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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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Spotlight shines on isle public relations industry
THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY of the Hawaii chapter, a charter chapter of the Public Relations Society of America, was celebrated at Halekulani last night with presentations of its top annual awards and a big-dollar announcement.
Former newspaper reporter and longtime PR man Mark Zeug won the Hall of Honor award, PRSA's highest, for exemplary leadership.
Sara Foley of Maui Communicators, a 35-year veteran, was introduced as the Gregg W. Perry Public Relations Professional of the Year.
This year's Hokupa'a award, for an outstanding practitioner with five years' experience or less, was presented to Rebecca Pang, an account executive at
Stryker Weiner & Yokota Public Relations Inc.
The very first President's Leadership Award, to honor an organization that develops young leaders within the profession, was jointly accepted by David McNeil and David Wilson of McNeil Wilson Communications Inc., now part of Anthology Marketing Group Inc.
They also announced a $35,000 gift to establish a scholarship at the UH School of Communications.
UH senior Nalea Ko, majoring in journalism, was awarded this year's $1,000 Roy Leffingwell scholarship.
A record 97 entries were received from which nine Koa Anvils and seven Koa Hammers were awarded, as were nine Koa Anvil Awards of Excellence and 25 Koa Hammer Awards of Excellence. Anvils are presented for the best programs, while Hammers are presented for the best tactics -- and awards of excellence are also presented in each category.
Limtiaco Co. won the night's Best of Show award for its work on the Aloha Festivals 60th anniversary campaign, which also won a Koa Anvil.
Not that anybody's keeping track, the other big winners on the night were McNeil Wilson Communications with 11 awards; Communications-Pacific Inc. corralling eight and Hastings & Pleadwell LLC harvesting six.
Four awards each briefly adorned the banquet tables of Becker Communications Inc.; Stryker Weiner & Yokota and Kamehameha Schools.
Hawaii Pacific University Institutional Advancement, Olomana Marketing and Maui-based Maui Communicators won two awards each, and single awards were presented to Hawaiian Electric Co.; Nike Inc.; Pang Communications; Castle Medical Center; Sandi Yara Communications; and Big Island-based Current Events.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com