Entries in more than 100 categories are due Friday by 6 p.m. for the 2017 Big Apple Awards of the New York Chapter of PR Society of America, biggest single city chapter with 600+ members.

PRSA-NY Big Apple Awards

An online entry portal aligned with PRSA national’s Silver Anvil Awards provides an easy way to enter the program, said chapter president Olga Gonzalez, founder/CEO, Pietra PR.

This year’s program has 20 new award categories including brand engagement, content marketing, diversity and inclusion, marketing for the arts, culture and media, beauty, fashion, real estate, restaurants and bars, retail and sports.

Gonzalez said the scope of the 100+ award categories was carefully reviewed and more carefully defined and in many cases expanded to better represent the work of communications professionals in the Tri-State region.

Olga GonzalezOlga Gonzalez

Budget information is no longer required in the two-page summary reports. Confidential information may be excluded from the reports. Budget info is required in the online form but it will be considered confidential for review only by Big Apple judges, she said.

Entries may provide supplemental information such as text, graphics, presentations, research or other assets.

Member entries are $400 for one, $725 for two and $1,015 for three. Non-member entries are $450 for one, $725 for two and $1,200 for three.

The chapter’s website provides for member log-in as well as a register button to set up new accounts. The new accounts will be set up as non-members.

Invited are entries from in-house corporate, government, and association communications teams, agencies of all size, and independent practitioners.

Diversity & Inclusion Debuts

The 2017 Big Apple Awards includes a Diversity and Inclusion Campaign Award (Category 25) and a corresponding Spotlight Award (Category 33). There are subcategories for business, government, associations and non-profit groups and for campaigns of $150K or less.

The awards “recognize and showcase the investments of time, creativity, resources and the long-term commitment that agencies and firms are making in D&I,” said the chapter.

D&I “must be the key actor who remained center stage throughout the campaign, demonstrating a unique ability to collaborate, identify problems, develop solutions and make recommendations with confidence,” it said.

The Spotlight Award focuses on a specific D&I activity that could be “part of a larger campaign that embraces differences in ethnicity, gender, age, national origin, disability, sexual orientation, education and religion.”

Angela Chitkara, associate director, Big Apple Awards and assistant professor, PR Track director, Branding and Integrated Communications program at City College of New York, is working on research with The Holmes Report involving the role of the CEO in D&I.

Ketchum & Michelin Won in 2016

Ketchum and Michelin took top honors at the Big Apple Awards June 2, 2016 for the "Beyond the Driving Test" campaign. More than 250 attended the event at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel.

Joe Cohen, Grace Leong, Art Stevens(L to R) Joe Cohen, Grace Leong & Art Stevens

Other top winners included Butler Assocs. and the Uniformed Firefighters Assn. of Greater New York for a campaign marketing the restoration of disability benefits for city firefighters.

Coyne PR and Just Born Quality Confections/PEEPS won for best use of research, measurement and evaluation for a campaign highlighting how PEEPS candy moved beyond Easter into other holidays.

The chapter honored Hunter PR CEO and partner Grace Leong with the John W. Hill Award for lifetime achievement in PR. KIND Healthy Snacks senior VP of communications Joe Cohen took home the Philip Dorf Award for leadership and mentorship.

Stevens Group managing partner Art Stevens was given the president's award for ethical conduct and service to the chapter and PRSA national.

"WPIX 11 Morning News" reporter Kirstin Cole presented awards in 44 categories.

MasterCard was the first recipient of the Outstanding PR Leadership Award, which recognizes a corporate contribution to PR. Also new is the "15 Under 35" award that goes to "the most inspired and inspiring young talent" in PR in the New York metro area.