A professor’s outlook on her student’s work can sometimes dull with the daily wear and tear as we grade press releases, critique newsletter design and help future practitioners understand how to properly deploy a survey, among other things.
But there are moments when in a wave it all washes over and one can’t help but marvel at how much these future practitioners can do with a little direction and a lot of creativity and drive.
Wow. And I mean wow.
Mike Neumeier, APR, Courtney Garmhaus, Kristin Ballard, Bridgett Johnson and Dr. Kaye Sweetser, APR+M at the PRSSA Inaugural Ball Ceremony. Neumeier entered the PRSSA Hall of Fame, and Sweetser advised the 2010 Bateman Case Study Competition national champions. Garmhaus, Ballard and Johnson were members of that Bateman team.
The program for the PRSSA Inaugural Ball Awards Ceremony held on Monday evening at the PRSSA National Conference in Washington, D.C. was one of those moments. Public relations practitioners everywhere can rest a little easier knowing that the next generation of PR is already fine-tuning skills, multi-tasking and thinking strategically.
The dinner program listed 18 awards ranging from scholarships, National Golden Key awards to individual student and chapter awards. As citations for each recipient of an award was read one couldn’t help but admire the amazing quality and quantity of work that these students do as a part of PRSSA. Whether working on chapter development or actual public relations campaigns with real clients, the list of accomplishments was beyond impressive as the students were recognized.
The evening was full of wonderful stories of achievements, too many to list here. A sampling of the Dr. F.H. Teahan Chapter Awards winners for 2010 are:
- Outstanding Chapter of the Year – Rulon L. Bradley Chapter at Brigham Young University
- Outstanding Chapter Firm – Alpha Chapter at University of Florida
- Diversity – Drewry Chapter at University of Georgia
In addition to honoring the accomplishments of students, the PRSSA Hall of Fame award was presented to PRSA Georgia chapter‘s Mike Neumeier, APR. Mike’s work on the annual PR Real World conference for students in the southeast was noted among his achievements as continuing support for PR students.
Congratulations to everyone who was recognized at the award ceremony! Your hard work paid off.
Dr. Kaye Sweetser, APR+M, associate professor, H.W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. She is a practitioner, a scholar and had the great pleasure of advising the national champions in the 2010 PRSSA Bateman Case Study Competition. Dr. Sweetser is a member of the APR+M Council. Connect with Kaye on LinkedIn and on Twitter @kaye.
For more coverage on the PRSA 2010 International Conference: Powering PRogress, visit PRSA Intelligence, follow #prsa_ic and the Conference blog.
