Get to Know Jon & Bonnie Kaye

JON & BONNIE KAYE

Kaye Communications

What was the motivation behind creating Kaye Communications?

As a working mom of 2 very young sons who had nearly a 3-hour daily commute as a VP at a Miami PR agency 25 years ago, Bonnie knew she had to create a better work/life balance long before the concept was “trending.” In doing so she focused on creating a seriously strategic next-generation hybrid “Marketing PR” option for the market … one that embraced, made and promoted public/private partnerships as its cornerstone. Within 6 months husband Jon, a hospitality industry leader who was driving Club Marketing for the Boca Raton Resort & Club, joined KCOM-PR as COO & Chief Marketing Strategist. Simultaneously, the Resort and its Premier Club became one of KCOM-PR’s first high-profile springboards of many to come that enabled us to activate and demonstrate our integrated regional and national brand ideation, PR, branding, marketing, media relations and community relations strategies and capabilities.

You are known as “Community Connecteurs”, tell us how that came about? How has it gotten you to where you are today?

From inception in 1996, Bonnie’s commitment to private/public partnerships (now called community engagement) became one of KCOM-PR’s founding pillars, more than a decade before the platform of Social Responsibility started resonating as a widely accepted “best practice” in business. When most businesses in the 90s were solely focused on billable hours and driving revenue, KCOM-PR began introducing and guiding business owners and professionals on how to best forge meaningful public/private partnerships…demonstrating that when “business builds community, community helps build business.”

By introducing this then progressive strategy that Bonnie honed during her corporate communications tenure at Home Box Office headquarters in NYC, and then creating impactful WIN, WIN public-private partnership matches, KCOM-PR has professionally and personally empowered for-profit and nonprofit clients to do more than just grow and engage customer and donor bases, but also lead in educating communities and niche populations on critical topics, opening impactful thought leadership dialogs and engaging others in social responsibility. Through our 25+ years in business and community, we have “led by example” as business, community and thought leaders to guide stakeholders on how to best forge meaningful public/private partnerships that best align with their brand’s character, objectives and customers/employee/donor interests. Areas of impact have included mission-critical initiatives on community health and wellness, economic equality/affordable housing, cultural arts education and engagement, mentoring, business advocacy, Holocaust education, children’s needs and animal rescue. What is your favorite memory within your career?

We have a long list of good memories, most of which involve WIN, WIN successes for businesses, nonprofits, community, the City of Boca Raton and several of its iconic assets…which has gotten us where we are today.

Among them… • Being retained by the City of Boca Raton (from 2008-2012) to rebrand, reposition and restore vibrancy to the then-struggling Downtown Boca destination with our development of short and long-term destination marketing, community engagement, media relations and event plans that set a strong, inviting foundation for attracting new businesses, hotels, residential properties, cultural offerings, employees, residents, visitors, etc. All the wonderful memories come back to us as we drive through today and see the Downtown Boca logo we designed continuing to welcome residents and visitors to this exceptional asset.

• Partnering two clients: Town Center at Boca Raton and the BRR&C to “Save Halloween” in the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Wilma that left it unsafe for families to Trick or Treat from house to house. Knowing residents and the media needed some good news to share, KCOM-PR proactive concept for two clients delivered 10,000 people out to Town Center for a memorable, safe evening.

• Driving the 75th Anniversary Celebration of the Boca Raton Resort & Club that drew 2,000 guests donned in pink.

• Rebranding and repositioning Royal Palm Place as it transitioned from the “Pink Plaza” into the mixed-use village it is today. Remember watching the 6,000 lb. bronze statue of Addison Mizner (we recommended be commissioned) be hoisted to the top of the clock tower where he sits watching over his Boca Raton.

• Co-Chairing White Coats-4-Care scholarship fundraiser for the FAU Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine for 11 consecutive years, raising more than $1 million to “dress and equip” every incoming class of future physicians since the college’s inception.

What is something that people might be surprised to know about you?

Not sure they would be surprised about this, but many think it is amazing that we have been married for 35 years and working together for 25 years. Many question “How can you do that?” It is simple…we are each other’s best cheerleaders, are “in it to win it” and care deeply about the same things: helping make the world a better place now and for future generations.