Awards of Excellence

The Awards of Excellence recognize outstanding achievement in a comprehensive public relations project or program. The program should be identifiable as a complete entity, consisting of the elements of normal public relations practice.
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CRITERIA

• ELIGIBILITY
• ENTRY
• JUDGING
• WINNERS

CATEGORIES

• COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMS
• COMMUNICATIONS PROJECTS

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CRITERIA

ELIGIBILITY
All CPRS National Members and Associates in good standing are eligible. Each submission must have been planned, produced and completed within a period of two years prior to the entry deadline.

ENTRY
Submissions can be in English or French. You may enter more than one category. To be valid, each submission must include the following:

1. Entry Form:
   Each entry form should be properly completed. Read the instructions thoroughly to ensure your entry is in the correct category. Forms are available through the CPRS National office or the website.

2. Submission Summary:
   Each entry form must include a maximum two page summary with a minimum type size of 10 point. The summary should include a brief description of the following areas:

   • Research;
   • Planning, strategy, analysis;
   • Communication, execution and production;
   • Evaluation.

   The summary adds clarity to the submission and allows the judges to see quickly the rationale and organization behind each entry.

   Note: Marks will be deducted for those who do not provide details of budget and/or resources.

   Note: The use of CPRS' Media Relations Rating Points (MRP) system for the evaluation of media relations activities is encouraged. Programs that do not use the MRP system should include an evaluation in addition to total stories generated, such as story tone and/or delivery of key messages and/or evaluation against program objectives, etc.

3. Supporting Information:
   All supporting information should be included in either a three-ring 1" binder or submitted in PDF format. The entry form and summary should be followed by the detailed supporting information, organized by the aforementioned areas.

4. Associated Materials:
   Bulky materials such as CDs, videotapes, posters and photographs should be clearly labelled and safely affixed to the three-ring binder in some way. We accept only the following formats:

   • CD ROM: Documents in PDF Forma
   • Videoclips: DVD or VHS
   • Posters/Photographs
   • Promotional items as produced

   Note: All submissions and supporting documents become the property of CPRS and will not be returned.

5. Entry Fees:
   Each "Awards of Excellence" submission must be accompanied by a nonrefundable $200.00 entry fee. Payment can be made by cheque, payable to Canadian Public Relations Society, or credit card (Visa, Mastercard or American Express).

JUDGING
The entries received at CPRS National office will be sent to the judges to review. All submissions will be kept confidential. Judging is done by an expert panel of leading public relations practitioners. Judges score each submission and evaluate the entry on the two-page summary and review all supporting documentation provided. Winners will be determined by the highest total scoring. Judges, however, may reserve the right to withhold an award in a category should they determine no submission qualifies as “excellent.”

Scoresheets and judging criteria for both Communications Programs and Communications Projects are availableon the CPRS website cprs.ca.

Awards of Excellence judges reserve the right to recognize only those entries that meet the evaluation criteria. Judges will present one Gold award per category for the highest scoring submission above 85 per cent. In the case of more than one entry exceeding the 85 per cent mark, the highest scoring entry will be deemed the winner. A Silver Award of Excellence will go to the second highest scoring submission above 75 per cent in each category. A Bronze Award of Excellence will be awarded to the third highest scoring submission about 75. If no entry scores 75 per cent or above in a category, no award will be given in that category. Judges will evaluate each submission on:

• how research influenced planning;
• how planning influenced execution;
• how an evaluation process factored in all stages;
• its thoroughness and cohesiveness.

Include detailed information describing:

• the intended audience or public;
• the resources utilized in terms of budgets, people or services;
• the tools or techniques employed.

The correlation between obtained results and pursued objectives will receive high marks as will originality and creativity.

Note: Submissions are judged on content as a whole and not on a particular contributing element such as budget. This is key since low-budget programs can be equally as or more effective than a costly one. Smaller budgets may require more creativity and greater ingenuity.

WINNERS
Awards will be presented during the CPRS Annual conference Gala dinner, on June 09, 2009, in Vancouver, British Columbia. Finalists will be notified in advance to ensure they can attend the presentation. All entrants will receive judges' comments on their submission. Awards of Excellence winners will receive a glass sculpture designed by artist Shirley Elford and a Gold certificate of recognition. Silver and Bronze winners will be awarded a certificate of recognition. The certificates include the names of all members who contributed as part of the winning team. Winning submissions will be sent, with permission, to the CPRS National Resource Library at Mount Royal College in Calgary, Alberta for future reference. In addition, honourees will be featured on the CPRS website and in national advertising. Also, Member Societies honour and promote the winners locally.

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CATEGORIES

COMMUNICATIONS PROGRAMS
Awards within this category are presented to honour excellence in overall public relations programs within the profession.

1. External Communications
   Programs geared to improve relationships with the community, influence public attitude and behaviour, to generate greater public understanding of the organization, and/or increase corporate or organizational identity with various audiences. The External Communications categories include:

   1. Communications Management
      Communication programs that demonstrate the full range of public relations practitioner's skills and draws on multiple areas of public relations practice (i.e. media relations, employee relations, branding, crisis management, communication audits, corporate communications, etc.) to enhance or determine the effectiveness of an organization's strategic direction. In this category, only one Gold Award of Excellence will be presented in each of the following:

      • Programs under $50,000;
      • Programs between $50,000-$150,000;
      • Programs over $150,000.

   2. Marketing Communications
      Programs that integrate public relations, marketing and advertising strategies to help market products, services or places to external audiences.

   3. Community Relations
      Community programs (i.e. philanthropy, volunteerism, partnerships, etc.) that enable an organization to build and maintain positive and sustainable relationships with key individuals, groups or organizations within its communities.
      
      

   4. Advocacy and Social Marketing
      Advocacy-based communication programs targeted to multiple audiences that focus on sustainable development and economic, social and environmental issues. May include programs where the primary objective is to address and enhance the long-term well-being of specific communities/and or the environment. Entries may include economic revitalization projects and cause-related issues in cultural preservation, education, literacy, health, poverty reduction, employment and the environment.

   5. Media Relations
      Media relations programs should exhibit improvement of an organization’s media profile measured against desired objectives, or the adept management of issues involving media coverage, or the development of a successful media relations campaign. Awards will be presented in the following categories:

      • Media relations campaign – government
      • Media relations campaign – not-for-profit/non-governmental organization
      • Media relations campaign – conducted by an agency for a client
      • Media relations campaign – conducted by a private sector corporation

   6. Issues/Crisis Management
      Communication programs that demonstrate both preventative action and proactive planning in dealing with an extraordinary event, or addressing trends, issues and/or stakeholder attitudes that have a significant impact on an organization.

   7. Government Relations
      Programs targeted at government bodies and government agencies or programs that recognize the effective use of public affairs to change/enlist public opinion in order to influence government policy and/or regulations.

2. Internal Communications
   Programs targeted to publics allied with the organization such as employees, members, volunteers and franchisees. Programs should be geared to improve employee-management relations; increase employee understanding/buy in to the organization's strategic direction and their role in contributing; increase employee and/or management morale, motivation, organization awareness; or explain new policies or plans.

COMMUNICATIONS PROJECTS
Awards within this category are presented to honour excellence in the strategic development of materials and individual public relations products that advance the goals and objectives of an overall public relations program. Special emphasis should be placed on the relevance of the initiative to the public relations objectives.

1. Special Events: An external and/or internal public relations program for openings, anniversaries and other ceremonies commemorating a one-time event or series of special events or occasions.

2. Audio-Visual Projects Multi-media, video, video news releases, audio only, CD ROMs, or computer generated slide presentations developed for internal or external target audiences.

3. Print Projects Printed material developed for internal or external target audiences, i.e. newsletters, annual reports, newspaper insert, brochures, handbooks, promotional campaigns, posters, programs, or displays.

4. Electronic & Interactive Communications: External web sites, intranet sites, webcasts, online publications or interactive kiosks.

5. Social Media: Web-based journals or blogs that communicate either a corporate, public or industry position. The summary should include a rationale for blogging, targeted audiences and statistics or other means of quantifiable measurement that meet stated objectives. Screen downloads of the blog being entered as well as the URL must be submitted as part of the entry.

6. Writing: This category encompasses original material written for a communications project including: personality profiles, speeches, recurring features or columns, other features such as magazine articles, editorials, advertorials, news articles or news releases. The award will be judged based on the quality of writing as well as creativity and strategic alignment with their organization's business goals.

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