You might say new media is like a garden… everywhere you turn, something new is blooming. And so it was fitting that Richmond’s most beautiful garden, Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden, was the site of this year’s of the PRSA Richmond’s 61st Annual Virginia Public Relations Awards ceremony titled {let’s get connected.}

 

 

“As we began planning this year’s event, the committee agreed that new social media is having an enormous impact on our profession,” said Denise Baddour, the chapter’s awards chairperson. “PR professionals now have so many new tools and technologies at their fingertips, and new ways of connecting with the world around them, that we wanted to highlight new media in the theme our event.”

 

Some of the tools the chapter used leading up to the event included a webinar offering tips on preparing award-winning entries, a downloadable audio file (also with tips on preparing entries), a video invitation and a blog to name a few. 

 

Held on June 12, {let’s get connected} was host to almost 200 people as more than 50 awards were presented to more than 15 organizations. The highlight of the evening was the presentation of the prestigious Thomas Jefferson Award to Judy Van Slyke Turk, easily one of Richmond’s, and indeed the country’s, most respected professionals. 

 

2008 Thomas Jefferson Award Recipient

 

Judy Vanslyke Turk, PhD., APR, Fellow PRSA

Director, Virginia Commonwealth University's
School of Mass Communications

On June 12, PRSA Richmond awarded Judy VanSlyke Turk, PhD., APR, Fellow PRSA, with the prestigious Thomas Jefferson Award.

 

Each year PRSA Richmond recognizes extraordinary achievement by an individual working in the field of public relations. Thomas Jefferson Award winners exemplify the best in the profession. The program is open to public relations practitioners in the Greater Richmond metropolitan area.

 

“This award recognizes and celebrates a lifetime of achievement,” said Felicia McLemore, APR, PRSA Richmond’s president. “In Judy VanSlyke Turk’s case, she has achieved enough for three lifetimes! We’re so pleased to be able to honor her in this way, and to count her among our chapter membership.”

 

Judy VanSlyke Turk is Director of the School of Mass Communications at Virginia Commonwealth University.

 

Learn more about VanSlyke Turk now and view her tribute video!

 

Silver Best in Show

 

United States Department of Defense
New Media Initiative

In the fall of 2006, the Department of Defense (DoD) began a concerted effort to adapt to the rapidly-evolving changes in communications that new technologies were enabling.  The scope of activities being undertaken by DoD on any given day is enormous, as it is the responsibility of public affairs personnel to provide timely and accurate communications about those activities to a wide range of stakeholders: the military and the American people.  Our team faced a daunting challenge: transforming communications to meet the demands of fighting the Global War on Terror in a new media age.  Because the stakes were so high and the war on terror so urgent, we needed to move rapidly to develop a capability to communicate via new media to increase understanding of military operations in the quickly changing milieu.

 

In October 2006, DoD established a "new media team" to research and experiment in this new frontier and to develop a program to exploit the most effective and best options for communicating DoD information using new/social media and what is often now referred to as the World "Live" Web.  This coincided with the DoD Quadrennial Defense Review's (QDR) Strategic Communication Execution Roadmap, begun in 2006, which included a requirement to "identify and aggressively pursue 21st century media capabilities" by September 2009.  In less than a year, DoD's New Media Program has established a significant presence in the conversations on the Web, participating in the critical mass of connected thought.

 

Bronze Best in Show

 

Prevent Cancer Foundation

Guide to Preventable Cancers

In the scientific community, researchers have long focused on developing cancer treatments, but cancer prevention is now being recognized as an important player in the fight against the disease. Since 1985, the Prevent Cancer Foundation has been working to elevate prevention as a major strategy in the war on cancer. We aim to change Americans’ attitudes about cancer by empowering them to take control through risk reduction efforts and early detection screening. 

 

To further our commitment to the community, the Foundation created a 23-page Guide to Preventable Cancers. The educational pamphlet was developed and updated in conjunction with members of the Foundation’s Medical Advisory Board. It serves as a body of knowledge to provide a basis for important prevention and early detection strategies. It discusses and stresses the importance of knowing who‘s at risk, ways to reduce your risk, symptoms, early detection measures, and treatment options for the eight preventable cancers – breast, cervical, colorectal, lung, oral, prostate, skin, and testicular. The Guide to Preventable Cancers is distributed nationally at various events. It’s also available to the public on the Foundation’s Web site at http://www.preventcancer.org/

 

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Read the news release.

 

See a summary of all award recipients.

 

Many thanks to our 2008 Signature Sponsors!