Orange Slices

On April 14, the RLF team was represented in full force at the 2011 Spinks Awards, an annual banquet hosted by the PRSA Tar Heel Chapter. It was a wonderful evening recognizing exceptional work our friends and PR industry colleagues produced in 2010.

This year’s event featured key note speaker Philip Tate, APR, who serves on the PRSA national board of directors as treasurer and is senior vice president at Luquire George Andrews in Charlotte, N.C. Tate gave an enlightening speech about seven key operational areas of which PRSA focuses its attention: advocacy, the business case for public relations, community, diversity and the three Es – education, ethics and excellence in society management.

In conclusion, Tate shared a quote from Abraham Lincoln, “Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.” We, at RLF, agree full-heartedly with these words of wisdom.

This year, the PRSA Tar Heel Chapter honored an iconic figure in local broadcasting. The chapter recognized Sandra Hughes for her work at WFMY News 2, Greensboro’s CBS affiliate, as a pioneer of broadcast journalism. As the first African American news anchor in the Triad, Hughes has left an indelible mark on the broadcasting industry after 38 years of service. She retired from the anchor desk in December.

The chapter also honors the ‘best of the best’ in public relations work from across the Triad region. For the third consecutive year, RLF won the chapter’s Outstanding PR Award. We received top honors this year for our work with the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. The campaign produced 192 million media impressions, and more than 200 media outlets and 3,000 spectators attended the Museum’s grand opening. After months of long hours and hard work, the RLF team is incredibly proud to receive this award for such a historic campaign.

Other winners of the night included: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina for Best Event and Pet Sitters International for Best Online Campaign/Element.

The Spinks awards are named in honor of the chapter’s founder, John Spinks, who founded the PRSA Tar Heel Chapter in 1981. Spinks established the PRSA Tar Heel Chapter to encourage professional development, networking and ethics for public relations, communications and marketing professionals across the Triad.

It’s not easy to win a PRWeek Award, one of the highest accolades in the public relations industry. In fact, the odds of bringing home a trophy in 2011 were 4 percent. Agencies across the United States submitted more than 800 entries for only 33 awards representing the industry’s best. Yet these odds didn’t stop the 1,000+ public relations professionals – including Monty Hagler and myself – from venturing out on a rain-soaked New York evening in March to attend the ceremony.

RLF was in the running for PRWeek’s “Promotional Event of the Year” for our work with the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. Last year on February 1, our entire agency stood outside in freezing weather as the International Civil Rights Center & Museum opened on the 50th anniversary of the Greensboro sit-ins. It was a historic day, well worth the six grueling months of planning and conquering unexpected challenges. Our efforts weren’t thwarted by obstacles such as a snowstorm hitting Greensboro 24 hours before the ribbon cutting or the ongoing construction that made it nearly impossible to field media requests. In the end, the grind was rewarded by tremendous results and poignant moments, among them, the three surviving members of the Greensboro Four (Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and Jibreel Khazan) touring the museum for the first time with their families.

At the PRWeek Award ceremony, Monty and I patiently waited as the winners in other categories were revealed. We quickly noticed the large, global agencies taking home many of the top honors – the trend wasn’t favorable to RLF.

Four hours later (after a three-course dinner and two bottles of wine) the moment finally arrived: finalists in the “Promotional Event of the Year” category. We were competing against worthy campaigns executed by GolinHarris (DowChemical’s campaign to bring water to nearly 1 billon people), Fleishman-Hillard (Boy Scouts of America 100th anniversary) and MSLGroup (PopTarts take Times Square). We held our breath in anticipation…and were elated to hear “RLF Communications” echo across the room.

It’s thrilling to see the meaningful work that we do for clients produce exceptional results, and gratifying to be recognized for that good work. As an agency, we come to work every day with a common goal: to be devoted to ideas, strategy and service that advance our clients’ brands and objectives. So yes, winning a PRWeek Award (or any other award for that matter) is not easy, but it’s impossible without accomplishing something that’s first award-worthy. For RLF, it’s our – and our clients’ – definition of success.

Last night, at the annual PRWeek Awards, RLF Communications’ campaign for the International Civil Rights Center & Museum’s grand opening won the Promotional Event of the Year award. RLF’s campaign was recognized over successful campaigns from much larger agencies.

One of the judges noted that the RLF team “hit it out of the park” with the opening.

The event drew 3,000 spectators; more than 200 members of various media; 500 VIPs; and elected federal and state officials – far exceeding the museum’s objectives of attracting between 2,000 and 2,500 diverse attendees to the ceremony.

With 192 million media impressions and 700 broadcast stories nationally, coverage included ABC World News and CBS Evening News, as well as a USA Today cover, among others. The museum’s Facebook fan page attracted more than 11,000 fans in the six weeks before and immediately after the opening.

This is not the first time RLF’s work for the International Civil Rights Center & Museum has been recognized. For more details about the PRWeek award, go to PRWeek’s website.

When RLF Communications undertook the assignment to promote the International Civil Rights Center & Museum’s historic Feb. 1, 2010 opening, our objective was to capture national recognition for a civil rights landmark. We were extremely pleased with the campaign’s results and honored PRWeek has named it
one of the year’s top five promotional campaigns.

The list of PRWeekAward finalists represents some of the biggest and best public relations companies in the world (Fleishman-Hillard, Golin Harris, MS&L, Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide) advocating causes both serious (bringing clean water to 1 billion people, celebrating the Boy Scouts of America’s 100th anniversary) and fun (Pop Tarts in Times Square and Christmas Caroling to Celebrate the Holidays). It will be a pleasure to share the stage with these agencies and their clients at the awards ceremony in March. We also look forward to celebrating with our Worldcom Public Relations Group partners who are finalists in other categories, such as Padilla Speer Beardsley and Marina Maher Communications.
 
To learn more about the PRWeek Awards, and the list of 2011 finalists, click here. And if you haven’t made plans
to visit the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, we hope you will journey to North Carolina soon to see this
national treasure and visit the RLF office just a few blocks away.

Feb. 1, 2010 Grand Opening of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum shortlisted for 2011 PRWeek Award - Promotional Event of the Year.

Last night, RLF Communications and the International Civil Rights Center & Museum were honored with a Triad first for advertising – the American Advertising Federation’s (AAF) prestigious Mosaic award for AAF’s District 3 (NC, SC and Va). The Mosaic award recognizes advertising and creative excellence for successfully integrated multicultural and diversity campaigns. The event was hosted by the Triad chapter of the AAF and held at the International Civil Rights Center & Museum.

RLF also received eight ADDY® awards from the AAF regional level. Led by Creative Director Ron Irons, the agency earned five Gold ADDY® and three Silver ADDY® awards. All awards were presented for print, outdoor and campaign ads created on behalf of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum.

Earlier this year, RLF won 14 ADDY® awards at the local level and two national Silver ADDY® awards for a total of 25 honors for this campaign.

RLF Creative Director Ron Irons Receives AAF Mosaic Award

Even in a deep recession, the public relations profession is turning out amazing and meaningful work for clients.

That thought has resonated for me during the last month, since I attended the SABRE awards dinner at the gorgeous Cipriani building across from Grand Central Station in New York City in May. More than 1,000 public relations professionals had gathered for one of the big three awards shows to honor the best campaigns and teams in our industry (the PR Week Awards and Silver Anvil Awards are the other two major national awards).

Paul Holmes, the organizer of the SABRE Awards – which stands for Superior Achievement in Branding and Reputation – set the tone for the evening when he remarked that despite all of the economic troubles that have challenged our industry, the number of entries for SABRE recognition set a record (1,700) and the quality had never been higher.

As Paul noted, public relations has demonstrated that reach and frequency are not enough to create successful outcomes in today’s world. There must be engagement as well, and public relations has taken a leadership position among the communications disciplines in creating engaging, meaningful campaigns. This is particularly true in the realm of social media, which our profession has done a remarkable job of weaving into the overall communications mix.

Over the course of five hours (from the first cocktail to the closing coffee), Aleasha Vuncannon and I had the opportunity to talk with fascinating professionals from around the country, review the lists of finalists for the awards in each category, and enjoy the pageantry of an event as a participant (instead of as a behind-the-scenes organizer, which is our normal role!).

And when our time came, when the finalists for the top campaign in the category of Educational & Cultural Institutions were announced, we were thrilled to hear that our work in partnership with the International Civil Rights Center & Museum had been recognized as the best in our business. We had felt like it was worthy of this recognition. We knew how hard our team had worked and how much had been accomplished. Yet, we still held our breath in anticipation as the winner was announced, because every campaign that had made the finals had strong results.  It felt good to scream when we heard the results.

Here is a brief glimpse into the work that we did for the grand opening of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum:

After the dinner, Aleasha and I walked through Times Square at midnight, dressed in our best clothes, carrying a deceptively heavy trophy and reflecting on the evening (not surprisingly, no one batted an eye at us or thought we were out-of-place in the crazy scene that is Times Square). It feels good to do great work for clients, to create campaigns that generate meaningful results and advance our client’s objectives. We do this work not for awards, but when we strive to be one of the very best agencies in our industry, it is evenings like this that provide the mileposts to let us know that our agency is on the right road.

RLF Communications’ work on behalf of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro, N.C., has been recognized by The Holmes Report. RLF was named a finalist earlier today in the silver category for the SABRE awards. In addition, RLF’s public service announcement campaign, “Stand Up. March On. Learn More.” received a certificate of recognition in the bronze category.

The 2010 SABRE awards ceremony will be held in New York, N.Y., on May 11.

RLF Communications, led by its Creative Director Ron Irons, had a big night at the AAF Triad’s Addy Awards on Saturday. More than 150 people representing advertising agencies throughout the Triad attended this annual event honoring the best creative work in the region. Though it was RLF’s first time  entering this competition, it sure wasn’t beginner’s luck that we ended the night with 14 awards – all for  work done on behalf of our client, the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.

RLF won the “Best of Show”, the evening’s highest honor, for the following ad:

RLF won a “Judge’s Choice” award (one of two) for the following ad:

In addition, RLF took home eight Gold ADDY awards and four Silver ADDY awards for other creative work on behalf of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. Congratulations to Ron Irons and everyone at RLF Communications for these well-earned honors

Click here to see more creative work for the International Civil Rights Center & Museum.

Last night, the RLF team attended the 2010 Spinks Awards Banquet, held at the Proximity Hotel in Greensboro, N.C. It was great to see friends and PR industry colleagues.

As the evening’s keynote speaker, Julia Hood, publishing director of PR Week and DMNews, talked about the PR industry’s challenges and the opportunities we should embrace.

The awards ceremony followed, honoring the successes of PR professionals in the Triad.

Account Executive Kathryn Cook accepted the Outstanding PR Award for RLF’s work on the Street Improvement Bonds. The award recognized RLF’s strategy and tactics in helping to recognize the importance of the bonds, leading to their approval in the general election. The bonds passed with nearly 59 percent of the vote – more than the any of the other four bond initiatives on the ballot.

Jennifer Seeley, a former RLF assistant account executive, was named 2009’s Rookie of the Year. She was recognized for her work at RLF and her contributions to the PR community, most recently as co-chair of the Spinks Awards Banquet.

RLF President and CEO Monty Hagler was recognized with the coveted Spinks Award for his unwavering service to PRSA and the public relations industry. Hagler has been an active leader in PRSA for more than a decade and has served numerous roles on the local, regional and national levels.

Other winners at the banquet included Denny Kelly of Bouvier Kelly, Teresa Loflin of High Point Museum and Live Oak Communications, Elon University’s student-run, full service communications agency.