What I’ve learned in the last three years

The other day I received a LinkedIn notice, which was followed by messages from well-wishers.

The notice reminded me it was my three-year anniversary at Wheelhouse Creative LLC in Wheeling.

And, yes, time flies, as the saying goes. But the notice caused me to take a beat, step back and reflect on the change.

If you’re reading this, you probably know I covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. As a kid, I watched the “Odd Couple” on TV and from then on only wanted to be the character Oscar Madison, a sports writer in New York.

I never wavered. I went to WVU, studied journalism and, after sweating it out for a few months, started covering sports as a full-time gig. I went everywhere, man: Beckley, Martinsburg, Pittsburgh, Morgantown and Charleston.

I’m proud of the work I did, especially as a columnist. I even wrapped up my sports writing career with back-to-back-to-back Best Columnist awards from the West Virginia Press Association.

But I wanted one more challenge. I had one more part of the state I needed to inhabit.

So, when Jamie Bordas, president of Wheelhouse, offered the job in the northern panhandle, I jumped at the chance.

I’ll never forget a reaction fresh out of the gate from a newspaper publisher: So, you’re going to the dark side?

It threw me off then. The notion throws me off now.

See, our company specializes in marketing, advertising and public relations. We HELP people. We HELP businesses.

We help businesses of every size grow and thrive. We help get their products known and their voices heard.

Recently, for instance, I’ve worked with Dr. Chad Lavender, a former long snapper at WVU, who developed an amazing Fertilized ACL technique at Marshall Health. We put together a video and media packet that explains it all: https://lavenderacl.com

I’ve interviewed teachers for the WVEA and helped amplify their voices – some cracking with emotion – regarding their sometimes-heartbreaking challenges.

I’ve seen our amazing creative team put together incredible commercials, like the recent Panhandle Cleaning golf ad: https://vimeo.com/535016282

I could go on and on. Yes, we put together and send out press releases. We’re great at digital targeting and social media.

The bottom line, though, is we really do nothing more than help people. Part of my job is to get more people to understand that. I always say every business should include marketing in its budget. How can you not?

In sum, though, as proud as I was of my sports writing career – which I still dabble in with this weekly blog – I’m just as proud of these three years.

Please call if I can ever help.

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Mitch Vingle covered sports in West Virginia for 38 years. Follow Mitch on Twitter at @MitchVingle and be sure to check out the rest of Wheelhouse Creative’s website for your marketing and advertising needs. If interested, call us at 304-905-6005.