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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