2016 Summit Award

“Excellence in Community Engagement”

The Yankee Chapter PRSA Summit Award recognizes excellence in a specific area of focus, which varies year-to-year, based on trends, behaviors, and new technologies in the public relations field. Prior awards have included:

“Special Event Excellence” — 2013 – Families in Transition, Manchester, NH
“Employees as Ambassadors” —  2012 – Dyn – Manchester, NH
“PR Miracles – PR in Times of Challenge” — 2011 – The NHHEAF Network Organizations, Concord, NH
“Excellence in Social Media” — 2010 – Kelliher Samets Volk, Burlington, VT

2016 Summit Award Focus: Community Engagement

The 2016 Summit Award recognizes excellence in achieving strategic public relations objectives through a community engagement strategy. The results of an organization’s community engagement strategy may have informed policy decisions, improved the targeting of services, built community ownership, or involved those who might not normally be included, resulting in increased community spirit and empowerment of individuals. The award winner (individual, team, or business) will be recognized for effectively planning and executing a community engagement strategy to support specific public relations goals.

Within the application, please demonstrate how your community engagement strategy:

• Involved and engaged a broad range of people and sectors,
• Created movement and/or change related to specific public relations goals; and
• Focused on collaboration and inclusion.

Award Criteria

Entries will be judged on the following factors:

• Situation analysis (context and key stakeholders)
• Strategic organizational objectives
• Goals and benchmarks for success
• Execution
• Results

Eligibility

• PRSA Yankee Chapter members; or
• Public relations businesses, organizations or individuals with a primary address within the Yankee Chapter PRSA region (Maine, New Hampshire or Vermont)
• The winner (individual, team, or in the case of an organization, its CEO, or functional organizational head) must agree to be present at the award presentation

Application Fee

• New! For 2016, Yankee PRSA is waiving the application fee.

How to Submit Entries

Entries may be submitted in a variety of ways, as long as the entry includes the award criteria previously described. Electronic presentations, videos, documents, binders etc., are all welcome. Choose the format that best displays and explains your work. Entries can include links to existing work, content or articles that support your entry. The award will be presented at the Yankee Chapter PRSA Annual Meeting in late November 2016. Updates will be provided on the Yankee PRSA website at www.yankeeprsa.org.

Submit entry electronically to: info@yankeeprsa.org or mail it to:

Yankee PRSA Summit Award, 53 Regional Dr., Suite 1, Concord, NH 03301

All entries must include

• Name & Title
• Organization Name & Mailing Address
• Telephone Number and Email

Submissions must be postmarked by October 10, 2016

Questions? Email: info@yankeeprsa.org

By Seth Wheeler, APR

Having sufficiently recovered from earning my Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) in November of 2015, I’ve begun to notice the many ways in which the experience has influenced my work life and the way I think about my job.

As anyone who’s gone through the process will attest, the APR exam covers a lot of ground. What does the Agenda Setting theory tell us about the impact of media messages? What’s the difference between a tactic and a strategy? What the heck is Irving Fang’s Easy Listening Formula? I haven’t studied for anything like this since college, and frankly, a lot of the minutia has already settled down deep in the memory vault. What remains fresh and relevant every day, though, are the broader lessons the APR teaches about the values of our profession and how we can maximize them for ourselves and the organizations we represent.

I thought when I started the APR process that I’d be learning new and creative ways to “manage” information and “shape” the public’s perception of my company. How refreshing it was to learn straight away that the ultimate goal of public relations was to serve the public good by simply telling the truth. I’m fortunate to work for a member-owned cooperative. I work with good people who want the best for this organization and the members it serves. When the company’s policies or procedures are perceived to be in conflict with a member or group of members, my first instinct is not to batten down the hatches and go on the defensive. My first instinct is transparency. We have good people with good intentions. Let’s explain how we arrived at this point and get to work on a solution.

It’s this simple clarity of purpose that I return to time and again. I notice these days that there are fewer situations at work where I’m uncertain about how to proceed. There are fewer judgement calls and hunches. Instead, decisions are made based on established processes, the goals they support and the professional ethics established by the APR. In short, the APR provides much-needed clarity when the water gets murky.

Seth Wheeler is a Yankee Chapter Board Member and the Communications Administrator at New Hampshire Electric Cooperative in Plymouth, NH.

 

Enjoying an afternoon and game with the Monarchs

There’s a lot more to managing public relations and marketing for a minor league hockey team than press releases and free tee shirts. That was the takeaway from the Yankee Chapter professional development session hosted March 23 by the Manchester Monarchs at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

Putting fans in seats on game nights is just one of the many priorities the two-person PR/Marketing team handles for the Monarchs. Managing the club’s community relations and social media, arranging access for media, daily reporting of player stats and transactions, and guiding a small army of game night volunteers are just a few of the other tasks that keep them busy.

It was particularly interesting to hear how Marketing, Community & Public Relations Manager Mackenzie Fraser and Public Relations Coordinator Matt Johnson managed communications last year following the announcement that the AHL Calder Cup-winning Monarchs would be moving to California, to be replaced by a new team in Manchester playing in the ECHL. The support and attendance the team continues to enjoy in Manchester is a testament to Mackenzie’s and Matt’s skill in managing a potentially difficult transition.

Though the Monarchs lost 4-2, it’s clear that this is an organization with a winning strategy for the team and the community it calls home. — Seth Wheeler, APR