Save the date to join us as we celebrate the “Best in Maryland”! We are planning a very exciting and different awards gala this year in the beautiful Mt. Washington Mill Dye House. More information coming this summer!
And watch your mailboxes for The Call for Entries! Please begin to gather your materials and prepare your entries. For more information and the categories, click here. Deadline for Entries is August 16 for Early Bird and August 30 for final.
Click here for a list of our nominees and see who you’ll be celebrating with!
The evening includes a festive cocktail hour, dinner, and awards presentation.
Featuring emcees …
Kate Amara, Reporter, WBAL-TV
Click here to read about Kate
Barry Simms, I-Team Reporter, WBAL-TV
Click here to read about Barry
Event Details:
Reception: 5:30 p.m.
Dinner: 6:30 p.m.
Awards ceremony follow
Tickets – Includes reception and dinner (choice of 3 entrees). Cash bar available.
Online Registration is now closed. There are limited seats left. Please contact us at info@prsamd.org for more information.
*We will be raffling off several items with proceeds going to the Kathleen Kelly Undergraduate Scholarship. Be sure to bring cash.
Centerpiece (co-sponsor)
Centerpiece (co-sponsor)
Want to join the list? We have several unique opportunities to get your brand noticed including exclusive Dinner, Dessert and Centerpiece sponsorships. Or you can sponsor our pre-dinner reception with one of two sponsorships including Cocktail or Hors d’oeuvres (multiple available). Click here for more details or call us at PRSA Maryland Chapter office 301-725-2508 to create one of your own.
The Devaney team had so much fun with #BIM last year, they are still talking about! Don’t miss out on your chance to take home a #BIM18 and have much to celebrate all 2019.
Last date for Best In Maryland entries submission is one week away – September 14!
New Category this year: Influencer communications!
The entry process is fully electronic (no binders to build!) and we even have tips on creating a winning entry to help you. Categories are diverse ranging from traditional PR campaign and tools to podcasts, video, and influencer communication; click here for a complete list!
And we have an array of professional awards including PR Team!
For instructions on submitting, click here.
For information on the Dec 12 Gala, click here.
Printing
Here are some tips from past winners to help you bring home that award.
#1: The military calls it “lessons learned.”
“Before you dive into this year’s award entries, take a moment to review previous entries – winning submissions and non-winners alike – with special attention to where the entry submissions excelled, where they may have fallen short, and how they could have been improved. Take these lessons learned from previous entries and apply them to your current submissions.”
“Entering for the first time? Tap colleagues who are willing to share entries they’ve submitted to previous Best in Maryland competitions. You’ll be able to conduct the same “lessons learned” review of the entries, and you may even pick up an idea or two that you hadn’t thought of including in your own submissions!” – Tom Williams, APR, Maryland Public Television
#2: Bookmark the entry guidelines webpage and review its contents often.
“In addition to providing specific directions for each of the four categories that are required of all entry submissions, the page provides several questions your team’s submissions must answer.”
“Once your entry is ready for submission, conduct a final check by going over each question posed on the guidelines webpage and your team’s answer to each. All done? Send in your entry – and best wishes for your success!” – Fran Minakowski, APR, Fellow PRSA, Maryland Public Television
#3: Focus on what makes your campaign unique.
“Try thinking about your campaign from beginning to end and pick out the points that make it most unique. Consider the different award categories and try to think where the unique aspect of your campaign will stand out the most. While there may be a lot of competition, using the most original and most creative aspects of your campaign as a competitive edge will make you stand out to the judges, especially in specific award categories. The BIM Early Bird deadline is fast approaching, and you don’t want to miss it! Submit by August 31.” – Claire Howachyn, Van Eperen
Here’s a peek into News Generation, Inc.‘s winning campaign in Media Relations – Assoc/Nonprofit/Govt category: Educating and Empowering Americans with Financial Literacy.
Finances. It is a frequent, sometimes difficult, but necessary topic of conversation between spouses, parents and children, and adults and their parents. The American Bankers Association (ABA) works to make this necessary conversation and subsequent action and preparedness as seamless and easy to understand as possible. Representing banks across the United States, the ABA works to educate, inform and empower people to take control of their finances, or those of family members in their care. To leverage the newsworthy and timely resources, tools and information it offers, ABA engaged a media strategy heavily focused on earned radio outreach. ABA partnered with News Generation, a broadcast media relations firm based in Bethesda, to develop, pitch and implement an effective media relations outreach campaign.
Together they launched a cohesive campaign of six messages, and six resulting radio media tours, working toward the goal of educating the public on the role hometown banks play in helping economic growth and empowering Americans with financial literacy. Sixty radio interviews were secured, with highlights including interviews that aired nationally on NBC News Radio (formerly 24/7 News Source at the time), Bloomberg Network, Compass Media Networks, and American Urban Radio Network. As well as airings on statewide or metro-area interviews with 16 different networks, and airings on the top news and top news-talk stations in Atlanta, Detroit, San Antonio, Fargo-Valley City, and Rapid City, as ranked by Nielsen.
The radio media tours reached a total of 74,754,470 listeners, almost 25 percent above the initial goal set out by the collaborating teams. The campaign delivered an incredible cost per point (CPP) of $.00037, or less than four one-hundredths of one penny, to reach each listener. The American Bankers Association saw engagement in the areas the radio media tours focused on, largely contributing to the advancement and awareness of the association, its focus and multi-faceted expertise.
According to Nielsen, the leading company on global information and media measurement, 93 percent of people 12 years of age and older listen to the radio each week. In addition, radio interviews allow reporters to engage the spokesperson, seeking clarity from experts and steering content towards their anticipated audience needs.
News Generation compiled the most relevant and newsworthy information into the media pitch. The pitching team extensively researched the most appropriate national and statewide networks, as ranked by Nielsen, as well as media markets in which the most relevant coverage would best represent its largest news or news-talk station. News Generation personally pitched each reporter, host and producer via telephone and email to secure the most relevant interviews based on top listenership and market rank. This all earned-media strategic approach focused on securing quality interviews with highly-ranked networks and stations to maximize on-air time for ABA.
News Generation, Inc. received an Award of Excellence for its work with ABA. Click here for a list of all 2016 Best in Maryland winners.
