Guidelines

ELIGIBILITY
The PACE Awards are open to all professional public relations practitioners and PR Students. PRSA membership is not required to enter. Entries must have been completed during the 12 months beginning January 1, 2023 and ending December 31, 2023. It is the entrant’s responsibility to communicate entry information to all interested/ participating parties such as agencies, clients, etc. Entries must be produced by or for an organization based in the Central Michigan PRSA chapter, including Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Gratiot, Ingham, Jackson, Livingston and Shiawassee counties.

ENTRY DEADLINES
The early bird deadline for entries is Friday, March 8, 2024. The final cutoff for PACE Award entries is 11:59 p.m. on Friday, March 15, 2024.

ENTRY CATEGORIES
The PACE Awards are divided into two main divisions: Campaigns and Tactics (see list of categories below). Campaign entries may only be submitted in ONE campaign category. However, individual campaign tactics may be entered in multiple tactics categories.

ENTRY SUBMISSION
Entries must be submitted online via Judgify.

ENTRY FEES (NON-REFUNDABLE)
Entry fees must be paid online.

Early Bird Entries:

  • Campaigns: $60 each for CMPRSA Members, $75 each for Non-Members.
  • Tactics: $40 each for CMPRSA Members, $55 each for Non-Members.

Regular Entries:

  • Campaigns: $85 for Members, $100 for Non-members
  • Tactics: $65 for Members, $80 for Non-members

A preview of the judge’s scoring sheets are available for your use here: CAMPAIGNS or TACTICS.

JUDGING GUIDELINES
The competition is decided by a panel of judges from another nationally recognized PRSA chapter. Judges are not required to select a winner in any given category if no entry is deemed appropriate. Each entry is judged by two judges. Entries are scored on a one-hundred point scale.

The outcomes include Pinnacle (first-place), Excellence (second-place), Achievement (third-place). Pinnacle entries must score between 75 and 100. Excellence entries must receive (at minimum) between 70 and 75, and Achievement entries must attain (at minimum) 65 to 70 to qualify. So, for example, you may notice that a category doesn’t have a pinnacle entry.

The Best of Show will be awarded to the campaign entry that receives the highest overall point total. Tactic entries are not eligible for the Best of Show award.

Please note that in the event of a tie, a third judge will be employed the three scores will be averaged to determine a winner.

If an entry has more than a 25-point differential between its two judges, a third judge will be employed and replace the lowest score given. For example, if judge #1 gives a score of 85 and judge #2 gives a score of 50, a third judge would be employed. If judge #3 gives a score of 75, then that would replace judge #2’s score of 50.

AWARDS PRESENTATION
Winners will be recognized during the award ceremony in May 2024. Trophies will be delivered during the ceremony.

PLEASE NOTE: A PACE Committee member will contact you directly regarding Gallery of Entries materials should your entry win.

ENTRY INSTRUCTIONS

All entries (campaigns and tactics) must include the following:

  • A summary (one-page for tactic entries, two-pages for campaign entries)
  • Suitable image (JPEG, GIF, PNG, PDF) that in some way represents the work. It may be the image of the front cover to your publication, a photo from the event, logo, etc. These images will not be judged, but will be used for show at the awards ceremony.
  • A synopsis of the submission (50-words for tactic entries, 100-words for campaign entries) calling out highlights from the entry.

SUMMARY

The summary is the single most important part of the overall entry for judges. Judges will evaluate the program/tactic on the merit of four criteria: research, planning, execution and evaluation.The summary should be typed using no smaller than a 10-point typeface and one-inch margins. All entries (categories and tactics) must address each of the following areas:

Research

Analyze or describe the situation on which the program is based. When addressing the actual research component, describe who specifically initiated the research. Was it in response to a problem or to examine a potential problem? Did research help to re-define the situation in any way? How was the research relevant to shaping the planning process? How did the research help define the audience(s) or the situation?

Planning

How do the plans correlate to the research findings? Who was involved in the planning? In general terms, what was the plan? For example, what were the specific objectives of the program? Who were the target audiences? What was the overall strategy employed? What materials were used? What was your budget?

Execution

How were the plans executed and what were the results? In general terms, how did the activities flow? Were there any difficulties encountered? If so, how were they handled? Were other organizations involved? Were other non-traditional public relations tactics (i.e., advertising) employed? Please note: unless you are entering this program under “Integrated Communications,” advertising costs, under most circumstances, should not exceed one third of the budget.

Evaluation

What method(s) of evaluation were used? How are results related to research findings? How are results related to strategic objectives? (Note: Media circulation figures are not acceptable as the only means of quantitative measurement.)

SUPPORTING MATERIALS
Support your work with photos, videos, letters, scripts, storyboards, news clippings, and copies of any materials used in the project. Website entries must include a URL for judges to access the website. All materials must be uploaded in a digital format.