I landed a contract with the Washington State Parks Department to come up with a print and radio campaign to get boaters to take a safety course, pass a test, and then get a Washington State Boater Education Card.

The now legally required card costs a one-time fee of $10. That led to the tagline:

Get the card that’s good for a lifetime. Your lifetime.

(click to view full size PDF)

Once that was nailed down, it was time to take on radio. I came up with several directions—some funny, some scary. I was staring at my computer screen one day before clicking open the folder for this project to dive back in for further creative exploration.

The folder is labeled 'boater ed.' I’d been spending most of my time for a month inside this folder before it came to me. The radio campaign should feature a roving, mock-heroic character, Boater Ed. Boater Ed will steer folks towards boating education and safety, always urging them to visit BoaterEd.org to get started.

And now it’s time to meet our hero.