Flack Like Me: Congrats to PRSA winners!
July 18th, 2008 by MelissaLast night, the Public Relations Society of America - Hawaii Chapter had its annual Koa Anvil Awards at the Halekulani. Individuals and agencies were honored for outstanding programs and pieces created in 2007 for their companies and clients. (For a complete list of winners, click here.)
As blogger Nathan Kam notes, it’s a very rare night when PR people are in the spotlight, since we are usually working behind the scenes to promote our companies. One of the coolest things for me is being able to see so many of my colleagues at one time–in some cases, this is the ONE night of the year when I ever get to see some of these people! To see photos of my peeps, click here.
A record 111 entries were submitted this year, with 17 Koa Anvil or Hammer awards presented and 41 Awards of Excellence in each category. Just having something to submit is a feat in itself, so everyone really deserves a big pat on the back.
There are a lot of celebrations going on this weekend in honor of these winners, but I wanted to point out one in particular: Nathan Hokama. He was given one of the highest honors by PRSA, the Gregg W. Perry Award (a.k.a. PR Person of the Year). This is a huge achievement in a PR person’s career, even more than getting accredited! It is given to a PR person who has dedicated a lot of time and energy to the advancement of the profession and has been active in PRSA. While Nathan has been active in PRSA for many years, he is especially notable for coming back to the board as treasurer this year when the position suddenly became vacant. For one, PR people are not good at math, so getting a (willing) treasurer requires the planets to line up correctly and the Pope’s blessing sometimes. In addition, Nathan had cycled off the board many years ago after several years of service to PRSA, so getting an old fut like myself to come back also requires an act of God. As a practitioner, he is one of the best crisis communications pros in town–I would name his clients here but I’m not sure if they are all confidential or not!
As I move to the weekend, I just wanted a quick blog to congratulate Nathan, as well as all of my colleagues on their very good work. I’m proud to be a part of this profession, and proud to be associated with such great people.
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p.s. just a shout out to Amy Hennessey, a.k.a. the White Samoan, who has made it a tradition to let out the most authentic “chee hoo” whenever she accepts an award for PCC.
Tags: Amy Hennessey, Gregg Perry Award, Koa Anvils, Nathan Hokama, Nathan Kam, PRSA, PRSA Hawaii, public relations
July 18th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I found your site on technorati and read a few of your other posts. Keep up the good work. I just added your RSS feed to my Google News Reader. Looking forward to reading more from you down the road!
July 18th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
oh wow–u guys are everywhere. u permeate every layer and sublayer of society, both obvious and subliminal. much more complex and omnipresent than i ever suspected. i’m speechless. also impressed. u really do have to be smart, and u all look so good!
July 18th, 2008 at 10:03 pm
hmmmm I smell sarcasm from a hard core journalist, mari!!
July 18th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
Melissa, you didn’t get any award? I’m shocked….
July 19th, 2008 at 8:04 am
OMG! I pop open your blog to find my name in the second paragraph. IMO, I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy…but am honored to be recognized by a fellow blogger and colleague. What a great night at the Koa Anvil Awards and why you don’t enter and win some for Aloha Tower, I don’t know. Maybe Jen can help get you guys entered next year. And last but not least, there couldn’t be a more deserving recipient of the Gregg Perry award this year than Nathan Hokama. Looking forward to seeing everyone again at the next PR shindig…
July 19th, 2008 at 8:30 am
[…] Hawaii’s Best of Show July 18, 2008 UPDATE: Since this posting, two fellow bloggers - Melissa Chang and Christa Wittmier have passed along kind congratulations in their personal blogs. Thought I […]
July 19th, 2008 at 10:17 am
Well, I did bring home a couple of awards two years ago. And yes, I was kind of bitter when I saw Duke’s Ukes won something this year, because MY program was exponentially better!! I think I was too hard on myself as far as what was “good enough to enter.” (M–you have to go thru the process of actually submitting an entry to be considered for an award.) Oh well. Next year…..
BTW Nathan, you ARE worthy!! Best of show, bruddah!!
July 20th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Melissa you’ve done so much for ATM (read: Aloha Tower Marketplace) that you probably should have been up for several awards… or at least several entries for most of the events you orchestrate and all the attention you get for us!
Amy is a champ! Anyone who can run a fund raiser for the purpose of further educating our youth and not scold Joe, Jackie and me for our infantile “team spirit” deserves an award… in addition to all the good I hear she does in her other efforts.
Congrats to all who excelled this past year in the PR realm!
July 21st, 2008 at 9:38 am
Once again, tell me how fancy high mucky-muck food at the Halekulani fits into the Fit or Phat Challenge?