The Star has been struck by the down economy and the accompanying decline in advertising sales. This time a close friend of mine lost his job. His dismissal is evidence that the cuts are reaching far deeper into the newsroom than anyone anticipated and that talented people are being let go. I think I speak for most local journalists in wishing the more than 200 individuals who have been impacted the best of luck in finding positions that keep them in the journalism profession or at least their passion alive for telling stories.

Rebekah and I worked together, though not closely, at PlattForm Advertising. She was a Client Services rep who was occasionally called on to translate press releases targeting Spanish-speaking publications in southern California. She was also a gifted writer and follower of the literary trade. Not long after departing the company, she contacted me about undertaking some freelance PR assignments for Helix. Those conversations never translated to any projects. I was thankful when she called back several months later and told me about an opportunity with Review.

This feature about the Missouri Bank project in the Crossroads District was especially appealing to me given its complexity and the mixture of various art forms with architecture and, of course, history. (The Crossroads is quickly becoming my favorite part of the city. If the River Market doesn’t watch out, it could be surpassed.) The architects on the project were fascinating and the lengths they went to in regard to reflecting the district’s ties to the arts was extraordinary.

I sat my taperecorder down on the drafting boards at the Helix offices and interviewed the project leads, scribbling details into my pocket notebook. While most project managers tend to focus on their trade secrets and sounding intelligent, I was instead told a story about the building along Southwest Boulevard that was being almost completely remade. Once an auto repair shop that looked more like a lump of clay, it was soon to be a new branch bank location that more or less embodied the Crossroads’ artistic spirit. I was sold.

That point proved itself to me last night when I received an indirect honor at the PRISM Awards Gala at the Sprint Center. I was attending the ceremony to claim an award for PlattForm Advertising’s work on its philanthropic web site and related e-mail campaigns. This is the first time the agency has participated in the awards competition hosted by the Greater Kansas City Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.

The event this year was held at the College Basketball Experience - the interactive tribute to all things college basketball. Erin Curtin of Trozzolo Communications Group and the others planning the festivities couldn’t have chosen a more perfect location. The displays and arcade-style basketball games seemed to loosen up the participants quite a bit.

I sipped on a couple of Boulevard beers and chatted mostly with an old friend, Will Gregory, who was kind enough to introduce me to Ink Magazine staffers whose organization was co-sponsoring the event. After listening to Bill Self, Lute Olsen, and Rick Majeris among others attempting to descibe the NCAA Championship tournament experience, I was content to sit in the back of the assembly hall and munch on a plate of appetizers. My thinking was that I’d walk up to the stage and grab the little glass trophy on behalf of PlattForm, then head home. And, that’s essentially what happened.

But before I had my chance to walk upfront, another project I was involved with flashed on the projection screen. The Urban Tour promotional materials that the Downtown Council worked on in conjunction with Sturges Word won a Silver PRISM Award. I was the copywriter for that project. Christina Boveri, who is deeply involved with the DTC, hooked me up with the freelance assignment. As always, I was grateful to her and thankful for her belief in me. She’s single-handedly changed my writing career, but the surprise award gave me an extra shot of gratitude.

I walked back to my parking spot in the garage near the Central Library feeling as if the city wasn’t so ominous, but then the building tops gave me pause. Uneven and dividing the sky into a narrow strip, the corporate towers made me content again. I felt fortunate to do what I love to do for a living and to recognize the creativity inside me, not for adoration or notoriety.

On this night, it was an extraordinary pleasure to duck under the branches of the sidewalk sapplings, to pass by the crowds of bodies and the groups of young people on the way to the Power & Light District to add some of their own surprise to life.

I won’t give away any more in fear of jeopardizing the scoop on this piece, but I’m looking forward to writing it. Pam and Pete Dulin have let me run absolutely wild on the pages of their online publication. I’ve relished every word of every sentence. The 18th Street Fashion Show story in June raised the bar on sentence length and outlandish commentary on my part.

This new assignment might be darker, but that does not necessarily mean more reserved. Look for it in Present or the link to it here come early August.