Awards season in any industry is always preceded by a flurry of entry activity, which has begun in earnest for members of the Hawaii Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America. That means that in addition to each day's new work, employees are digging through the previous year's files to figure out which work best justifies the employer's entry-fee dollars, which is more likely to win and which project sucked so much heart and soul out of the team that failing to enter it would be a crime.

Will McNeil Wilson Communications again win a dozen or more awards, as it has in the past two years?

Call-for-entries time is upon us, as PRSA Hawaii seeks to honor outstanding public relations programs and tactics completed in calendar year 2009. Out-of-state members judge the work.

Members can save $25 by quickly rifling through files and getting entries in by April 16, a day after these same good citizens surely will have filed their tax returns.

Nominations are also being accepted for individual recognition awards, one for an experienced PR practitioner and another, for a relative newcomer to the profession.

The Gregg W. Perry Public Relations Professional of the Year award honors a practitioner for making a major contribution to the profession, while the Hokupaa Award recognizes exceptional leadership potential and achievement in the initial years of one's profession.

Anyone can nominate a candidate, but nominees should be PRSA Hawaii members, per the call for entries.

The awards will be presented July 22 at the Hawaii Prince Hotel Waikiki Resort and Golf Club.

Meanwhile, the days are counting down for members of the Hawaii Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators. The early-bird entry deadline for the Ilima Awards is March 22 and the final deadline, April 2, for IABC Hawaii's June 10 awards ceremony.

Marking its 35th anniversary, IABC is entertaining nominations for its Communicator of the Year Award. It is intended for a leader who has demonstrated excellence in use of communications strategies, skills, tools and methods to achieve business goals, or who has achieved noteworthy excellence in communication for a recent major campaign or event, according to its Web site.

The Ilima Awards ceremony will be June 10 at Waialae Country Club.

Orbitz likes Honolulu better

The online travel portal Orbitz.com does not have a Roaming Gnome, as does competitor Travelocity.com.

It does, however, rank Honolulu higher as a spring break destination than did Travelocity.com.

Orbitz's Top 10 Spring Break list for 2010 ranks Honolulu at No. 4, maintaining its position from the 2009 list.

Orbitz only sent “;TheBuzz”; the Top 10, but Travelocity.com issued a lengthier list, which is good, or we might not have known how users view our islands.

Published Sunday, it ranked Honolulu at No. 13 this year, up from No. 14 last year. Other Hawaii destinations ranked by Travelocity were Maui at No. 18, up from 23 year-over-year; Kauai, No. 32, up from 41; and Kona at 39, up from 52.