2021 Award Winners
Merit Awards
These winning entries earned a score between 60 - 84
Community Relations Campaign
Woodstock Park Improvement Project
Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation and HRSD
HRSD and Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation (VBPR) entered a mutually beneficial partnership aligning parks and recreation planning with wastewater utility infrastructure needs. This partnership culminated in a multiuse facility that serves the Virginia Beach community while also meeting important regional infrastructure demands.
The Woodstock Park Project consisted of a 5.2-million gallon offline storage tank designed to help reduce the risk of wet-weather-related sanitary sewer overflows, topped by an integrated green roof and cutting-edge, 30,000-sq.-ft. skatepark for the wheeled sport community. The partnership also allowed VBPR to accelerate their planned renovations and improvements throughout Woodstock Park. This project features more than a year worth of community outreach including meetings, social media outreach and more.
COVID-19 Tactic
Online Recreation Center Reservations Campaign
Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation
Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation (VBPR) took a multimedia approach to reopen the rec centers with a new online reservation process to meet health and safety requirements. The
online process was new to members and required clear communication, instructional materials, and safety guidelines that were shared via email, web site, and reinforced on Facebook and local media outlets.
COVID-19 Tactic
Vaccinate Norfolk Senior Outreach
City of Norfolk
Virginia’s initial COVID-19 vaccination preregistration program only permitted online preregistrations. Norfolk has a large population of socially vulnerable residents and elderly without access to internet and these residents needed hands-on help to preregister. The City’s call center was overrun with calls from residents without internet access and seniors asking for help preregistering for the vaccine. A team of city departments banded together to reopen closed rec centers in areas around the city and staff the locations with employees who could help sign up residents. Additional materials were created with COVID information.
Creative Writing
Serkan Gogle article, Spring 2021 Monarch Magazine
Old Dominion University
When national news reports came out in July 2020 about the release of ODU alumnus Serkan
Golge from a Turkish jail after he was falsely accused of participating in a coup – the genesis of an article for Monarch Magazine was born. Extensive research and an engaging interview with Serkan and fellow ODU physicists created a piece worthy of this Merit Award for Creative Writing.
Magazines
Monarch Magazine summer 2020, spring 2021; Monarch Extra, Dec. 2020
Old Dominion University
The target audience is alumni and this magazine goes to more than 120,000 graduates and also is distributed on campus and locally. The magazine strives to connect readers with major developments and intriguing personalities on the Old Dominion University campus and within the alumni base, to reflect the diversity of both, and to create a winning blend of words and images to keep readers glued from first page to last.
Video Programs
The Women of Team Norfolk
City of Norfolk
The month of March is known as National Women’s History Month and the City of Norfolk decided it was the perfect time to honor the women who serve that city. Each Wednesday, a new video launched, highlighting women in various fields including Public Works, Fire-Rescue, Libraries, Utilities, and Recreation, Parks and Open Space. Women selected to be featured
showed women in “untraditionally female” roles or overcoming hurdles.
Video Programs
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Leader Professional Development Program
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) recruits, trains, educates, develops and builds the Army; establishes standards, drives improvement, and leads change to ensure the Army can deter, fight, and win on any battlefield now and into the future.
This mission was challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. The command sought to develop a program that could engage with the nearly 40,000 Soldiers and more than 14,000 civilians who work at TRADOC locations throughout the continental United States, while maintaining social distance and following COVID-19 protocols. Individual webinars and subsequent short videos successfully reached more than 9,000 individuals.
Video Programs
Hidden Treasures
Virginia Beach Parks & Recreation
When COVID closed the indoors, the team at Virginia Beach Parks and Recreation opened up the outdoors in a video series highlighting the hidden treasures found off the beaten path of many trails and parks in the city. These 27 video treasures are still played today.
Excellence Awards
These winning entries earned a score between 85 - 100
COVID-19 Campaign
Reign Responsibly
Old Dominion University
At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Old Dominion University immediately developed
communications to ensure the safety of the Monarch community of around 24,000 students and over 3,000 faculty and staff. After the immediate transition to remote learning and work was complete, a new messaging need – establishing a blueprint for a safe return to campus – had to be addressed. ODU’s Strategic Communications and Marketing staff collaborated to develop “Reign Responsibly,” a comprehensive messaging campaign that established a call to action, a unified brand and useful content to remind all of campus that safety is a shared responsibility.
Creative Writing
Coliseum Parking Attendant Has Had a “Great Ride” at Iconic Hampton Venue
Hampton Coliseum/Hampton Arts Commission
In 2020, the iconic Hampton Roads entertainment venue, Hampton Coliseum, celebrated 50 years. Although COVID-19 deterred many planned events from happening, the team still wanted to celebrate the occasion by earning coverage from local media. Instead of simply listing highlights from the past 50 years (as was done for the 40th anniversary), the team focused their efforts on a human-interest story, exploring the work experience of the longest-serving employee, JT Castelloe. The interview, which accounted for more than 95 percent of the article’s content, predominantly fulfilled the objective for a first-person account of life as a veteran Hampton Coliseum employee.
Internal/Employee Communications
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Leader Professional Development Program
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) recruits, trains, educates, develops and builds the Army; establishes standards, drives improvement, and leads change to ensure the Army can deter, fight, and win on any battlefield now and into the future.
This mission was challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic. The command sought to develop a program that could engage with the nearly 40,000 Soldiers and more than 14,000 civilians who work at TRADOC locations throughout the continental United States, while maintaining social distance and following COVID-19 protocols. Individual webinars and subsequent short videos successfully reached more than 9,000 individuals.
Best in Show
The Best in Show award is given to the entry that earned the highest score from our judges. This year’s Best in Show award went to:
U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command
Internal/Employee Communications
U.S. Army Training Doctrine Command Leader Professional Development Program
Rising Star
The Rising Star Award honors a current member of PRSA Hampton Roads who
has worked in the public relations field for less than five years and who has demonstrated a commitment to the field of public relations and an aptitude for leadership through their involvement in, and contributions to, the chapter.
This year, the Rising Star Award was presented to Rebecca Hansen.
Rebecca Hansen began her career in December 2016 as the Marketing and Community Relations lead at Sky Zone Greensboro. Her commitment to the public relations profession is exhibited by her willingness to learn and grow through new opportunities, including taking on her latest role at Hampton Coliseum/Hampton Arts Commission that more closely aligns with the tasks of a PR practitioner.
Rebecca regularly attends chapter meetings, participates in special events, serves as chair on the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee and frequently posts relevant communications content online in the chapter’s social media groups on Facebook and LinkedIn.
She joined the DEI committee in 2020 when it was announced that there were no active members and thereby used her efforts to help increase enrollment to eight members-- one of the largest committees currently in the chapter.