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TheBuzz
Erika Engle
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For PR firms, sometimes all that glitters is koa
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For a complete list of winners
Big and small public relations firms glowed at the Public Relations Society of America Hawaii Chapter awards celebration last night.
Among the big,
McNeil Wilson Communications Inc. took home 12 awards plus its fourth Best of Show award in five years; while among the small,
Hastings & Pleadwell LLC won nine awards.
A record 111 entries were submitted this year, which also marks the 25th anniversary of PRSA Hawaii's Koa Anvil and Koa Hammer Awards.
Last night, 17 Koa Anvil and Hammer awards were presented for programs and tactics, respectively, as were 41 awards of excellence in each category.
"Not only are we honoring the best work among our profession, we're also celebrating 25 years of a storied Koa Anvil awards history," said Janet Crawford, chapter president, in a statement.
"We were one of the nation's six founding chapters of PRSA and have been pleased to continue this prestigious awards program since 1983," she said. "Our chapter remains dedicated to offering development opportunities that advance the profession and the professional."
Several public relations firms and in-house PR departments took home multiple awards, whether anvils, hammers, awards of excellence or combinations thereof.
Becker Communications Inc and Hawaii Pacific University each took home four awards, and Stryker Weiner & Yokota Public Relations Inc. took five.
Joan Bennet and Associates Inc. and Big Island-based Current Events won three each.
Winning two apiece were Bright Light Marketing Group Inc., Element 8 LLC, WATG and Pang Communications.
Single awards went to Avaniu Communications Inc., the Board of Water Supply communications office, Castle Medical Center, Communications-Pacific Inc., the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame, Hilton Hawaiian Village, Honu Group Communications LLC and Schweitzer Consulting LLC.
Individual honors were also presented.
The Gregg W. Perry Public Relations Professional of the Year award was presented to Nathan Hokama, founder of Strategic Communication Solutions LLC. The Hokupa'a award, for an outstanding PR practitioner with fewer than five years' experience, went to Moani Wright-Van Alst, of the Board of Water Supply. The President's Leadership award was bestowed upon Brandi Boatner, national president of the Public Relations Student Society of America for 2008-2009. Also last night, scholarships in the name of late PR pioneer Roy Leffingwell were awarded to Loryn Guiffre, an HPU grad student and Kawanalaaloha Kawelo, a UH Hilo junior.
CORRECTION Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Stryker Weiner & Yokota Public Relations Inc. won five awards from the Public Relations Society of America Hawaii Chapter in its annual competition Thursday. “TheBuzz” originally reported Friday that it had received four awards. In addition, Smythe & Associates LLC won two awards; it was not mentioned in the column. Also, Maui Communicators won a Koa Hammer award of excellence. It won for Taste of Lahaina and Best of Island Music in the subcategory of nonprofit organizations under the category of media relations — association/nonprofit organization.
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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