O'Keeffe & Co., a tech firm in Alexandria, Va., is putting up $5K for its second "Tech PR Idol Challenge." The competition, which selflessly has the firm giving an award to another agency (last year, anyway), involves a hypothetical IT&T business/marketing problem and challenges contestants -- from college students to senior execs -- to write a PR fix. The challenge: an information security software company needs customer references to validate its messaging and spokesperson's claims. Annual PR budget=$150K.
Weber Shandwick GM Robert Dowling won the contest last year.
Stephen O'Keefe, who heads O&C, noted the judging panel (his firm's senior management team) even includes a smart aleck with a British accent a ala Simon Cowell.
College students up to senior execs can pitch. Details are here.