communication department

Volume XX Number 6

Competitions

STC’s Public Relations Competition

By George Slaughter, STC Public Relations Competition Manager and Senior Member, Houston Chapter

The STC Public Relations Competition recognizes chapter and Society-level special interest group (SIG) performance in public relations programs while encouraging chapters and SIGs to establish and maintain quality public relations. The competition evaluates the ability to inform technical communicators in and outside STC about chapter, SIG, and Society activities and to improve the image and visibility of the technical communication profession, chapters, SIGs, and the Society.

Entrants submit copies of the public relations materials they have distributed as well as a public relations plan, which includes a timetable, planned materials, media, measurable goals, and results. Judges evaluate the plan outline and implementation, considering the public relations materials as the means to implement the plan, as well as the overall results of the public relations effort.

The competition does not have an entry fee.

Who Is Eligible

The competition is open to chapters, Society-level SIGs, and Society-sponsored events. This is a yearlong effort, starting with your planning sessions over the summer and going through the end of the program year or event. Start collecting the information for your entries from your very first meeting, and don’t wait until the end to put together your presentation.

Categories and Awards

The STC Public Relations Competition has four categories. If you are entering more than one category, please submit materials in separate binders for each entry.

• Category 1, Chapter Public Relations Program, covers a chapter’s entire publicity campaign, including a chapter brochure, outside media coverage, and promotions advancing the status of STC.
• Category 2, SIG Public Relations Program, covers a Society-level SIG’s entire publicity campaign and is judged similarly to a chapter public relations program.
• Category 3, Specific Event or Service Publicity, covers publicity for an event or service, such as a conference, employment service, or speakers’ bureau. A group of chapters or international SIGs that worked together on an event may enter this category.
• Category 4, Promotional Communication, covers specific publicity pieces, such as brochures, media kits, posters, slide shows, electronic mail, and direct mail. A group of chapters or international SIGs that worked together on a piece may enter this category.

Entries can receive Best of Show, Distinguished, Excellence, or Merit awards. Award winners are to be announced in April 2008. Entries receiving either the Best of Show or Distinguished Award are displayed at the STC annual conference. Winners receive their plaques after the conference.

Submitting Your Entries

Entry information and forms are included with the competition rules document. The competition rules are on the STC Web site. Entries must be received by the STC office by March 4, 2008. Entries should include public relations pieces for events and services from May 1, 2007, through April 30, 2008. (News releases or preliminary publicity information for events between March 4 and April 30, 2008, can be included in the competition entries.)

Send entries to:

Society for Technical Communication
Attn: PR Competition
901 N. Stuart Street, Suite 904
Arlington, VA 22203-1822

Although the rules do not require entries to be submitted in a specific format, most entries are submitted in a three-ring binder and divided according to the judging criteria. The judges appreciate the three-ring binder presentation for clarity and simplicity. The judges evaluate the presentation of your program as well as the program itself. Prepare your entry with sufficient explanations for each subsection and label each subsection with tabs. The easier it is for the judges to view your entry, the more time they will spend on it.

Additional Guidance and Templates

The STC Web site offers both articles and templates that provide guidance in preparing your public relations campaigns and competition entries. For past Tieline articles on preparing public relations materials, see the Tieline knowledge base and click “public relations.” For templates that can help you develop your public relations materials more quickly, see the Chapter Resources page of the STC Web site.

For more information about this competition, contact George Slaughter, STC Public Relations Competition Manager.