The Keystones

Cook's Pest Control has hosted its annual sales kick-off event for over a decade, bringing together its sales force to energize, strategize, and align for each upcoming year. In 2016, I began co-heading the planning and development of this event. With the prompt of “adding excitement” back into the events, we started with a simple idea.

The Most Famous Award Shows

Modeled after annual shows like the Oscars, Golden Globes, and Grammys, I developed and branded The Keystones Awards, named after the design of our mascot, Cookie the Cop. Once approved, the logo and branding guidelines for the event began to take shape.

The Active Part I Played

From the idea phase to event breakdown, I produced the 2016 and 2017 Keystone Awards; I earned awards of excellence from the company’s Sales VP, Jerry Baker. Our first event in 2016 was movie-themed, while 2017 leaned into the music theme. For both events, my work encompassed:

• Photoshoots for digital imagery and printed bannerstands with Cook’s parodies

• Branded items from research/budgeting to presentation and delivery (polos, Bluetooth speakers, pens, “record” boxes, etc.)

• Custom Cookie/Keystone Award development

• Writing, filming, directing, and editing any videos for presentation

• Writing, producing, and editing parody songs for presentation

• Design and trials with the printed programs and specialized printing techniques like UV coating, embossing, and more.

• On-site photography and “paparazzi” imagery

The Legacy

As of 2025, The Keystones are still an annual event that Cook’s Pest Control employees look forward to each year. The logo and branding treatments I created have never changed, even down to the Cookie/Keystone Award molded trophy. Some of the images below have been pulled from public posts about the events that have occurred since my departure.