Frank Rapp, Photographer

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Frank Rapp Studio
Boston, Massachusetts
Assignment: Extreme Ironing Tour for Rowenta

"I've been using ADBASE for a long time. Last year, I really started doing things religiously -- with repeat mailings. I sent direct mail pieces to a tailored list for about nine months, with a different mailing about every six weeks," Rapp said.

"I followed up with as many people as I could. I sent out a lot of hand made, custom designed and printed mailers, of people and locations - environmental portrait type things. And it really ended up paying off for me because I got a very exciting job last May indirectly through an old
client of mine who I hadn't spoken to in a long time. It's funny how that
works, isn't it?"

Extreme Ironing

"Have you ever heard of Extreme Ironing? Most people haven't. And I hadn't either. It's a very bizarre activity that these three Englishmen started," Rapp said.

"Actually there are two guys and a woman. They're avid rock climbers. And they're young people in their late 20s or early 30s. They started doing this thing called Extreme Ironing where they would take their ironing - and this is a very English thing - and they would go rock climbing and iron. Or they would go bicycling and iron, or iron on the top of a snowboard. And it became a big fad in Europe."

"They even had an international Extreme Ironing competition in Germany. Isn't it crazy? So it became very popular in Europe and these guys are real serious about it. Even though it's not what they do for a living. They've spoken about getting it into the Olympics."

"They have a website. There's also a South African team. And they try to outdo each other. There was a short film on the South African team, these kids going down a wild winding mountain road with an iron strapped on top of a car and this kid's ironing on top of there. The car's going about 65 miles an hour."

"It's pretty crazy. If you go to www.extremeironing.com you'll see Phil's website and actually a lot of my photographs are there." On the site, Extreme Ironing is described as "... the latest danger sport that combines the thrills of an extreme outdoor activity with the satisfaction of a well pressed shirt."

A Cross-Country Tour

"At any rate, there's a company here in Massachusetts called Rowenta. They make a very high end iron. They spend a lot of money on promotion and they decided to hire these three people and created this Extreme Ironing Tour in the United States," Rapp said.

"I traveled for two weeks with about 12 people (five from the UK including the Extreme Ironing founders) to various iconic locations in the US. Such as the scenic North Shore of Massachusetts, Devils Peak, Wyoming, Mt. Rushmore, South Dakota, Rushmore Cave, 60 feet below the surface in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and Times Square, New York. We traveled by boat, airplane, SUV and RV constantly."

"It really was a dream assignment. The final stop on the tour was in New York City where we shot in Times Square and the guys were on the Good Morning America Show with Diane Sawyer doing their Extreme Ironing," Rapp said.

Great Customer Service and Expertise

Rapp credits his use of the ADBASE Online Custom List Service for leading to this incredible job.

"I don't go around saying this about a lot of companies because there are not a lot of services that you feel like you can. But ADBASE has been so friendly and so useful, I've never seen anything like it, particularly in this day and age. Everybody's just been great there."

"ADBASE has been so friendly and so useful. I've never
seen anything like it, particularly in this day and age."

"I've called with a question. I'm sure Denis is a busy guy. Yet he's taken the time to talk with me for half an hour."

"It's not like you call up and feel like you're talking to someone in a cubicle. You feel like you're talking to somebody who's a real person, who's really listening to you, and is also very knowledgeable about the business. And you know... Denis was a rep for many years. He knows how difficult this business is. He's expressed his empathy for the economic downturn we've had in the last few years. I tell you that goes a long way with people," Rapp said.

"I don't know Denis personally but I've spoken to him a few times and I feel like I know him. He's been extremely cordial. He's taken the time to talk to me and I would just say - follow his advice."

"When you get right down to it - self-promotion's almost like a no-brainer. If you simply follow the rules it usually works."

"The problem is, we're all so caught up in doing this and that and another thing, that you let that stuff fall through the cracks. I did it (self-promotion) very religiously this year and it paid off."

"Now, the Extreme Ironers are publishing their own calendar separately from the company that bankrolled the whole thing. It's a whole new venue for me to get my work out. Rowenta is going to come out with a coffee table book in which my pictures will be included. They are going to get as much mileage out of it as possible, which means, so will I."