Public Relations Society of America Awards Best Practices Among Puget Sound PR Professionals

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Over 200 public relations professionals gathered at the Seattle Aquarium last Wednesday to celebrate the best in their industry at the PRSA Puget Sound’s annual Totem Awards Gala. Publicis Consultants | PR took top honors this year for its campaign, “Changing a Lifetime for America’s Foster Youth.”

“As a PR agency, we always aim to Connect for Good – to build lasting relationships between our clients and their stakeholders”

Publicis Consultants | PR led publicity efforts for the 2007 National Foster Care Month (NFCM) campaign, working with Casey Family Programs to promote volunteerism and support for 14 nonprofit agencies serving the interests of foster children. Working with partner agency BLH Consulting, and little in the way of hard news, the Publicis campaign scored major media coverage. NFCM messages appeared in 16 national stories and reached a combined audience and circulation of 132 million – far exceeding the past year's reach and driving 69% growth in traffic to the campaign's web site.

"As a PR agency, we always aim to Connect for Good – to build lasting relationships between our clients and their stakeholders,” said Hannah Coan, Managing Director of Publicis Consultants | PR in Seattle. “It's hard to name a better example than this campaign. Involving a coalition of 14 foster care organizations, a long roster of spokespeople, innovative traditional and social media solutions, and hundreds of media conversations, we indeed connected for the good of America's 513,000 foster children."

Among other PRSA honors, the award for Outstanding Young Professional was presented to Brittany Turner of Edelman, based on work she did on the Microsoft SideWinder™ Mouse launch.

There were a number of multiple winners this year, including top local firms Waggener Edstrom, Edelman, Publicis and Porter Novelli. A complete list of 2008 Totem Award winners is available at www.totemawards.com.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors I wish to congratulate the 2008 winners," PRSA Puget Sound chapter President Janelle Guthrie said. “The Totem Awards have long been the showcase of the best public relations tactics and campaigns in the Puget Sound. This year is no exception.”

Sponsors for the event included: Cision, Nyhus Communications, Weber Shandwick, Publicis Consultants | PR, and Next Graphics.

About PRSA:

The Public Relations Society of America, based in New York City, is the world's largest organization for public relations professionals. The Society has more than 28,000 professional and student members. PRSA is organized into more than 100 Chapters nationwide, 19 Professional Interest Sections, along with Affinity Groups, which represent business and industry, counseling firms, independent practitioners, military, government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and nonprofit organizations. The Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) has 255 Chapters at colleges and universities throughout the United States.

The Puget Sound Chapter of PRSA is one of the 10 largest PRSA chapters in the nation, with roughly 400 members from throughout Western Washington. Members of this non-profit association represent corporations, agencies, sole practitioners, military, government, health care and other service organizations. For more information, visit www.prsapugetsound.org.