2010 TPRA Silver Spur/ Best of Texas Awards

The following is reprinted from TPRA materials (but I still mean it).

Get Your Award Entry in by January 21
It’s time to get really serious about entering the Texas Public Relations Association's 2010 Silver Spur/Best of Texas Awards Competition. It’s also not too late to volunteer to judge this outstanding competition.

The last call deadline (with a $50/entry late fee) is 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 21.

Go to www.tpra.com for complete information on preparing and submitting contest entries. Or contact Julie B. Fix, APR, TPRA contest manager, at awards@tpra.com or 713-419-8494.

Nominate a PR Pro for an Award
Do you know a PR professional, business or member of the news media deserving of special recognition?

TPRA is seeking nominations for our special awards, honoring individuals and companies for outstanding contributions to the public relations profession. The award recipients will be recognized during the Leadership Day & Gala on March 5 in Austin.

To submit a nomination in one or more categories, send your nomination by noon January 29 along with supporting information to Scott White at scottwhite@bizcompr.com.

Categories include:
Golden Spur Award - Recognizing a TPRA member for a minimum of 10 years for long-lasting contributions to TPRA and the PR profession.

Outstanding Texas PR Practitioner Award - Recognizing a PR professional for outstanding accomplishments and contributions to the profession.

Alan Scott Rising Star Award - Recognizing a PR professional and TPRA member for at least three years who has demonstrated potential for leadership and outstanding contributions to the profession.

New Member Achievement Award - Recognizing a PR professional who has been a TPRA member for one to three year for significant contributions to the TPRA.

Silver Spur Media Award - Recognizing contributions by a print or broadcast reporter, photographer, editor or producer or a print or broadcast outlet to a public affairs, public education or community relations program that benefited the community.

Lone Star Award - Recognizing a company that places a high priority on public relations and values the function as a key management strategy and the PR practitioners it employs as major contributors to the organization's success.

Deadline for Your Nominations is Noon, January 29.

You Be the Judge
If you’d like to volunteer as a judge, we’ll judge entries from 2 to 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 22 and again from 8 a.m. to noon Saturday, Jan. 23 at the Texas State University Round Rock Education Center in Round Rock. We are still in need of at least 10 people for both Friday and Saturday, so please contact Julie at jbfix@att.net or call her at the above number if you’re available or if you’d like more information before making up your mind. (Julie will tell you that judging a contest is the best way to improve your own contest entries in the future.)

The 2010 Silver Spur/Best of Texas Awards is sponsored by TPRA and the Austin, Central Texas, Dallas, Greater Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio PRSA Chapters.

Silver Spur/Best of Texas Award winners will be honored at the Annual Silver Spur/Best of Texas Awards Banquet Friday, March 5 held in conjunction with the Texas Public Relations Association's Leadership Conference. (See www.tpra.com for details.)

Blogging the Del Oro

By Robert E. Sheldon, APR
PRSA San Antonio Chapter President-Elect

“To have a little recognition, that is very nice, you dig. It is good for the ego, for the psyche.”
– Dexter Gordon

Dexter Gordon, an iconic American jazz tenor saxophonist and Jazz Hall of Fame inductee, got it right when he spoke those words – probably to an audience of his peers after collecting one of numerous awards throughout his career. I was thinking about the emotional, soothing, ego-stroking and positive quality of recognition as my wife, BJ and I were attending the sixth Annual Del Oro Award banquet on May 1.

How many of us wonder, in the push and rush of our public relations careers, whether what we’re doing is any good? Did we break new ground? Craft the perfect press kit? Create abundant awareness and goodwill for our company or client? It’s something that all of need to know at least once in a while.

Our PRSA chapter meted out 37 separate awards that night. That represents nearly a third of all our members in San Antonio, and that should be a comforting equation. It means that most of us are probably doing very good work if we are able to gather together to hand out actual, physical awards to about a third of our number. The truth is that much good work goes unrecognized by organizations and employers of all walks. That’s a shame. More bosses and organizations need to learn how recognition motivates people.

The number of different awards is also a measure of how diversified and segmented our profession has become. We are not all PR generalists or the public face of large corporations or organizations in the news media. The task of communications has become so large and important that it takes specialists of all kinds – people who talk, people who draw, people who write and people who create big ideas. None of us does it all – or we would have just one big Del Oro Award -- and a very short banquet.

We saw young up-and-comers get a nod from their peers that they were doing well right out of the chute. We saw veterans getting recognition for a lifetime of splendid, ethical counseling. And, we saw many mid-career professionals getting kudos for the results of their talents. This is as it should be, because we need recognition at all stages of our careers – when we’re first starting out and need to know that we’ve chosen a good career path; when we’re half-way through our working life and need a reason to keep going; and when we’re in the twilight of our careers and need to know that it was all worth while.

With all the celebration that evening, it was easy to forget the many individuals whose entries were not chosen for recognition. I have been in that category before – as have many of you – and it’s not a fun place to be. But on the positive side, with 37 awards to give out every year, each member ought to get some award about every three years. At least, mathematically. Ah, if only it worked that way!

No, the entries not chosen usually had some fatal flaw – underfunding, no research, seat-of-the-pants-planning, or no way of measuring results. Sometimes that’s all the company or the client gives you to work with. Maybe there ought to be a category for the best “no-budget, no time for planning, do-it-because-the-client-told-you-to” PR program. Hmm. Don’t hold your breath.

In the meantime, let’s try to imagine what it must feel like to bask in the glow of the spotlight and hear the accolades of your peers. Because, it’s one of the drivers of excellence, the explosive spark of accomplishment and part of the reason that we’re all here.

Yes, recognition is a very nice thing. You dig?

Thoughts on the PRSA San Antonio's Del Oro Awards Event

Thursday's PRSA San Antonio's Del Oro Awards banquet was quite an evening. The crowd was the biggest we've ever had. It was nice to see first-time PRSA award winners and hear about some amazing PR work. We also had winners present from the Corpus Christi police department. The news release with a photo was sent out by Business Wire yesterday.

I had the privilege of sharing a table with three sons of Juanita and Tex Taylor. Our biggest individual award is named after the late Tex Taylor. His wife passed away a few weeks ago. Several of the speakers talked about Tex's generous support of young PR professionals.

I'm also happy to say we raised good money for the Marilyn Potts Endowment Fund. In the silent auction, I personally took home vouchers for 17 pizzas (if you know me, you'll understand).

Our PR Professional of the Year winner, Kami Watson Huyse, APR, has shared her wonderful speech on her blog. I've been given permission to share the speech of our Horizon Winner, Randy Escamilla below.

Fellow Honorees or Stars as we're called tonight: Kelly, Kami and Adrianna; fellow PRSA members; Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word;ladies and gentlemen. Thank you all very much!

I have to tell you a little story: When I found out I was the recipient of the Horizon Award I sent out an email to some of my friends. One of them, quickly responded, "Could this be Divine Intervention?"

Certainly, this could not have happened without help from Above. And, fortunately I have had rich and meaningful guidance from friends along this new-found journey into public relations.

Exactly three years ago this month-I left a fun and crazy career in TV news. There was no doubt I'd transition into public relations...and I've had to learn that PR means much more than just press releases.

I would not be here tonight without the guidance and support of the Public Relations Society of America and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word. There are Sisters present here tonight -- giants of our community. Please stand and be recognized.

And it's not by accident that both organizations; PRSA and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, share values and missions which mirror each other with a clear focus on ethics. Two great institutions which not only invite me to join-to be a part of---but allow me to serve. And what an honor that is.

The truth is, tonight's award is not about me. It's about the people who really have allowed me to further my knowledge, interest, investment and love of public relation
specifically Sister Walter Maher, Kami Watson Huyse, APR, and Pascual Gonzalez.

I'd also like to acknowledge Bob McCullough, APR, and Lorraine Pulido-Ramirez who nominated me for this award. Please stand and be recognized. I'm also grateful to the late Marilyn Potts, our Chapter president, who we lost tragically a couple of years ago. I met Marilyn at my first PRSA mixer and she immediately made me feel welcome. It is Marilyn's warm and genuine spirit which lives on in our Chapter and encompasses PRSA.

Never could I have imagined just a few years ago that I'd be travelling around the world as part of a team working with the world's poorest people and saving African babies from AIDS. It's part of my journey in this honorable profession. And this award is for them.

Tonight, we are called stars of public relations. Stars are bright, warm and glowing. Stars always shine brighter when they're part of great constellations.

It's an honor for me to receive the 2008 Horizon Award and to be a part of the great constellations of PRSA and the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word.

Thank you!!!

TPRA Silver Spur/Best of Texas Awards Competition

From the call for entries…

Hold on to your hats and buckle your seat belts! Before the 2008 roller coaster we’re all on gets too far along the tracks, don’t forget we're already moving fast toward the entry deadlines for the 2008 Silver Spur/Best of Texas Awards Competition. The “First Call” deadline is 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 17. The “Last Call” deadline (with a $50/entry late fee) is 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 24.

Visit www.tpra.com for entry information and the online payment form. Or, for more information, contact Julie B. Fix, APR, TPRA Contest Manager, at awards@tpra.com">awards@tpra.com or call 281-494-6097.

The 2008 Silver Spur/Best of Texas Awards is sponsored by the Texas Public Relations Association and the Austin, Central Texas, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, and San Antonio PRSA Chapters. Members of all sponsoring organizations qualify for the "member" rate on entry fees.

The best work in Texas public relations will be recognized at The 2008 Silver Spur/Best of Texas Annual Awards Banquet, Saturday, March 1 at the St. Anthony Hotel in San Antonio, in conjunction with TPRA's Annual Conference, Feb. 29 – March 2. Mark your calendars and make plans to celebrate with your PR friends. (For information about the conference, visit www.tpra.com)