impressions through news coverage picked up by CTV Morning Live, CTV News, and the Winnipeg Free Press. Nearly 100 workers shared their stories through the campaign survey, which revealed that just 8% of Manitoba cannabis workers feel safe at work all of the time. Those findings allowed UFCW Local 832 to bring a five-point list of requested actions to government, and conversations with provincial legislators about cannabis worker safety are ongoing.
“The workers we heard from had been robbed, harassed, or otherwise felt unsafe on the job, and they needed their voices to be heard. UFCW (Local 832) recognized the need to lead with their experience and address safety concerns in meaningful ways. Seeing that work recognized, and seeing it move real conversations with government, is everything we hoped for,” shared Brenlee Coates, VP Creative at UpHouse.
“Since our media push, there has been ongoing conversations with the provincial government and legislator about specific workers and experiences that we heard about through this campaign and the Union is committed to continuing to push for legislated improvements for workers in this sector,”said Crystal Klippenstein, Communications Coordinator, UFCW Local 832.
The finalist selection places “Let’s Be Blunt” among the year’s strongest mission-driven campaigns, chosen from a competitive international field spanning nearly 30 categories. It was recognized alongside campaigns from organizations like AARP, PBS, and Penn State. But its real measure of success has been on the ground: the campaign helped bring cannabis worker safety onto the agenda of Manitoba’s provincial government, where conversations about legislated protections are ongoing.

About UpHouse: UpHouse is an award-winning marketing, public relations, and talent agency that partners with in-house teams to elevate brands and deliver measurable impact. A Certified B Corporation and a certified diverse supplier through Canadian Queer Chamber of Commerce, UpHouse works with organizations to develop their brands, campaigns and stories and elevate messages that need to be heard. The agency works to make communications authentic, accessible, and represent the diversity of the world around us.

Travel Manitoba has won another award for its brand refresh that launched almost two years ago. Canada’s Heart is Calling received a bronze Effie Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements in marketing effectiveness in Canada. Other bronze-level honorees include McDonald’s Canada, CIBC and Volkswagen Canada. The Travel Manitoba campaign was the only travel and tourism work to make it to the finals in this year’s Effie Awards.

Colin Ferguson, President and CEO of Travel Manitoba, said:

We’re incredibly proud that Manitoba is getting the recognition it deserves. Our province has undeniable beauty and personality, and this brand refresh really showcases it. We have always known how special Manitoba is, and we’re thrilled that the rest of the world is seeing it now too.

�ճ����Canada’s Heart is Calling campaign captures the emotions one feels when exploring Manitoba, whether it’s viewing the northern lights dancing in the sky, participating in an authentic Indigenous experience or visiting a world-class museum. In collaboration with local artists and retailers, Travel Manitoba and its marketing and public relations agency UpHouse created impactful videos, user-generated social media ads and eye-catching merchandise to launch the refreshed brand.

Kiirsten May, co-owner of UpHouse said:

Travelling isn’t about simply going to a destination — it’s about learning, adventuring or unwinding. We wanted to tap into that emotional impact people experience when they travel. We’re honoured to be part of such a big campaign that showcases our home province. Being a Manitoba-made company makes it all the more special, and we’re looking forward to seeing the tourism sector continue to flourish in the heart of Canada.

In the year following the launch of the new brand, tourism spending hit $1.82 billion, surpassing pre-pandemic spending levels and positioning Travel Manitoba to achieve its target of $2.5 billion in visitor spending by 2030. In addition to the Effie Award, the Canada’s Heart is Calling campaign has won several other awards, including an Hermes Creative Award 2023 and a NYX Award. Last year the campaign was also a finalist at the World Media Awards, where it was up against travel and tourism campaigns from London, Wales and Abu Dhabi. The new This is Tourism campaign — which piggybacks off the Canada’s Heart is Calling campaign to inspire locals to see how tourism improves our quality of life — recently won gold at the Travel Weekly Magellan Awards.

Ferguson added:

We hope Manitobans take a moment to celebrate how loved and recognized our province is and feel proud to boast about all Manitoba has to offer.

About UpHouse

UpHouse Inc. is an award-winning, diverse owned marketing and public relations agency. It is a certified diverse supplier through Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce and is B-Corp Certified. With the mandate to inspire social consciousness of brands, UpHouse works with organizations to develop their brands, campaigns and stories and elevate messages that needs to be heard. The agency works to make communications authentic, accessible and diverse.

Survivor’s Hope Crisis Centre and marketing and public relations agency UpHouse won three awards for a campaign developed to increase awareness about sexual assault resources in Manitoba’s Interlake-Eastern Region. ‘Let’s Talk About SARAH’ received the Silver Shorty Impact Award in Public Service Announcement, the Silver Anthem Award in Local Awareness and the Bronze Anthem Award in Grassroots Efforts.

�ճ����Anthem Awards�����Ի���Shorty Impact Awards are both international, mission-driven competitions focused on work that cultivates positive change. This year, the Anthem Awards had more than 2,300 submissions across 34 countries, including submissions from organizations such as T-Mobile, The Museum of Modern Art and MTV Entertainment Studios.

Coral Kendel, Executive Director at Survivor’s Hope Crisis Centre said:

We came to UpHouse after struggling to reach survivors in the communities we serve. There’s a general lack of education around sexual assault resources in rural areas, and because these communities are so tight-knit, survivors would often stay silent instead of reaching out for help. This campaign created by UpHouse was an incredible collaboration that was meaningful to so many. We really believe it made an impact in reducing the stigma experienced by sexual violence survivors.

Leveraging the close-knit connections of rural communities, the three-phase campaign focused on increasing awareness and education around sexual assault, as well as providing information about how to become an ally to survivors. Referencing Survivor’s Hope’s Sexual Assault Recovery and Healing (SARAH) program, the campaign incorporated blunt and unbranded taglines like “Did you hear about SARAH?” and “Let’s talk about SARAH” to draw viewers in.

The creative was plastered across small towns in the form of posters, magnets, bus shelter ads and newspaper ads. Over the campaign period, there were over 900 interactions with the Survivor’s Hope website, and the non-profit saw a 200 per cent increase in files opened compared to last year.

About two weeks after the campaign ended, the federal government cut funding for the program, putting it at risk of shutting down. ‘Let’s Talk About SARAH’ created strong community awareness and media relationships, leading to $30,000 in crowdfunding before the government restored funding in another three-year contract.

Kathleen Phillips, UpHouse’s creative manager on the project added:

We strongly believe as communicators that we have a unique opportunity to put messages out into the world that need to be heard. This is why we do what we do. It’s incredibly fulfilling to see marketing and public relations create real change in a community.

About UpHouse

UpHouse Inc. is an award-winning, diverse owned marketing and public relations agency. It is a certified diverse supplier through Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ Chamber of Commerce and is B-Corp Certified. With the mandate to inspire social consciousness of brands, UpHouse works with organizations to develop their brands, campaigns and stories and elevate messages that needs to be heard. The agency works to make communications authentic, accessible and diverse.

UpHouse co-founder Alex Varricchio has won the Entrepreneur of the Year award at both the 4th annual Canadian Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CGLCC) Black & White Gala, held in Toronto on November 8, 2019, and the Annual Chamber Awards, held in Winnipeg on November 21, 2019, by the Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce.

The awards are presented to an LGBT+ entrepreneur who displays outstanding leadership and innovation, a commitment to LGBT+ community advocacy and exceptional social, cultural and environmental consciousness.

Varricchio launched UpHouse, a brand and marketing agency, with business partner Kiirsten May in 2017, assembling a predominantly female and queer team with seven full-time members and a network of 20+ creative partners.

Their business model is “half agency, half in-house,” as they recognized a trend in businesses reducing their agency spend and instead building in-house creative teams. UpHouse’s collaborative approach to working with businesses helps to fill in the gaps instead of replacing in-house talent or duplicating efforts.

To date, UpHouse has surpassed projected growth targets and secured major clients across Canada. They continue to foster a collaborative and inclusive company culture with a we-won’t-say-no approach to community and not-for-profit work.

Varricchio and the UpHouse team have provided more than a quarter-million dollars of in-kind and pro bono marketing support to not-for-profit organizations like Pride Toronto, Reel Pride Film Festival, Cerebral Palsy Association of Manitoba, United Way, Sexuality Education Resource Centre, imagineNATIVE, Society for Manitobans With Disabilities and Main Street Project. Their work has earned awards at the national and international levels.

Together, Varricchio and May have developed a crowdsourcing brainstorming tool, Crainstorm, championing great ideas through diverse viewpoints and collaboration. They recently published a book, The Proximity Paradox, to be released internationally in March 2020.

About The CLGCC

The CLGCC helps LGBTTQ* entrepreneurs thrive by improving accessibility and building relationships between LGBTTQ* businesses and the corporate world. Their Black & White Gala celebrates remarkable leaders in all industry sectors who cultivate diversity and inclusion in their business and entrepreneurship.

About the Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce

The Manitoba LGBT* Chamber of Commerce recognizes individuals and organizations that are making a positive impact on Manitoba’s LGBT* and business communities.

About UpHouse

UpHouse is a brand and marketing agency. The company works collaboratively with clients to invigorate their brand position, create achievable marketing plans and cultivate the skills of their creative people.

Why Understanding, Purpose and Pathways Matter 
Originally published in AESP’s Energy Intel (1st Quarter , 2026) – https://energyintel.aesp.org/2026-Q1-Upskilling/page/6 

The workforce paradox 
Across North America, energy efficiency and electrification programs are scaling rapidly with increased funding and new training initiatives launching. Utilities, state agencies and implementation partners are investing heavily in the workforce required to deliver retrofits, install heat pumps, conduct audits and support customers through complex energy transitions. However, many organizations continue to struggle to fill roles.
Training cohorts go under-enrolled. Job postings sit open. Contractors report difficulty finding qualified staff. Workforce development grants are secured, but interest lags. In the United States alone, nearly 2.4 million people work in energy efficiency, and the sector continues to add tens of thousands of jobs annually. Even so, employers consistently report hiring challenges.
The most common explanation is a skills gap or a tight labor market. Those pressures are real but they are not the whole story. In many cases, recruitment efforts are running into a simpler barrier: people do not understand what the work is.
You cannot recruit people into weatherization careers if you cannot explain the work without relying on the word “weatherization.” You cannot attract someone to a role they cannot picture or connect to their own experience. When industry terms like energy efficiency, retrofit, demand response or weatherization feel abstract or unfamiliar, recruitment begins at a disadvantage.
Workforce development efforts often assume a baseline understanding that does not exist outside the sector. Training is promoted before the work is clearly described. Incentives are highlighted before the purpose of the role is articulated. Career pathways are listed in technical terms before they are made relatable. As a result, recruitment begins too late.
Before someone evaluates pay, schedule or certification requirements, you need to answer a more fundamental question: What is this work, and why does it matter?
The energy sector has designed strong programs and credible training pipelines. But building the workforce needed to deliver them demands shared understanding.
You can’t recruit what people can’t picture
Workforce conversations often focus on supply: how many people are entering training, how many certifications are issued, how many contractors are hiring. These are important metrics. But they come after a more basic condition is met: someone must first be able to imagine themselves doing the work. For many prospective workers, energy roles are invisible. “Weatherization” does not immediately register as a concrete set of tasks. “Energy efficiency” can sound like policy rather than practice.
Even “grid modernization” feels distant from daily life. Without a clear mental model of the work, recruitment messaging struggles to land.
Other industries routinely translate function into lived experience. Healthcare roles are explained through patient care. Skilled trades are framed around building and maintaining visible systems. Technology bootcamps describe what a day in the life of a developer looks like.
Energy workforce efforts sometimes skip this step. Job postings list requirements before describing the day-to-day reality of the role. Outreach materials emphasize funding or bonuses before explaining what someone will actually do.
In a market where clean energy jobs are growing faster than overall employment, that lack of clarity becomes a hidden constraint.
People gravitate toward careers they can visualize. They pursue roles that feel adjacent to their experience rather than undefined. A construction worker understands a job site. An HVAC technician understands mechanical systems. A retail employee understands customer interaction. Recruitment strengthens when energy roles are mapped onto these familiar frames.
Instead of beginning with certifications and incentives, recruitment can begin with translation:

• What does a day in this role look like?
• Who does it help?
• What skills transfer naturally?
• What does progress over time look like?
• Two-phase recruitment messaging

One practical way to reduce confusion and increase applications is to treat recruitment as two distinct phases, each with its own communication job.
PHASE 1: AWARENESS 
(make the work legible)
Early outreach does not need technical definitions, it needs a clear picture of the work, the effort, the fit and the community benefit. The goal is not to explain everything; it is to help someone quickly answer: Is this something I could do?
PHASE 2: DECISION 
(provide the explanation)
Once interest is real, people need a deeper explainer to support commitment. This is where industry and role-specific overviews become valuable: what the work involves, what training looks like, what tools are used, what the day-to-day is like and what happens after completion.
Why these roles exist, and why that matters
Even when the work is clear, another question often lingers: Why are these roles being offered at all?
When training is subsidized or workforce programs are promoted aggressively, prospective workers may wonder what is driving the urgency. Is this temporary funding, a short-term policy push, a niche technical job or a durable career path? Just as customers question the motive behind incentives, potential workers question the motive behind opportunity.
However, recruitment messaging often emphasizes openings and training access without explaining why demand exists. Brochures and websites highlight “high-growth sector” and “funded training,” but do not answer the deeper question: Why is this work important now, and why will it remain important?
Workers are more likely to commit to a path when they understand how their role contributes to something enduring. Explaining that weatherization reduces household energy burden and strengthens grid resilience situates the work within a larger system.
This is especially important for career changers. Someone moving from retail or hospitality, for example, is not simply evaluating wages. They are evaluating direction and want to know whether the field offers durability and whether their effort will contribute to something tangible.
When people understand why these roles exist, and how they support households, communities and long-term system stability, they are more likely to view them as professions rather than temporary jobs.
Making pathways concrete 
Even when people understand the work and its purpose, another barrier remains: they often do not know how to get there. Energy careers are often presented as structured roles like: energy auditor, retrofit installer, field technician or program coordinator. What is less visible is the bridge from someone’s current role to that destination.
Most recruitment materials assume linear progression: complete training, gain certification, secure employment. For many prospective workers, especially those coming from other industries, the path feels uncertain. They may not know which of their existing skills apply, how much retraining is required or whether the transition is realistic.
Research on clean energy and efficiency careers consistently finds that structured pathways, including apprenticeships and clear transitions from construction and trades, support both recruitment and retention.
Making pathways concrete means mapping common transitions clearly: 

• A construction worker may already have the hands-on experience needed for retrofit installation.
• An HVAC technician may be well-positioned for heat pump installation as systems become more integrated and digital.
• Someone with retail or hospitality experience may have good customer-facing skills that translate into outreach or intake coordination roles.
• An electrician may be a natural fit for distributed energy resource installation.

Other industries often do this. Healthcare workforce campaigns map entry-level roles to credentialed positions over time. Technology programs emphasize transferable skills rather than prior degrees. Skilled trades initiatives highlight apprenticeships as structured bridges rather than isolated training events.
Energy workforce development can apply the same logic. Instead of presenting roles as entirely new categories, recruitment efforts can frame them as adjacent evolutions of existing work. The central question shifts from “Do you qualify?” to “Here’s how your experience fits.”
Pathways do not need to be complex to be effective. A simple visual that shows common transitions can clarify opportunity more effectively than a list of requirements.
Values, identity and the meaning of work 
Compensation and certifications matter, however career decisions are rarely driven by logistics alone. People choose and stay in work that aligns with how they see themselves.
Energy workforce messaging often emphasizes demand: high-growth sector, in-demand skills, funded training. These are rational appeals but they do not always speak to identity.
Many energy roles align strongly with values that workers already hold: 

• Autonomy and independence
• Hands-on problem solving
• Visible contribution
• Community connection
• Practical impact

Field roles involve independent decision-making. For example, retrofit and installation work produces tangible results, and much of the work happens in local homes and businesses. Workers can then point to tangible improvements that are a direct result of the work they have done, which is a powerful motivator. When recruitment messaging focuses on program structure or compliance, these motivators remain hidden.
Values alignment matters particularly for younger workers and career changers seeking direction as much as income. Surveys across clean energy employers highlight mission and impact as recruitment drivers, yet also note that candidates do not always see how specific roles connect to climate and community outcomes.
When identity and purpose are explicit, recruitment shifts from “Here is an opening” to “Here is work that fits who you are.”
Meeting communities where they are 
Workforce recruitment challenges do not affect all communities equally. In many regions, the people most likely to benefit from energy workforce opportunities are also those least likely to encounter clear, credible information about them.
Engaging underserved communities requires more than translating materials or expanding job postings. It requires understanding how work is perceived locally and how institutional messaging is received.
In some communities, government-funded programs carry skepticism rooted in past experience. In others, the phrase “free training” prompts questions about stability. If recruitment materials assume institutional familiarity or rely on technical language, they widen that distance.
Meeting communities where they are begins with listening: 

• What words do people use to describe their work?
• Which industries are locally familiar?
• What economic pressures shape career decisions?
• Which messengers are trusted?

In regions with strong trade traditions, energy roles can be framed as an extension of that legacy. In communities dominated by service-sector employment, outreach and coordination roles may resonate when described through customer-facing skills rather than credentials. In areas facing high energy burden, workforce opportunities can be positioned as both economic and community contributions.
Trusted messengers matter. Contractors, community organizations and local leaders often carry more credibility than institutions. Workforce research consistently emphasizes the importance of employer-driven training and community partnerships in translating opportunity into participation. The goal is to make these careers understandable in a local context.
Empowerment beyond hiring 
Workforce development is often measured in enrollments and certifications. Those metrics matter but a workforce must also be sustained. Workers who understand why their roles exist can explain them confidently to others. They become credible messengers and connect daily tasks to broader system goals. This strengthens both retention and performance.
Empowerment is alignment and building the energy workforce before recruitment begins means investing in understanding, purpose and pathways early. It means ensuring job descriptions are clear, training is contextualized and transitions are visible.
The central idea is straightforward: people enter and stay in careers they understand. When energy work is explained with clarity, connected to shared purpose and mapped through realistic pathways, recruitment becomes invitation. When that invitation is grounded in understanding, workforce growth becomes more durable, and more equitable.
Building the workforce before recruitment: A practical framework
Building the energy workforce does not begin with a job posting. It begins with alignment. Organizations can apply a simple four-part approach. Together, these steps shift workforce development from reactive hiring to proactive alignment.
Establish shared understanding: Test baseline awareness. Can prospective workers describe the role in plain language? If not, clarify before promoting. Lead with legibility first, then use deeper explainers to support decision-stage applicants.
Clarify purpose: Explain why the role exists now and why it will persist. Connect tasks to system, community and household impact.
Make pathways concrete: Map common transitions from adjacent industries. Highlight transferable skills and visible progression.
Align values and context: Reflect autonomy, contribution and community impact in role descriptions. Tailor language to local realities and trusted voices.
About the author 
Alex Varricchio is the co-founder of UpHouse Inc., an international, award-winning marketing and creative agency that helps organizations communicate with clarity and purpose. Since launching the agency in 2017, he has led its steady growth into a certified B Corporation and diverse-owned business recognized for its work in community impact, energy efficiency, and public-sector communications.
Alex is also the founder of AIEO, an AI Engine Optimization agency that helps organizations stay visible and cited in AI search tools like ChatGPT, Google SGE, and Perplexity, bridging the gap between traditional SEO and the new world of generative search. He is the co-author of The Proximity Paradox, a finalist for EY’s Entrepreneur of the Year, and a recipient of CGLCC’s National Young Entrepreneur of the Year award.

Travel Manitoba’s brand refresh getting noticed by multiple international awards competitions. 

As Travel Manitoba approaches the first anniversary of its new brand, the verdicts are coming in from around the globe: the campaign is a hit. Manitoba was recognized on a global stage when the Travel Manitoba brand refresh campaign Canada’s Heart Is Calling received a finalist nomination at the World Media Awards.

The World Media Awards recognize international brands, agencies and media partners who create the most effective, content-driven advertising campaigns in various sectors. This year’s nominees included notable names such as adidas, Volkswagen and Visa. In the Travel & Tourism category, Manitoba was up against campaigns from London,��Wales and Abu Dhabi. The awards show in London is represented by major media outlets including The New York Times,��Forbes�����Ի���The Washington Post, and the panel of judges consisted of 37 marketing,��advertising and business professionals from around the world.

Alex Varricchio, Co-Owner of UpHouse, the marketing and PR agency who worked with Travel Manitoba on the brand refresh, said:

I can’t describe what an honour it is to be considered for such an amazing award. It’s really special to see our medium-sized, Manitoba-made agency up against some of the largest brands in the world. I couldn’t be prouder of our team and the work we put forward in partnership with Travel Manitoba to represent our home province.

Travel Manitoba’s marketing has won many other awards, including an Hermes Creative Award 2023�����Ի���a NYX Award.

�ճ����Canada’s Heart is Calling campaign captures the emotions one feels when exploring Manitoba, whether that includes viewing the northern lights dancing in the sky,��participating in an authentic Indigenous experience or visiting a world-class museum. In collaboration with local artists and retailers, Travel Manitoba and UpHouse created impactful videos, user-generated social media ads and eye-catching merchandise to launch the refreshed brand at a media event in January 2023.

Colin Ferguson, President and CEO of Travel Manitoba, stated:

It’s no easy task to stand out in an incredibly competitive tourism market, so being finalists and winners at these competitions shows how big of an impact Manitoba has on a global scale. We’re thrilled that international marketing experts recognize how we are effectively showcasing our beautiful province.

�ճ����digital campaign generated 26.8 million impressions, 40,000 digital ad clicks, 1.8 million video views and 512,000 visits to travelmanitoba.com. The launch event generated 240+ media clippings with a reach of 140+ million total potential audiences from online, print,��radio and TV.

Cody Chomiak, Travel Manitoba’s Vice President of Marketing, added:

We’ve loved seeing the response to the campaign from Manitobans, Canadians and beyond. We’re very proud of all the work UpHouse and Travel Manitoba have done to put this province on the map, and we can see how much it’s excited travellers. We’re looking forward to creating more campaigns that embody the beauty of Manitoba.

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UpHouse Inc. is an award-winning, diverse owned marketing and public relations agency. It is a certified diverse supplier through Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce and is B-Corp Certified. With the mandate to inspire social consciousness of brands,��UpHouse works with organizations to develop their brands, campaigns and stories and elevate messages that needs to be heard. The agency works to make communications authentic,��accessible and diverse.

About Travel Manitoba

Travel Manitoba is a Crown Corporation under provincial legislation that leads and stimulates sustainable tourism growth in Manitoba’s $1.8 billion tourism industry. In partnership with the tourism industry, the agency is responsible for tourism marketing, visitor information services,��research and public information.

Winnipeg marketing and public relations agency UpHouse announced today that it has won Assiniboine Credit Union (ACU), a fellow B Corp, as a client.

Kim Champion Taylor, Chief People and ������ýŮ�� Officer, said:

We were very impressed by the creativity the UpHouse team showed during our review. It captured the spirit of the company and how well they already align with our brand. We can’t wait to see what we create together as we continue to build ACU into one of Canada’s leading and most purpose-driven financial institutions.

ACU is a financial co-operative that offers a full suite of personal and commercial banking products and services. The company has over $6 billion in assets and 140,000 members with locations in Winnipeg, Gillam and Thompson. ACU became Manitoba’s only B Corp-certified credit union in 2020 and the province’s first carbon-neutral credit union in 2019.

Last year, UpHouse also became a B Corp after years of prioritizing diversity, equity and inclusion in its business ventures and marketing campaigns. This model has led the agency to producing award-winning campaigns such as Consent at Work,��Locked out of Life�����Ի���Huddle. UpHouse Co-Owner Alex Varricchio said he’s excited about how well the two organizations’ values are aligned.

Varricchio continued:

We always strive to work with organizations whose values match our own. We knew right away that ACU would fit that bill, so it’s fair to say that we really wanted this one and I think our proposal and enthusiasm showed that. We feel grateful ACU decided to trust us with their brand. This is an exciting moment for UpHouse, and we’re looking forward to working with such a great Manitoba institution.

About ACU
ACU is a financial co-operative with over $6 billion in assets. It offers a full suite of personal and commercial banking products and services, and a team of financial and wealth advisors to help its members succeed. It has seventeen branch locations in Winnipeg, two northern branches in Thompson and Gillam, and it’s owned collectively by 140,000 Manitobans who use its services today.

About UpHouse

UpHouse Inc. Is an award-winning, diverse owned marketing and public relations agency. It is a certified diverse supplier through Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce and is B-Corp Certified. With the mandate to inspire social consciousness of brands, UpHouse works with organizations to develop their brands and marketing and elevate messages that needs to be heard. We work to make communications authentic, accessible and diverse.

Marketing and public relations agency UpHouse continues its reputation for creating award-winning, purpose-driven work with two Anthem Awards wins. The agency’s marketing campaigns “Let’s Grow to Work” and “Barrier Town” were Bronze Anthem Winners in the Hiring Initiative and Local Community Engagement categories, respectively.

This year’s Anthem Award Winners were selected from a pool of over 2,000 submissions from 44 countries by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Anthem judges are intellectually diverse leaders from across the impact industry with expertise that spans across the Anthem cause areas.

Brenlee Coates, creative director for both campaigns, said:

It’s an incredible honour to be named winners at the Anthem Awards. We appreciate being recognized for the work we do at UpHouse—but having real impact with these campaigns and getting to work with the kinds of clients we do is our true motivation. Wins like these show the power of inclusive, diverse and equitable marketing, and we’re excited to attract more projects like these in the future.

“Let’s Grow to Work” for Direct Support Profession Manitoba was created to increase recruitment of support workers for people with disabilities. Direct support professionals (DSPs) support people with disabilities to live the lives they want — in work,��at home and in the community. The campaign message emphasized the relationship between DSPs and the person they support, showing them growing together and the positive impact being a DSP has in someone’s life. The results included over 10,000 visits to Direct Support Profession Manitoba’s website during the campaign period.

“Barrier Town” for Abilities Manitoba used satirical humour to display the challenges people with disabilities face when interacting with businesses. Working with folks with lived experiences, Coates and the UpHouse creative team built a set with three scenarios that illustrated some of the common barriers people with disabilities face. This showed some of the ways organizations put up barriers in their business—making it so obvious, it’s almost farcical.

Alex Varricchio, co-owner of UpHouse stated:

One of our goals when starting UpHouse was to use marketing as a tool to make the change we want to see in the world, and it’s amazing to see how far we’ve come doing just that. As creatives who put work out with the intention of having millions of people see it, we know we have a responsibility to represent all groups of people. When organizations trust us with projects like these ones, it feels really special.

About UpHouse

UpHouse Inc. Is an award-winning, diverse-owned marketing and public relations agency. It is a certified diverse supplier through Canada’s LGBT+ Chamber of Commerce and is B-Corp Certified. With the purpose to inspire the social consciousness of brands, UpHouse works with organizations to elevate messages that need to be heard—ensuring their communications are authentic, accessible and diverse.

About The Anthem Awards

Launched in 2021 by The Webby Awards, The Anthem Awards honors the purpose & mission-driven work of people, companies and organizations worldwide. By amplifying the voices that spark global change, we’re defining a new benchmark for impactful work that inspires others to take action in their own communities. The Anthem Awards honors work across seven core causes: Diversity; Equity & Inclusion; Education; Art & Culture; Health; Human & Civil Rights; Humanitarian Action & Services; Responsible Technology; and Sustainability, Environment & Climate. Founded in partnership with the Ad Council, Born This Way Foundation, Feeding America, Glaad, Mozilla, NAACP, NRDC, WWF, and XQ.

AiEO Launches to Help Organizations Stay Visible Inside AI Answers

As artificial intelligence reshapes how people search,��AiEO has launched as one of the first agencies in North America built entirely around a new reality: people are asking AI for answers, not clicking through websites.

Founded by award-winning marketing and PR leaders Alex Varricchio and Kiirsten May, AiEO (pronounced ay-oh) helps organizations appear, be cited and be trusted inside AI-generated responses across tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity.

With more audiences bypassing traditional search and turning directly to AI tools, brands face a new visibility challenge. If they are not referenced inside AI answers, they risk becoming invisible at the moment decisions are made.

The Shift: AI Platforms Are Becoming Primary Search

People increasingly prefer conversational answers over long lists of links.

According to the Associated Press:

• 60 per cent of Americans use AI to find information,
• Among people under 30, usage rises to 74 per cent,

“We are stepping into a new version of the internet,” says Varricchio. “If your brand is not part of those answers, you are essentially invisible.”

A Natural Evolution From UpHouse

AiEO builds on the foundation of UpHouse, the Certified B Corporation co-owned by Varricchio and May. UpHouse has grown into a 40-person team working with organizations across North America in marketing, communications, tourism, energy and public sector strategy.

“AiEO is a natural extension of how we support clients,” May says. “We do not want AI to remove the human element. We want it to work in service of it.”

Where AiEO Begins: The AiEO Audit

Most organizations do not know how they currently appear inside AI tools or if they appear at all.

�ճ����AiEO Audit provides a factual 30-day snapshot of:

• How often a brand is referenced across leading AI platforms
• Where misinformation or outdated details appear
• Where competitors show up instead
• What AI tools pull from your website and what they ignore
• Which essential facts AI is missing entirely

The Audit gives organizations a clear visibility baseline before making any changes.

Fixing the Foundation: AiEO Optimize

After the Audit, many organizations discover that their own website is the biggest barrier to AI visibility.

AiEO Optimize focuses on fixing that foundation by:

• Correcting inaccurate or outdated content
• Adding missing facts AI tools expect to see
• Restructuring pages so AI can parse, understand and cite them
• Cleaning up duplicate or confusing sections with low signal value
• Ensuring important information is clear, surfaced and repeated in the right places

Optimize is not about publishing new content; it is about improving what already exists so AI tools can finally use it. This is the stage where most clients see the fastest improvements.

Ongoing Visibility: The AiEO Engine

Once the foundation is fixed, organizations can maintain and expand their presence through the AiEO Engine. This is AiEO’s proprietary system for ongoing AI visibility.

The Engine runs on four coordinated flywheels.

1. Produce
Create structured, high clarity content that AI tools can reference and reuse accurately.

2. Amplify

Mirror and distribute that content across high trust networks and platforms that AI systems routinely scan.

3. Diversify

Repurpose top performing content into formats and surfaces that strengthen authority.

4. Recirculate

Use live AI visibility tracking to correct inaccuracies, update sources and feed insights into new content.

The Engine helps brands stay visible as AI systems evolve rather than showing up once and disappearing.

Already Active With Expansion Ahead

AiEO is already deployed for UpHouse and select clients, with availability expanding to certified partner agencies later this year.

“Marketers are under pressure to keep up with AI,” May says. “AiEO gives organizations confidence that their brand will show up where people are actually looking, inside AI answers.”

About AiEO

AiEO is one of the first agencies in North America dedicated entirely to AI Engine Optimization. Its suite, the AiEO Audit, AiEO Optimize and the AiEO Engine, helps organizations stay visible, accurate and cited inside generative AI tools like ChatGPT, Google SGE, Gemini and Perplexity. AiEO ensures brands do not simply publish content. It ensures they appear in the places where people now search.

What does AiEO do?

AiEO helps organizations appear, be cited and be trusted inside AI-generated answers across tools like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity. It ensures brands stay visible as people turn to AI for information.

What is the AiEO Audit?

The AiEO Audit is a 30-day assessment that shows how your brand appears inside major AI tools. It identifies missing citations, misinformation, outdated details and visibility gaps. It provides a factual baseline before any optimization begins.

What is AiEO Optimize?

AiEO Optimize focuses on fixing the content that already exists on your website. It clarifies, restructures and corrects information so AI tools can interpret and cite your content accurately. Optimize strengthens your foundation before any new content is created.

What is the AiEO Engine?

The AiEO Engine is AiEO’s ongoing visibility system. Built on four flywheels, Produce, Amplify, Diversify and Recirculate, it helps organizations publish AI-ready content, distribute it across trusted surfaces, expand high performing pieces and use real-time AI visibility tracking to correct inaccuracies.

How is this different from SEO?

SEO helps you appear in traditional search results.
AI Engine Optimization helps you appear inside AI-generated answers.
Both matter, but AI tools interpret content differently and rely on different signals.

Why does AI visibility matter now?

A growing number of people prefer asking AI tools directly instead of browsing websites. If your organization is not referenced in those AI answers, you may not be found at the moment decisions are made.

How do organizations get started?

Most begin with the AiEO Audit. It provides the clarity needed to determine what to fix, what to restructure and whether ongoing AI visibility through the AiEO Engine fits their goals.