The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)…the unified and recognized voice of seaports in the Americas…has notified 25 of its member seaports that they’ve earned awards for exemplary communications projects and programs as part of the trade association’s 52nd annual Communications Awards Program, which closed for entries on May 1.
The recipients of the 2018 Overall Award of Communications Excellence trophies - the top awards in AAPA's Communications Awards Program – are: Southern California’s Port of San Diego (Category 3); Southwest Washington’s Port of Longview (Category 2); and the Port of Grays Harbor (Category 1), on Washington’s Pacific Coast. Each of the three awardees represent a different category of port, based on the size of its public relations/advertising/marketing budget.
“When port authorities communicate strategically with their many audiences, including their communities, business leaders and policymakers, they’re better able to show their tremendous value as drivers of economic development, environmental enhancement and job creation,” said Kurt Nagle, AAPA’s president and CEO. “This competition helps our member ports by rewarding strategic communications through peer-reviewed analyses of their projects, and by showcasing best practices and lessons learned.”
The 2018 AAPA Communications Awards Program utilized 23 professional public relations practitioners from the Washington, D.C. area who cumulatively spent more than 90 hours over two weeks judging the 15 classifications of entries, ranging from advertisements, periodicals, videos and websites, to social media and overall campaigns.
Based on the number of points awarded each entry by the judges, three of the 83 entries earned an Overall Award of Communications Excellence trophy, while 25 entries earned an Award of Excellence (similar to first place), 38 entries scored an Award of Distinction (similar to second place), and 16 entries netted an Award of Merit (similar to third place).
Overall, there were seven port authorities with public relations, advertising and marketing budgets exceeding $800,000 a year that submitted entries as Category 3 budget ports, while 15 port authorities with communications budgets between $300,000 and $800,000 a year competed as Category 2 budget ports and three port authorities with communications budgets less than $300,000 entered as Category 1 budget ports.
