2020 Queen City PR Awards
The Queen City Public Relations Awards (QCPR) are the PRSA Charlotte Chapter's signature recognition event, honoring public relations and communication professionals across the area for successfully researching, planning, implementing and evaluating communication campaigns with exemplary professional skill, creativity and resourcefulness.
What Does It Take to Win a Crown Award? Hear it from the Pros! FREE Entry Workshop
Want to enter the Queen City PR Awards, but don't know how to start? PRSA Charlotte held a FREE awards-entry workshop on July 9 at 2:00 pm featuring a panel of Silver Anvil and QCPR winners and judges who shared best practices and pro tips for your winning entry. You can view the video here.
Paying it Forward with the Queen City PR Awards Chapter Scholarship
A portion of proceeds from this year's Queen City PR Awards will provide a Chapter Scholarship for a PR professional who's been economically impacted by the COVID-19 crisis. This scholarship provides free membership to PRSA and PRSA Charlotte, as well as admission to all chapter luncheons and other programs for a full year! Interested individuals can APPLY HERE, and the recipient of this scholarship will be determined by the PRSA Charlotte Board.
Thank you to our 2020 Gold Sponsor!
SUBMIT YOUR CROWN AWARD ENTRY
CROWN AND EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Click here for the 2020 QCPR Awards Entry Category Information
Creativity and implementation deserve recognition. That's the goal of the Crown Awards. Entries are judged by another PRSA chapter and winners are chosen based on their research, planning, implementation and evaluation. This year, the New Mexico PRSA chapter will judge our chapter's awards. You do not have to be a PRSA member to submit an entry.
Those who receive first place win the Crown Award, while the second-place winner receives the Excellence Award.
We recognize that PR practitioners work in very different industries, so we have three different submission categories to recognize those industries:
- Business Products/Services
- Government/Associations/Nonprofit Organizations
- Solo Practitioner
Within those three industries, the QCPR Crown Awards honor strategic PR campaigns in nine categories:
- Integrated Communications
- Community Relations
- Crisis Communications
- Organizational Relations/Internal Communications
- Shoestring Budget Campaign
- Video
- Digital/Social Media
- Brand Journalism
- Multicultural/Diversity and Inclusion
- Influencer/Blogger Relations
- Events/Observances
- Media Relations
Student-Run Campaign
This year, we will also honor one student-run public relations campaign that demonstrates outstanding skill, creativity and resourcefulness. Entrants can choose from any Crown award category and must follow the same criteria. (There is no fee to submit a nomination for the student awards category.)
Submit your Student-Run Campaign here.
Crown Awards - FAQ
Entry Requirements
Public relations and communications professionals from across the Charlotte region are encouraged to submit work completed from August 1, 2019 through July 31, 2020 that demonstrates outstanding skill, creativity and resourcefulness.
The awards are open to corporate communications and marketing communications teams, public relations agencies, public affairs firms, investor relations agencies, publicists, nonprofits, PR educational professionals, government PR teams and solo practitioners based in the Charlotte Designated Market Area (DMA).
Additionally, entries will be accepted for campaigns designed for execution within the Charlotte DMA.
Eligibility
At least some part of the campaign must have occurred from August 1, 2019 through July 31, 2020. Programs tend to have better chances of winning near their completion, when evaluation against initial objectives can be measured.
Entry Fees and Deadlines
Call for entries opens June 1, 2020, and closes August 14, 2020, at 5 p.m. EST.
Entries received by July 24, at 5 p.m. EST, will receive the Early Bird rate. Only electronic submissions will be accepted.
All entry fees are below:
PRSA Charlotte Member (Early Bird): $100 for first entry; $75 for additional entries
PRSA Charlotte Member (from July 25 - August 14): $150 for first entry; $125 for additional entries
Nonmember (Early Bird): $150 for first entry; $125 for additional entries
Nonmember (from July 25 - August 14): $200 for first entry; $175 for additional entries
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS
Click here for the 2020 QCPR Awards Information
Additionally, the Queen City PR Awards program honors up to three outstanding individuals in our community. Charlotte PRSA selects a Pegasus Award honoree and an Infinity Award honoree each for their outstanding contributions to the Queen City.
The PRSA Charlotte Board of Directors may also select an honoree for the PRSA Charlotte New Professional Award, which honors a member with no more than seven years' experience who exemplifies strong professional capabilities, leadership qualities, and service to the public relations community.
Infinity Award
Established in 1975, PRSA Charlotte's Infinity Award is the highest honor that the Chapter gives to a public relations professional.
Nominees for this award should be individuals who have dedicated their careers to the practice of public relations and who have achieved substantial success in their professional work. Nominees should represent the highest standards of ethical conduct in the practice of public relations. Nominees should also have demonstrated their commitment to the profession through service to PRSA Charlotte or PRSA, or by lending their professional expertise to mentor individuals or assist community organizations.
Submit your Infinity Award entry here.
Pegasus Award
Since 1992, PRSA Charlotte has given the Pegasus Award to an individual outside of the public relations profession who demonstrated superior knowledge and use of public relations for the betterment of the community.
Nominees must be a leader of a corporation, business, or an educational, medical, cultural, civic or charitable organization (public or private, profit or nonprofit) located in the Charlotte community or surrounding region.
Public relations practitioners, working members of the news media and other individuals who are paid for media appearances, writing and other PR/communications services are not eligible for nomination.
Criteria:
The nominee must be a respected leader who has made significant contributions to the betterment of the community, enhancing its reputation and prestige through the effective use of exceptional communication and public relations practices.
For example, the nominee should be someone who, through good communication practices, has helped his or her organization develop effective relationships with many different audiences or publics, including employees, members, customers, local communities, shareholders, and other institutions that, in turn, has made a difference in the community.
Submit your Pegasus Award entry here.
New Pros Award
The PRSA Charlotte New Professional Award began in 2007 to honor a member who exemplifies strong professional capabilities, leadership qualities, service to the public relations community and a respected character. PRSA members with a maximum of five years of professional public relations experience qualify for this honor. The award honoree is at the discretion of the PRSA Charlotte board of directors and may not be awarded each year.
Criteria:
The New Pros Award recognizes a younger member of PRSA Charlotte with five or fewer years of experience as a public relations professional. The nomination should address what qualifies the individual as a promising young practitioner with a bright future in public relations. What makes him or her stand out from their peers? What responsibilities does this nominee hold for his or her job? What has he or she accomplished early in their career? Nominees must be a member in good standing of PRSA and PRSA Charlotte. Membership status will be confirmed before the nomination is forwarded to the judges.
Submit your New Pros Award entry here.
Mosaic Award
Given to a public relations professional who greatly and consistently champions the diversity and
inclusion cause through work in the PR sector.
Criteria:
The nominee should be a respected leader in the Charlotte community who has given of his/her time to make a significant contribution to advance diversity and inclusion. Through good communications practices, the nominee will have demonstrated how he/she has focused on diversity and inclusion efforts that uplift the communities where we live, increase understanding among our residents to form stronger relationships and make our community a better place for everyone to live. Public relations practitioners, working members of the news media and other individuals who are paid for media appearances, writing and other PR/communications services are not eligible for nomination.
Submit your Mosaic Award entry here.
Interested in viewing photos from our event last year? Please click here.
