The Sir Walter Raleigh Awards competition is presented annually by the Raleigh Public Relations Society as a showcase of exemplary work by Triangle public relations and communication professionals. The competition recognizes and honors all practitioners who have achieved excellence in the field — from freelance practitioners to full-service agencies. Participants and winners will be honored at the RPRS Annual Awards Banquet on Tuesday, October 17, 2017. Submissions are due by 5:00 p.m. on Friday, June 30, 2017.
New for 2017
Jump To: Who Can Submit | Eligibility | Students | Entry Fees and Deadlines | Entry Format | Entry Checklist | Judging | Entry Scoring | Collecting Your Award | Questions
Who Can Submit?
The Raleigh PR Society Awards are open to all public relations agencies, investor relations agencies, publicists, public affairs organizations, corporation communications and marketing communications teams, nonprofits, education professionals, government organizations, solo practitioners, and students. Practitioners must be based in North Carolina.
Eligibility
To be eligible, the campaigns or PR initiatives you are highlighting must have taken place (either in part or in full) between January 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017. Some of the work must have occurred during this time, but it’s not necessary for it to be completed during the eligibility period. However, a program nearing its completion that can be evaluated against initial objectives tends to have a better chance of winning.
Students
All university and high school students who were enrolled in the 2016-2017 academic year are invited to enter. Student projects may also be submitted by a teacher or advisor, or students may submit an entry as a group.
Entry Fees and Deadlines
$45 RPRS Member (with discount code provided via email to current members)
$60 Non-Member
$25 Student/Teacher
The final deadline for submissions is Friday, June 30, 2017, at 5:00 p.m. No entries or fees will be permitted or considered after 5:00 p.m. Friday, June 30, 2017. Payment must be made in full by credit card during the online submission process. All entry fees are non-refundable and must be paid at the time of entry.
Entry Format
We are pleased to offer electronic-only submissions in 2017. No paper submissions! All entries must be submitted via our online form to be considered. Entries should be submitted as one single PDF with the name of the company and the category to which you would like to be considered in the file title. For example “FWV_FacebookCampaign_RPRSAwards.pdf”
Each entry should be submitted with a two-page summary. The summary is the most important component of your submission. Judges evaluate your campaign on six criteria: Objectives, Method, Results, Creativity, Quality, Budget. Each of these should be addressed in your summary.
Supporting materials referenced in the summary should be in the final submission PDF.
Make sure to include a 100-word summary that will be used at the RPRS Awards Banquet in the case that you receive an award.
Entry Checklist
Double check you have these items before submitting to the Sir Walter Raleigh Awards:
- Two-page summary
- 100-word summary statement
- Payment: Must be received when you submit
- One PDF of all materials
Judging
RPRS has partnered with the Memphis Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. They will return the entries with the judges’ comments by Friday, September 1, 2017.
RPRS will notify those registrants who had winning entries, but the exact awards will not be announced until the RPRS Annual Awards Banquet on Tuesday, October 17, 2017.
Entry Scoring
Each entry is judged on a 100-point scale as listed below. Your summary must address the six following criteria:
Objectives (10 points): What was the project intended to accomplish? List the measurable objectives and the target audience(s).
Method (10 points): What tools and strategies were implemented to achieve your objectives? Why were they selected?
Results (20 points): Demonstrate your entry’s success compared to measurable objectives described. Was the project a good return on your organization’s investment?
Creativity (25 points): Is the program or piece eye-catching? What unique or creative approaches did you employ to achieve the objectives? What limitations, if any, had to be overcome?
Quality (25 points): How well do the elements support the concept? Is it well organized? Is the production done well? What about your project made it of the highest quality? Address specifics that differentiate your project.
Budget (10 points): What was the budget to complete the project? If budget is proprietary, provide additional details regarding whether the project stayed within the budget, came in under budget, percentage breakdown of where time or budget was spent, etc. If work was done under the banner of a retainer, please discuss whether the project stayed within the retainer bounds, include the percentage breakdown of where time was spent, etc. Entries that do not include some detailing of budget breakdown (dollar figures not required) will receive 0 points in this scoring section. All budgets are kept confidential.
Collecting Your Award
All entries will be displayed at the awards dinner and may be claimed at the close of the event. Additional Awards: If winners wish to recognize other individuals or firms who contributed to an award-winning entry, the award winner is responsible for purchasing additional awards, which may be ordered after the competition by contacting the Awards Chair.
Questions
Contact David Dean, Awards Chair, at awards@rprs.org or (919) 391-8454.