|
A pair of communications professionals who have survived their shares of controversy were the main honorees at the Landmarks of Excellence Awards at the Henry Clay last night.
Trish Burke has been in the PR biz for 27 years at LG&E, MSD and currently the Regional Airport Authority. She's a pro, and deserved the election to the PRSA/IABC Hall of Fame. Before the event, she was talking with friends about all the CEOs she worked with through the years. Her current one, Charles "Skip" Miller, seems to have survived a brush with embarrassing behavior that was a big P.R. challenge.
Two years ago Miller was nearly fired after sending sexually suggestive e-mails to a female staff member. The controversy eventually went away, and he's still there.
Allan Cowen, the CEO of the Fund for the Arts, was honored as the Communicator of the Year. Cowen has plenty of accomplishments 30 years of building the Fund, though he revealed in his speech that he'd "made up" some of the grand plaudits his group has received. But give him credit -- he also raised a record $9.2 million in a tough economic climate this year and the Fund is thought to be an extremely healthy organization.
A few years back, Cowen was challenged publicly by Barry Bingham Jr., who thought Cowen's salary was excessive and wanted him fired. Cowen survived, and the Fund has since thrived.
There were a few dozen awards handed out to local P.R. agencies, led by Bandy, Carroll, Hellige. Also picking up hardware were New West, Peritus PR, Tandem PR and Nic Creative. I was a guest of Guthrie-Mayes, whose officials made it clear that they don't bother entering these contests. (So you can assume they think they'd clean up if they did).
Categories included Overall Communications Programs, Special Events, Publications, Writing, Photography, Graphic Design, New Media and Online Communications.
|
|
1
Rick Redding