On August 21st in a virtual awards ceremony, the Public Relations Council of Alabama (PRCA) announced NAPRCA as its 2019 Sharon Heflin Chapter of the Year (COTY). This marks NAPRCA’s fourth year in a row earning the COTY designation. Every year, PRCA enlists the help of a public relations association in another state to judge COTY awards. Judging is based on submissions for 8 categories related to chapter operations. There are winners for each of these categories as well as the overall COTY winner.
- Accreditation – 1st Place
- Chapter Management – 1st Place
- Communications – 1st Place
- Community Service – 1st Place
- Programs – 1st Place
- Projects – 1st Place
- PR Education – 1st Place
- Membership – 2nd Place
Sweeping a majority of top honors for this year’s COTY submissions, NAPRCA was selected as the Sharon Heflin Chapter of the Year for the 11th time since 1984.
There were a number of other awards announced during the virtual awards ceremony, including Student of the Year, Philip R. Forest Professional Achievement Award and Medallion Awards. Congratulations to these outstanding NAPRCA members who collected accolades during the ceremony:
Michael K. Simmons Student of the Year Award
Mackenzie Cottles, University of North Alabama
Award of Merit
Melanie Thornton | HSV/Madison County Public Library
Award of Excellence
McComm Group, Inc.
Medallion Awards
NASA/ARC Federal
Kallie Butler | Wellstone, Inc.
Melanie Thornton | HSV/Madison County Public Library
Judges Choice Awards
Melanie Thornton | HSV/Madison County Public Library
Kallie Baker | Wellstone, Inc.
Best in Show Award
NASA/ASRC Federal