2016 Professional Achievement Award (PAA) Guidelines

______

Each year, SPRF member organizations (ECPRO, PRAL, PRAM, PRCA) are invited to nominate one outstanding public relations professional for the SPRF Professional Achievement Award. The recipient of this award is announced at the SPRF annual conference. SPRF established this award to recognize anindividual that has continually demonstrated the highest ideals of the profession as well as acommitment to advance the profession of public relations.

Guidelines for Nomination:

1. Submit all materials in a three-ring binder divided into the following FIVE sections:

  • Biography and Resume —The biography should be written in a narrative style and includeeducational and career background. The resume should be no more than two pages. Include aprofessional headshot of nominee in this section (color copy acceptable).
  • Career Accomplishments — Include up tofive examples of work in this section.Appropriate recorded materials may be submitted on DVD and/or jump drive.
  • Professional Activities
  • Accreditation and Continuing Education
  • Community Activities

2. Each nominee is asked to submit 15 photographs — a mix of on-the-job, at play, close-up, family to be included in a presentation at the awards banquet. All photos should be submitted in digital format, including your professional headshot. You should upload photos to Dropbox along with brief, descriptive cutlines for the photos in a separate Word document to no later than by Friday, July 29, 2016.

3. Numerical values are assigned to each of the five sections of the entry. A panel of public relationspractitioners will use these values during an evaluation and selection to determine the ProfessionalAchievement Award winner from among the nominees. Judges are not members of the SouthernPublic Relations Federation. The Biography and Resume section is not rated, but gives the judges aclear picture of the candidate’s career and education and allows the nominee to insert some creativityin the narrative/essay format.

4. Deadline — Entries must be postmarked by Friday, July 29, 2016 to be eligible.

5. Send entries via US Postal Service to: Ron Barnes, APR, Coast Electric Power Association, 18020 Highway 603, Kiln, MS 39556. If you have questions or need more information, please contact Ronat 228-363-7338 or

To view a list of past winners, log on to:

Southern Public Relations Federation

Professional Achievement Award

Career Achievement 40 points

Achievement of specific work-related goals:

a. One-page written essay (no less than 10-point type with at least 1/2-inch margins): Includedescriptions and your perspectives about your career goals, how you have achieved them and yourplans and goals for the future. (Recommend 25 points)

b. Examples of work: Include a maximum of five examples to give the judges an idea of the quality ofyour production and/or management work. A list of awards received for production and planningmay also be included in this category. (Recommend 15 points)

Professional Activities 25 points

a. SPRF involvement: List offices held, committees chaired, conferences attended, and any otherSPRF activities as appropriate. (Recommend 15 points)

b. Career, State, Local: List involvement in professional activities, including career-specificorganizations and state or local public relations organizations such as ECPRO, PRAL, PRAM, andPRCA. List SPRF-specific activities separately. (Recommend 10 points)

Accreditation/Continuing Education 25 points

a. Accreditation: Points will be awarded for Accreditation in Public Relations (APR) as governed bythe Universal Accreditation Board. (Recommend 15 points)

b. Other continuing education: Points will be awarded for continuing education activities other thanAccreditation including earning advanced degrees, attending conferences or seminars, andparticipating in professional education. (Recommend 10 points)

Community/Public Service Activities 10 points

List your specific involvement in community or public service activities (Recommend 10 points). You may include examples of volunteer work as support materials, not to exceed three examples.