Sunshine Matters

I’m excited to share that VISIT FLORIDA has been named a finalist in the 2011 PRWeek Awards in the “Crisis or Issues Management Campaign of the Year” category for our “Tourism Crisis Management: Gulf Oil Spill” entry.   The PRWeek Awards are said to be the highest accolade in the public relations industry, given each year to the best corporate, nonprofit, agency, and education teams, and the work that they produce.  

According to PRWeek editor-in-chief Steve Barrett, “a PRWeek Award is a unique symbol of achievement and leadership, and immediately sets the winner apart from all others.”

We are in great company with the finalists in our category, which include:

• Edelman and International Research and Exchanges Board (IREX): Free Silva: Politics, Prison and the Power of PR
• VISIT FLORIDA and Ketchum: Tourism Crisis Management: Gulf Oil Spill
• Weber Shandwick Cambridge and Genzyme Corporation: Genzyme Transformation
• Weber Shandwick Dallas and American Airlines: Hijacking Threat Response: American Airlines Tweets with Passengers Aboard Flight AA24
• Weber Shandwick New York and New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau: Not Such Easy Going in the Big Easy

The judges panel is comprised of top professionals from agency, corporate, nonprofit, edu­cation, and government ranks.  These top practitioners come together voluntarily, donating their valuable time to assess each entry in detail.

While final judging took place on Dec. 6, the awards finalists nor the judges know which companies and individuals will take away the top honors.  We won’t find out until the March 10 award ceremony in New York City whether or not we have won, but I can honestly say − given the hundreds of entries PRWeek received − I’m very proud to have made it this far.