2012 21st Anniversary Pinnacle Awards

“A 21-gun salute to the best in PR.”

CPRS Hamilton is proud to present the 21st anniversary of the Pinnacle Awards to be held at the James Street Armoury in Hamilton on April 12, 2012. Click here to view the 2012 Pinnacles flyer:
2012-Pinnacles-Invitation-and-Award-Categories

Be a part of CPRS Hamilton’s celebration and excitement by submitting your best work to showcase. Don’t wait until the last minute…start preparing your entry now!

Entry submission deadline is March 22, 2012, at 4:00 pm.  Deadline for special award nominations is March 27, 2012. 

Guidelines for submissions are below (please read these guidelines carefully as they have be revised).

• Eligibility and Entry Forms for Communication Programs and Communication Projects
• Judging
• Winners
• Entries for Communication Programs Entry Work Plan
• Work Plan Support Materials
• Categories Communication Programs
• Entries for Communications Projects Entry Work Plan
• Categories Communication Projects
• Entries for Special Awards
• Categories Special Awards

Further details on the Pinnacle Awards gala will be announced at a later date.

Good luck to everyone!

Eligibility for Communication Programs and Communication Projects

All CPRS Hamilton members in good standing as of March 22, 2012, are eligible to enter the Pinnacle Awards. A member is in good standing if dues have been paid in full and received by the administration at the national office or, for student and supplier members, by the Membership Chair no later than March 22, 2012. Each program or project entered in the Pinnacle Awards must have been executed by the CPRS Hamilton member(s) submitting the entry. Each submission must have been planned, produced, and completed within a period of two years prior to the entry deadline.

• New members may submit their membership application and dues with their submission.
• You may enter more than one category.
• Each Pinnacle Award submission for either a Communication Program or Communication Project must be accompanied by a non-refundable $50 entry fee.
• The fee for student submissions is $25 per entry.

Completed submissions must be received by 4 p.m. March 22, 2012. No electronic submissions via email will be accepted.  Please ensure that all hand delivered submissions are in a sealed envelope.

Submissions should be sent to:
Grace Diffey, Hamilton Community Foundation
120 King St. W., Hamilton, ON  L8P 4V2 

Submissions (in a sealed envelope) may also be delivered to the Hamilton Community Foundation,
between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. All inquiries can be sent to Nancy Hutton, CPRS Hamilton President, at .

Judging

Submissions will be evaluated by an independent panel of judges recognized for their experience and expertise in public relations. All judges will be from outside the Hamilton area and not members or affiliates of CPRS Hamilton.

All entries will be evaluated according to a point system. In evaluating programs and projects, judges will be looking for specific factors and criteria, as well as adherence to sound communication planning methods.

Pinnacle Awards judges reserve the right to recognize only those entries that meet the evaluation criteria. Judges will present one Pinnacle Award per category for the highest scoring submission above 85 per cent. In the case of more than one entry exceeding the 85 percent mark, the highest scoring entry will be deemed the winner. An Award of Merit will go to the second highest scoring submission above 75 per cent in each category. If no entry scores 75 per cent or above in a category, no award will be given.

Winning entries should show originality, meet clearly stated objectives and show measurable results. Judges look for careful planning and documentation of an entry’s success at meeting stated objectives. Judges also consider how well a program or project is conceived, created and executed, and how appropriate the strategy and objectives are in relation to results achieved.

Please note, if an individual has won an award in a previous year for a project such as a newsletter or website, the individual must present the major changes that make the project different from when the award was initially presented.

Winners

All awards will be presented at a gala dinner on April 12, 2012, at the James Street Armoury in Hamilton. Pinnacle Award winners will receive a glass sculpture and a certificate of recognition. Award of Merit winners will be awarded a certificate of recognition.

Entries for Communication Programs Entry Work Plan

All entry materials should be submitted in a three-ring binder or presentation folder for easy assessment by the judges. Each entry must include the following:

• Entry data and entry fee
• Entry work plan
• Support material

Please limit your entry work plan to four typed pages (8.5” x 11”), plus one title page. Your entry will be disqualified if you exceed the limit. Please include the following information: 2012-pinnacle-awards-submission-form

• Entrant name(s)
• Organization name
• Category
• Title of entry
• 50-word description/summary of entry
• Time period of project/program
• Names of any participants or suppliers you would like to be recognized, should your entry win

Overall, your entry work plan should be similar to a standard case study and list communication goals and objectives, strategies and evaluation methods. Specifically, your entry submission should include the following information:

• Research and Analysis – 15%: Situation and needs analysis, clearly stated communication goals and objectives, identification of target publics/audiences, budget. Use of RACE (Research, Analysis, Communication and Evaluation) formula must be clearly defined.
• Planning and Implementation – 35%: Judges will look for strategy, innovation, creativity, PR/communication tools selection, management of human and financial resources, judgment, appropriateness of supporting material and overall quality of execution. Remember to include your budget. Marks will be deducted for those who do not provide details of budget and/or resources.
• Results and Evaluation – 20%: Submissions will be judged for the measurement/evaluation techniques used, how well the goals and objectives were met and the overall impact of the program or project.
• Quality of Presentation – 30%: The overall clarity, creativity and completeness of your total submission (work plan and support materials) will be appraised.

Work Plan Support Materials

To illustrate and support your entry submission, you must also include materials such as, but not limited to, media releases, examples of media coverage, PSAs, publications, collateral materials (posters, brochures, etc.) videos, slides, photographs, artwork, audit surveys or communication program schedules. All materials should be included in the three-ring binder or presentation folder and labeled clearly. No electronic submissions via email will be accepted. Media submissions should be in CD or DVD format.

Categories Communication Programs

1. EXTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

Programs geared to improve relationships with the community, influence public attitude and behaviour, to generate greater public understanding of the organization, and/or increase corporate or organizational identity with various audiences. The external communications categories include:

a) Communication Management

Communication programs that demonstrate the full range of a public relations
practitioner’s management skills and draws on multiple areas of public relations practice (e.g. media relations, employee relations, branding, crisis management, communication audits, corporate communications) to enhance or determine the effectiveness of an organization’s strategic direction.

b) Marketing Communications

Programs that integrate public relations, marketing and advertising strategies to help market products, services or places to external audiences.

c) Community Relations

Community programs (e.g. volunteerism, philanthropy, partnerships) that enable an organization to build and maintain positive and sustainable relationships with key individuals, groups or organizations within its communities.

d) Corporate Identity

Programs designed to improve, enhance or maintain an organization’s overall corporate image and identity, to generate greater understanding of the organization, to inform those audiences about the organization’s position on public issues or to influence the attitude and behaviour of those audiences.

e) Media Relations

Programs that exhibit improvement of an organization’s media profile measured against desired objectives, or the adept management of issues involving media coverage, or the development of a successful media relations campaign.

f) Issues/Crisis Management

Communication programs that demonstrate both preventive action and proactive planning in dealing with an extraordinary event, or addressing trends, issues and/or stakeholder attitudes that have a significant impact on an organization.

g) Government Relations

Programs targeted at government bodies and government agencies or programs that recognize the effective use of public affairs to change/enlist public opinion in order to influence government policy and/or regulations.

2. INTERNAL COMMUNICATIONS

Communication programs targeted toward internal employee audiences. Programs should employ a variety of communication tools to meet specific goals and objectives or contribute to the realization of long-term organizational goals (improve employee-management relations, enhance organizational communication, motivation and awareness, explain new corporate policies or plans). Internal communications programs can be characterized by their on-going or permanent nature, or can be a one-time campaign.

3. STUDENT PROJECT AWARD

This category is open to any member who, in the 2010 calendar year, was a full- or part-time student, or to any student team enrolled in a recognized community college or university PR program. Entries (school assignments) must clearly illustrate the correct and full use of the RACE (Research, Analysis, Communication and Evaluation) formula. Entry fee for this category is $25 per submission.

Entries for Communication Projects Entry Work Plan

All entry materials should be submitted in a three-ring binder or presentation folder for easy assessment by the judges. Each entry must include the following:

• Entry data and entry fee
• Entry work plan
• Support material

Please limit your entry work plan to four typed pages (8.5” x 11”), plus one title page. Your entry will be disqualified if you exceed the limit. 2012-pinnacle-awards-submission-form. Make sure to include the following information:

• Entrant name(s)
• Organization name
• Category
• Title of entry
• 50-word description/summary of entry
• Time period of project/program
• Names of any participants or suppliers you would like to be recognized, should your entry win.

Overall, your entry work plan should be similar to a standard case study and include the following:

• Need – 5%: Explain what need the project filled for your organization or client.
• Goals and Objectives – 15%: State clearly goals and objectives, identification of target publics/audiences and budget. It is important that a budget be included in your submission.
• Execution – 40%: Judges will look for innovation, creativity, management and effective utilization of resources, judgment and overall quality of the tactics.
• Results – 10%: Submissions will be judged for the results of the tactics; how the goals and objectives were achieved.
• Overall work plan – 30%.

Categories Communication Projects

Awards within these categories are presented to honour excellence in the strategic development of materials and individual PR projects that advance the goals and objectives of an overall public relations program. Special emphasis should be placed on relevance of the initiative(s) in relation to the public relations objectives.

a) Special Events

Any external and/or internal public relations initiative for openings, fundraisers, employee open houses, anniversaries or other ceremonies making a one-time or annual event. A series of special events for different stakeholder groups marking the same occasion may also be submitted.

b) Audio-Visual Projects

Multi-media, video, video media releases, audio only, CD-ROMS or computer-generated slide presentations developed for internal or external target audiences.

c) Print Projects

Printed material developed for internal or external target audiences (e.g. newsletters, annual reports, newspaper inserts, brochures, handbooks, promotional campaigns, posters, programs or displays).

d) Electronic & Interactive Communications

External web sites, intranet sites, web casts, social media, online publications, blogs, wikis, podcasts or interactive kiosks.

e) Writing

This category encompasses original material written for a particular communication project including personality profiles, recurring features or columns, other features, editorials, advertorials, news articles, speeches, scripts, media releases and magazine articles.

Entries for Special Awards

The CPRS Hamilton Special Awards are coveted public relations honours. Unlike the Pinnacle Awards where you submit your own work, Special Awards are nominated by peers. These awards recognize exceptional involvement in the profession. Both the nominee and the nominator must be CPRS Hamilton members in good standing, unless otherwise specified. Due to the stringent criteria, some Special Awards may not be awarded annually.

Each nomination must include a summary that details why the candidate fulfills the nomination criteria. All awards will be presented at a gala dinner during the CPRS Hamilton Pinnacle Awards (on April 12, 2012). Honourees will be featured on the CPRS Hamilton web site.

Please refer to each of the categories below for detailed nomination criteria.