Happy Holidays!

Hello FPRA Treasure Coast!

Congratulations to FPRA State President Lanette Hart, APR, CPRC on the arrival of her new baby boy Philip Alexander Mallory Hart. He arrived on Thursday, December 11 at 6:48 a.m. He weighed 7 lbs., 7 oz. and is 19 ¾ inches long. Mom and baby are doing well.

Farewell to Debi Malcomson, our Chapter's Treasurer! She leaves us this week to move out of state. We wish her the best of luck on her new endeavor and hope she'll keep in touch. We welcome Lisa Swyryn in as our new Treasurer! Thanks, Lisa, for accepting the position of Treasurer mid-year!

Image Awards Tips from Adrienne Moore, APR, CPRC
As mentioned last week, it’s time to review the requirements of the two-page summary. The judges see the two-page summary before they review the supplemental materials in the booklets and the summaries carry with them 70% of the scoring.

Here are the principles of the R.A.C.E. formula that we all use everyday:

4. Research / Situation Analysis: Why did you do this project? What did you consider before establishing goals, tactics and evaluations? What occurred that helped you to identify a problem, a target audience and eventually a strategy. Research can be formal or informal. The judges need background of the problem or issue in this section. It can’t just be that your boss said to do the project. Setting up the situation makes the goals and objectives fall into place easier.

5. Objectives: What are your goals? What are your objectives? What will you hope to accomplish by doing this project? This is the section that concentrates on quantitative not qualitative. The judges are looking for specifics that will hopefully come about when the project is completed, such as increasing your membership by 50%, or collecting $200,000 from a special fundraising event, or gaining $25,000 in FREE publicity.

6. Implementation: This is the action plan. What steps will you take to accomplish these goals? Establishing a communications plan, a budget, a special event, a newsletter, and other items are all tactics to obtain the results of the project.

7. Evaluation: Did you increase attendance? Did you earn $200,000 in donations? Did you gain free publicity? In other words, the evaluation must spell out what you accomplished. This section is directly connected to the Objectives. In the Objectives, you spell out what you want to accomplish. In the Evaluation, you show you accomplished it.

8. Budget: This year there are new requirements for the budget section of the summary and below is the new requirements for this section. Explain the financial outlay required for development, implementation and evaluation of this program or tool. (Reporting staff time agency/corporation/non-profit/government should be expressed in a total dollar amount for the entire number of hours. Hourly rates, salaries or total number of hours are not necessary.) Explain how these expenses relate to the project’s success.

Next week, we’ll take a look at the requirements for the booklet.

Treasure Coast Ad Fed Announces Call for Entries for the 2009 ADDY Awards
The Treasure Coast Advertising Federation has announced its Call for Entries for the organization’s 2009 ADDY Awards competition. The awards recognize exceptional advertising created in the Treasure Coast market, including print, broadcast, out-of-home and public service advertising. To be eligible for consideration, all work must have been published or aired between January 1 and December 31, 2008. Entries can be dropped off at the Palm Beach Post Building on Kanner Highway in Stuart, Florida on January 9, 2009 between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. All entries must be received on or before that day. Single entry fees are $57 for Ad Fed members and $114 for non-members; campaign entries are $72 for members and $144 for non-members. Students can also enter their advertising creative in the student portion of the ADDY competition; the student fee is $20. For information on submitting your entry prior to January 9, contact Ad Fed President Gail Goldy at 772-223-2333. Entry rules and categories are online at http://www.linkedin.com/redirect?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Etreasurecoastadfed%2Ecom&urlhash=idby&_t=disc_detail_link .

The Treasure Coast ADDY Awards Competition is the first tier of a three-tier national competition conducted annually by the American Advertising Federation. The ADDY Awards, which recognize excellence in advertising, are the world’s largest advertising competition. Treasure Coast ADDY Awards winners will be honored at a formal dinner gala on March 14, 2009 at the Willoughby Golf Club. Winners are eligible to compete in the second tier of the competition at the district level. The district winners are then eligible for the ultimate competition, the national ADDY, presented in June.

Finally, I wish you all a very happy holiday season! May you enjoy a relaxing and blessed time with your friends, family and loved ones!

Linette