Newark receives “NATIONAL COMMUNICATOR AWARD OF EXCELLENCE”

City of Newark was selected out of more than 9,000 entries for creative excellence….

Mayor Cory A. Booker and Communications Director Desiree Peterkin Bell announced today that the City of Newark’s Office of Communications in partnership with The Writing Company, owned by Gloria Bryant, won the prestigious “Communicator Award of Excellence” from the International Academy of the Visual Arts for creative excellence.

The Office of Communications was honored for the creation of the “Guide to Super Summer 2009.” The full-color 12-page newspaper-style guide highlights the City of Newark’s summer recreation, cultural, educational, and entertainment programs. It also included information about summer camps for youth, nutrition programs for seniors, vaccination programs for families, City parks, music festivals, professional wrestling matches, “Movies Under the Stars” in Branch Brook Park, and a message from Mayor Booker. The Office of Communications is also developing this year’s “Guide to Super Summer 2010” which will be released later this month.

“I commend each member of the Office of Communications on receiving this prestigious award. This award is a tribute to the time, energy, and professionalism our Communications staff, led by Desiree Peterkin Bell, who continues to invest every day to highlight our City and ensure that Newark’s residents, and the general public, are informed and empowered about our City programs and initiatives. We are setting the standard of urban transformation,” Mayor Booker said.

The Communicator Awards is the leading awards program honoring creative excellence for Communications Professionals. Founded by communication professionals 16 years ago, the Communicator Awards receives more than 9,000 entries from companies and agencies of all sizes, making it one of the largest awards of its kind in the world.

The Award of Excellence, the highest honor, is given to those entries whose ability to communicate puts them among the best in the field. Award of Excellence winners will have the opportunity to have their work showcased in the IAVA Winners Gallery.

In 2006, under the leadership of Communications Director Desiree Peterkin Bell, the City’s Public Information Office was restructured from primarily fielding constituent inquiries to being a proactive media relations office. During the past few years, the Communications Office has created original content and produced various events, taken advantage of new forms of social media like Twitter and Facebook, and launched the City’s first Government Access Channel, NWK TV-78, while enhancing existing resources, like the City of Newark’s website to highlight a diversity of press releases and marketing campaigns to greater inform Newark’s residents about the urban transformation occurring throughout the City. As a result, top-tier outlets like The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times have written about Mayor Booker and Newark’s initiatives.

“My team and I have built a proactive constituent driven media office and laid the groundwork for effective communications. This is a team award and it is a pleasure to work with a team of communications professionals who commit 110 percent every day to get the job done. We are in the business of not only responding to breaking news stories, but generating positive stories about our City, which has been setting a national standard for urban excellence. From event planning and story pitching, to our City of Newark Twitter account, we are working to increase community engagement in our City. As a result of our strategic outreach, more people today, both inside and outside of Newark, are interested in helping us meet our City’s goals. I’m proud of our entire team for receiving a recognition that is well-deserved,” said Director Bell.

This is not the first outside recognition for the Office of Communications. On November 19, 2009, the New Jersey League of Municipalities honored the Office of Communications as being the “Best Public Information Office in New Jersey” during a ceremony, which was held at the League’s 94^th Annual Conference in Atlantic City.  The Office of Communications won overall awards in four categories: the content of its information; the clarity of its material; the adaptability of the agency’s practices for other municipalities; and the appearance of the Office’s material.

In August 2008, PR Week magazine highlighted the Office of Communications for taking municipal communication to a higher level. In addition, the City of Newark’s Office of Communications was awarded the 2007 and 2008 Public Radio News Director’s Award for its monthly “Newark Today” radio show on WBGO 88.3 FM.  The Office has also been recognized by the New Jersey Film Commission for working to make Newark the number one location for filming movies, TV shows, documentaries, and commercials in the State. This includes the Office’s work with film production companies like that of “Cadillac Records,” a major motion picture filmed in 2008, which starred Beyoncé Knowles and Adrien Brody.

For more information about the Communicator Awards, visit their website at http://www.communicatorawards.com/awards/

Posted by NT STAFF on Jun 14 2010 Filed under Quality of Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.