Congratulations to all of our Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Excellence in Communications winners!
We had a fantastic time celebrating all of your hard work represented amongst the 57 entries into this year’s award program. The awards banquet was held on Tuesday, October 23, 2018, at Jiddi Space & Courtyard at Sitti restaurant in Downtown Raleigh. Thanks to Sitti Restaurant for the delicious food and beautiful atmosphere!
A very special note of congratulations to Rick French who was named our 2018 Watt Huntley Award for Lifetime Achievement winner.
What a fun night! Congrats to all the award winners.
Our official post-event press release follows:
RPRS Honors Communications Professionals in the Triangle and Names Lifetime Achievement Recipient
Annual Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Excellence in Communication awards banquet recognizes PR practitioners for successful campaigns and tactics
Raleigh, N.C. – October 25, 2018 –The Raleigh Public Relations Society recognized local public relations and communications professionals during its 2018 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Excellence in Communicationceremony. The awards banquet, held on October 23 at Jiddi Space & Courtyard at Sitti restaurant in Downtown Raleigh, and the keynote address was provided by Susan Scott, Chief Advancement and Marketing Officer for UNC-TV.
“The Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Excellence in Communication have been an integral component of the Raleigh PR Society since we began as an organization in 1959,” said Lindsay Priester, president of RPRS. “It’s a huge honor for us to be able to host these awards for such a varied and talented group of professionals. The expertise in communications in the Triangle is vast and truly impressive.”
The Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Excellence in Communication competition is a showcase of exemplary work by PR and communication professionals throughout North Carolina. The competition is held annually and recognizes projects that have achieved excellence in a variety of categories, as judged by an independent panel of judges. This year’s awards were judged by members of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Oregon Chapter.
RPRS also recognized Rick French with the 2018 Watt Huntley Award for Lifetime Achievement. This award is given annually to an individual who has made meaningful contributions to the field of public relations over the course of a career.
Rick is the founder, chairman and CEO of French/West/Vaughan. Under Rick’s leadership, FWV has ranked as one of the nation’s 20 largest independently owned public relations agencies and one of the world’s 75 largest integrated marketing agencies. Rick has been named “Business Leader of the Year” twice by Business North Carolina, “Agency Professional of the Year” by Bulldog Reporter and has been recognized as one of the 300 Most Influential Communicators in the World by PR Week in 2015, 2016 and 2017.
“All of us at French/West/Vaughan would like to congratulate Rick for this remarkable achievement,“ said David Gwyn, FWV president and partner. “From the beginning more than 20 years ago, Rick had the vision and entrepreneurial spirit to be original, creative and bold enough to do things that had never been done in Raleigh, and that vision has benefitted a great many people – for that we owe him a debt of gratitude.”
RPRS Awards Chair David Dean championed the transition from a manual award submission process to an online process for the 2018 Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Excellence in Communication. Dean said, “Thanks to the generous sponsorship of York Properties and the North Carolina Biotechnology Center, RPRS was able to integrate an online award submission platform that facilitated a more efficient submission process that generated greater revenue for the organization.”
Special thanks to RPRS Banquet Chair Allison Thiebaud, of AT Marketing and Public Relations, for planning and coordinating this year’s awards banquet. The 2018 award winners are listed below. Visit https://rprs.org/awards/for a full description of each winning submission.
The Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Excellence in Communication recognized the following 2018 winners:
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Bang for the Buck
Platinum Winner
French/West/Vaughan with Earned Media Drives Visitors to Wilmington’s Island Beaches During the Off-Season
Gold Winner
FWV with Rodeo Right at your Fingertips
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Branding
Silver Winner
Tompkins International with MonarchFx Rebranding
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Community Relations
Platinum Winner
North Carolina Museum of Art with Art in Bloom
Silver Winner
FWV with Home Sweet Greensboro
FWV with Bassett Furniture Donates $10,000 Worth of Furniture to Family in Need
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Special Events – One to Five Days
Platinum Winner
Clairemont Communications with Il Palio Fires Up at the James Beard House
Gold Winner
Largemouth Communications with Ascom Breaks Through the Noise at HiMSS
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Special Events – Media Event
Platinum Winner
Clairemont Communications with Western Governors University Comes to North Carolina
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Social Media
Platinum Winner
FWV with Greg Olsen Gets Back in the Game
Gold Winner
FWV with Melitta Engages with #PourOverLovers
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Financial
Gold Winner
FWV with PSCU’s Record-Breaking 2018 Member Forum
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Green/Sustainability – One Time or Special Event
Platinum Winner
Clairemont Communications with Briar Chapel’s Pepper Festival Turns 10
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Green/Sustainability – Ongoing
Silver Winner
FWV with Tough Denim, Gentle Footprint
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Healthcare Program
Gold Winner
FWV with Introducing CRISPR-Cas3
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Integrated Communications
Platinum Winner
Clairemont Communications with Babalu’s Grand Opening Rocks the Guac
Gold Winner
FWV with J. Peterman Steps Back Out in Their Derby Day Best
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Marketing Consumer Products
Silver Winner
Butterball, LLC with “Perfectly Imperfect” Thanksgiving
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Sports Program
Platinum Winner
FWV with Taking One for the Team: NFL Agent Leigh Steinberg and Players Score on Super Bowl’s Radio Row
Gold Winner
S&A Communications with 2018 SAS Championship Community Outreach
CATEGORY – Campaigns: Student
Silver Winner
William Peace University with The Wiz Movie Party for Black History Month
CATEGORY – Tactics: Word of Mouth
Platinum Winner
FWV with The One Percent (Jerome Davis)
CATEGORY – Tactics: Social Media
Silver Winner
Clairemont Communications with The Vita Vite Lifestyle
CATEGORY – Tactics: Collaterals – Podcasts
Gold Winner
NC F&B Podcast with NC F&B Podcast Episode 95 – James Beard Awards in Chicago
CATEGORY – Tactics: Magazines – Internal
Silver Winner
S.T. Wooten Corporation with Beyond the Specs
CATEGORY – Tactics: Media Relations
Platinum Winner
Clairemont Communications with Talbots and Oprah Magazine Dress for Success
Gold Winners
Prep Communications with Veritas Collaborative Opens New Atlanta Hospital
FWV with Introducing CRISPR-Cas3
Silver Winner
FWV with Fight for Film
CATEGORY – Tactics: Media Kits
Platinum Winner
Clairemont Communications with Il Palio’s Freshly Baked Media Kit
CATEGORY – Tactics: Videos – Broadcast/Web Commercial
Gold Winner
Clairemont Communications with Wendell Falls Builder Spotlight Videos
CATEGORY – Tactics: Videos – Streaming
Gold Winner
Largemouth Communications with Mike Holmes Talks Electrical Safety with Eaton
CATEGORY – Tactics: Websites –Internal/Intranets
Platinum Winner
Butterball, LLC with The Table – Intranet Site
CATEGORY – Tactics: Writing – Blogs
Gold Winner
S&A Communications with DealersLink.com Blog
CATEGORY – Tactics: Writing – News Releases
Gold Winner
Prep Communications with Veritas Collaborative Opens New Atlanta Hospital
CATEGORY – Tactics: Writing – Op/Ed
Silver Winner
S&A Communications with ACERTUS Guest Article on USA Truck Driver Shortage
About RPRS
For more than 50 years, the Raleigh Public Relations Society (RPRS) has advanced the art and science of public relations and strengthened communication, understanding and cooperation among diverse individuals, organizations and institutions throughout the Triangle. The organization regularly hosts professional development opportunities, including monthly meetings, networking socials and the annual Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Excellence in Communication banquet, which recognizes the best public relations projects and professionals in North Carolina. For more information, visit www.rprs.org.
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