City of Guelph is Don Rennie Memorial Award recipient for 2005

CALGARY, AB, June 21, 2005 - Tara Diefenbacher and Peter Busatto with the City of Guelph's Environment & Transportation Group received this year's Don Rennie Memorial Award for Excellence in Government Public Relations, during the recent Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) Annual Conference in Calgary, Alberta.

"The Don Rennie Memorial Award recognizes outstanding team achievement in developing and executing a strategic approach to government communications on a specific issue. This award is open to government communications professionals in federal, provincial or municipal jurisdictions, said Karen Dalton, APR, Executive Director, CPRS. "The City of Guelph entry "Outside Water Use Program Communications Plan" received high praise from the judging team," added Dalton. Entries must reflect Don Rennie's vision of excellence in strategic communications and be relevant to the complexities of a government environment. Entries should demonstrate a good balance of the organization's mission, defining what it is; what it wants to be; what it wants to do; and what external factors influence it.

Established in 1998 in memory of public relations professional Don Rennie, the Award has been given to six recipients to date. Other recipients include Valerie E. Barrett, Statistics Canada, Pacific Region; Steve Flanagan, Hydro Quebec; Lois Reimer, Citizenship and Immigration Canada; Dennis Guy, City of Hamilton; and Philippe Roy, ARP and Gilles Trudeau, ARP Authorité des marches financiers .

The Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS) is the only Canadian professional association representing more than 1,600 public relations practitioners in 16 Member Societies across Canada who commit to following a Code of Professional Standards. The Society offers a program of professional accreditation in public relations (APR), professional development and education programs affiliated with various colleges and universities, a job registry, networking opportunities, annual national conference, a directory of all members and a forum for information sharing.

Contact:
Karen Dalton, APR
Executive Director, Canadian Public Relations Society
346 - 4195 Dundas Street West, Toronto M8X 1Y4
(416) 239-7034
kdalton@cprs.ca