National Safe Boating Council Wins Coveted Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation, Earning National Recognition from Leading Public Relations Professional Organization
NEW YORK (July 5, 2012) — The National Safe Boating Council
received a coveted 2012 Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation from the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) for superior performance in the design and execution of an individual public relations tactic within a broader public relations campaign. Winners of the award were recognized during the 2012 Silver Anvil Awards Evening held June 7 at the Equitable Tower in New York.
The National Safe Boating Council received a 2012 Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation in the Media Relations – Associations/Nonprofit category for its North American Safe Boating campaign, more commonly referred to as the Wear It! campaign. Each year, hundreds drown while boating – many could have been saved with a life jacket. During the 2010 boating season, approximately 88 percent of those who drowned were not wearing life jackets. Each year, the National Safe Boating Council launches a nationwide effort to educate and inform boaters about the importance of life jacket wear and safe behavior. Together with their agency partner, Paul Werth Associates, the NSBC implemented a media relations campaign aimed at reinforcing the ‘Wear It!’ campaign theme – wear your life jacket at all times on the water. Media outreach generated more than 409 million media impressions in outlets such as Reuters, AOL News, Canton Repository and Florida Times-Union, and post-campaign survey showed increased life jacket usage among those who signed the campaign pledge. In addition, President Obama issued a proclamation in support of the campaign.
“The winners of the PRSA Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation are celebrated here and now for more than just a job well done,” said Tanya Morah, APR, 2012 Bronze Anvil chair and associate professor of communications at Wilberforce University. “They are recognized by their peers and industry experts for raising the bar a little bit higher and transforming the good enough into the exceptional. Whether it be traditional media tactics from media releases to feature stories and press kits, or new social media tactics from blogs to webcasts and tweets, the focus is on recognizing excellence.”
The Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation was created by PRSA in 1969 to recognize outstanding public relations tactics — the individual items or components that contribute to the success of an overall program or campaign. Awards of Commendation are possible in 65 categories and subcategories, including Media Relations, Newsletters, Web Sites, Feature Stories, Press/ Media kits, Podcasts, Word-of-Mouth and Blogs.
Entries are judged by teams of PRSA members — and others who have specific category expertise — across the country. Up to two Bronze Anvil Awards of Commendation may be earned in each category or subcategory. No Award of Commendation is bestowed in those categories where the judges feel the entries do not rise to standards set forth for the award by PRSA.
About the National Safe Boating Council
The National Safe Boating Council (NSBC) is the foremost coalition for the advancement and promotion of safer boating through education, outreach, and training. The NSBC accomplishes this mission by promoting outreach and research initiatives that support boating education and safety awareness; improving the professional development of boating safety educators through training; and developing and recognizing outstanding boating safety programs. To learn more about the NSBC and its programs, visit www.safeboatingcouncil.org.
About Paul Werth Associates
Founded in 1963, Paul Werth Associates is an independent, full-service communications firm that helps grow businesses, launch brands and shape strategies for some of the Midwest’s leading organizations. Its core competencies include public relations, public affairs, marketing and branding, B2B advertising and research. Offering strategic counsel and a full array of creative services, Werth also builds digital solutions, social media strategies and Web 2.0 tactics into innovative and effective communications programs for its clients. Werth maintains a nonequity affiliation with MSLGROUP, one of the world’s largest public relations firms with offices throughout the United States, Europe, the Pacific Rim and South America. For more information about Paul Werth Associates, visit www.paulwerth.com.
About the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)
With more than 31,000 members, PRSA is the largest organization of public relations professionals and students. PRSA is comprised of 111 local Chapters organized into 10 geographic Districts; 14 Professional Interest Sections that focus on issues, trends and research relevant to specialized practice areas, such as technology, health care, financial communications, entertainment and sports, and travel tourism; and the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA), which has more than 300 Chapters at colleges and universities in the United States and abroad. PRSA is headquartered in New York.