Philadelphia PR Pros Prove to be Red Hot at 35th Pepperpot & Achievement Awards; The Pennsylvania Economy League Wins 'Best in Show'

Business Wire, Dec 4, 2003

Business Editors

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 4, 2003

The Philadelphia chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) awarded the Pennsylvania Economy League the region's top honor in public relations, the coveted "Best of Show" at the 35th Annual Pepperpot & Achievement Awards. Held at the Four Season's hotel on Wednesday, December 3, the Pepperpot Gala is the region's premiere public relations event that brought together more than 200 PR professionals for a "Red Hot Philly Peppers" themed evening.

Spicing up the night, the Pennsylvania Economy League (Philadelphia) won "Best of Show" for its Knowledge Industry Partnership "One Big Campus Initiative" entry in the issues management category. The campaign was designed to bolster the region's workforce by encouraging students to remain in Pennsylvania after graduation. Star/Rosen Public Relations of Cherry Hill, New Jersey won five Pepperpots, the most of any organization at the event. Simon Public Relations (Philadelphia) earned four Pepperpots, FCF Schmidt (Plymouth Meeting) won three; Astra Zeneca (Wilmington, Del.), the Pennsylvania Economy League (Philadelphia), Deborah Hospital Foundation (Browns Mills, New Jersey), Alta Communications (Philadelphia), and the Gift of Life Donor Program (Philadelphia), each won two. (Editors Note: A complete listing of awards follows). Overall, 39 Pepperpots were awarded with agencies taking home 21, followed by nonprofits (12), corporations (4) and solo practitioners (2).

"With 147 entries, the most ever, this year's competition was the toughest in our organization's history," said Lee Marshall, chapter president and Director and Regional Manager of Business Wire. "Congratulations to all of the winners. Their excellent work speaks volumes for the talent that exists in the Greater Philadelphia area."

Also awarded at the event were several achievement awards honoring individuals who have made exceptional or lifetime contributions to public relations: Steve Rosen, president of Star/Rosen Public Relations earned the Maxine Elkin Award, which honors passion, leadership and professionalism in public relations; Bill Cowen of Villanova University won the Anthony Fulginiti Award, for excellence in education; John Woerth of the Vanguard Group won the Frank X. Long Award, which celebrates expertise in writing and creativity; and Anne Klein, president of Anne Klein Public Relations won the Deann White Award, for community relations and volunteerism. This year's President's Award, which recognizes the efforts of a PRSA volunteer, was awarded to Donna Basilicato of Unisys for her contributions to the chapter and the public relations profession.

According to Marshall, who is optimistic about the future of the public relations industry and the coming year for the Philadelphia region, the annual event capped a year in which many communications organizations in the region were successful, despite a challenging economy.

"It's really about momentum," said Marshall. "The overall economy, the public relations industry and PRSA as an organization are all poised for a great year. The downturn is behind us, and as professional communicators, the future is very exciting."

Scott Tattar, incoming chapter president and president of Tattar Richards--DBC Public Relations, who takes over the presidency from Lee Marshall in January, presented his goals for the chapter for the coming year during an acceptance speech following the awards. "I'm looking forward to increasing the participation of senior level practitioners, creating real business opportunities between members and continuing the excellent programming and other initiatives started by previous presidents Lee Marshall and Dina Silver," said Tattar.

This year's theme for the event, "Are you a Red Hot Philly Pepper?" was created by Dudnyk Advertising & Public Relations, and played off of the popular rock/funk/punk band, the Red Hot Chili Peppers. This theme, which won a Pepperpot award in the Single Piece, Special Purpose Publications category, was played out with a "rockin'" audiovisual program created by Unisys Creative Media Services, and hot pepper recipe books created by Harris, Baio & McCullough. KYW-TV's Pat Ciarrocchi emceed the event, marking the third consecutive year that the popular television personality took to the podium for the Pepperpots. The Central Pennsylvania PRSA chapter undertook the difficult job of judging the 147 entries, which were up 50 percent from last year.

The Pepperpot dinner was sponsored by the Business Wire media distribution services. Services were also donated by Gary Horn (event photography), Dan Naylor (marketing photography), Tattar Richards-DBC and Dudnyk Advertising & Public Relations (publicity), Piccari Press (printing) and Full Tilt Solutions (decorations).

Event chair Donna Basilicato of Unisys thanked last year's Pepperpot chair, Karen Cutler of Star/Rosen Public Relations, as well as the many volunteers and event sponsors who made the event possible.