More often than not, PR pros redirect the spotlight away from their own achievements and onto their clients’ successes. Occupational hazard aside, the 2009 PRWeek Awards provided PR pros with the opportunity to put their own accomplishments front and center and celebrate an industry’s overall excellence. During my second Awards, it was a real pleasure to hear the enthusiastic applause for agencies in the midst of challenging (and highly scrutinized) projects, like Fleishman Hillard’s win for assisting with Bumble Bee Foods’ Castleberry’s National Food Recall, or small agencies, like Dig Communications, be lauded in their own right. Above all, what the the 2009 Awards did best was showcase the value created by all the nominated agencies, win or lose, and the industry at large.

I didn’t know what to expect going into the PRWeek Awards last night - it was my first year attending the event - but I have to say that I was impressed with how excited every single person I spoke to was.

My highlights for the night?

The guy from LaunchSquard conducting video interviews and asking which firm would win Boutique PR Agency of the Year. (His firm did!) Meeting Shannon Riggs, this year’s Young PR Professional of the Year, who flew in all the way from Oregon to attend the awards.

And, Coyne PR, this year’s Awards darlings. I met Tom Coyne for the first time early in the night and the first thing he did was let me know that his tables would be having a pretty good time. He was right. Coyne’s sheer excitement, I think, made everyone remember how lucky they are that they get to be a part of this industry.

PRWeek had its Awards show last night. Oh, you didn’t hear? More than one person told me that they were so excited by the turnout (down a bit from last year, but still packed house). True, the situation out there can be dire, but it gave the industry an opportunity to cheer on colleagues and celebrate winning campaigns.

I definitely noticed more people trading notes and talking openly about their company’s/client’s strategy. A recession is not the time to be confident in one’s own infallibility. So it was great to hear the war stories and campaign tactics that aren’t usually discussed in company (especially to a journalist).

A special thanks, of course, to our wonderful chair: General Mills CMO Mark Addicks. The industry thanks you for your service.

Last night was my first PRWeek Awards and the evening really was a lot of fun! From hearing the excitement from agencies and companies as their hard work was recognized (here’s to you, Coyne!), to sipping cocktails and swapping stories with great PR pros, I had a great time. I’ve been at PRWeek for a little less than a year, so I’m still putting faces to names and getting to know people outside of a last minute phone call to get a quote. I enjoyed talking about our Awards dresses with Lisa Sepulveda, CEO of Euro RSCG Worldwide PR, and had plenty of laughs with the hilarious Julian Green, director of media relations of Miller Coors. From ringing the Nasdaq bell earlier this week to laughing over cocktails at the After Glow last night, it’s been a great couple of days of getting to know you all a little bit better. And that’s been great!

Last night was my first time at the PRWeek Awards - and wow. What a show. I met so many great people:  the PR team at McDonald’s, Viacom, George Washington University, Pfizer, and a great agency leaders, as well as folks from PRNewswire, DS Simon, and KRC Research. While the reception was a whirlwind of meet-and-greets, dinner turned serious as folks waited to hear who took home the awards. Check ‘em out here.

My table included Rick French (FWV), Shannelle Armstrong from Sears, Lynn Hanessian (Zeno), Patrice Tanaka (CRT/Tanaka), and a number of other great folks. We cheered on everyone, though it was really unnecessary because we were seated next to that rowdy group of nine Coyne PR tables. Yes, nine! I saw Tom Coyne at the reception, and he told me about his nine tables. “Well, I told the staff if we were ever up for agency of the year, I’d bring them all,” - to paraphrase. Of course, a roar went up when the firm took home Midsize PR Agency of the Year. That was followed shortly by some wild screaming at the group of Edelman tables when it won first Large PR Agency of the Year, and then the top prize of Agency of the Year.

This week’s news analysis focuses on the communications effort behind the safe release of all 28 crew members aboard the Biscaglia, a cargo ship that was hijacked by Somali pirates in November 2008. As evidenced by this story, communications played a key role in the successful resolution of this situation. However, there were a few more comms points that we didn’t have a chance to include that are important to note.

CJP credits the language skills of its account executive Gauri Mundkur, who was able to speak Hindi with some of the families. In a global world, multilingualism is sure to continue to be of importance in all sorts of communications.

James Christodoulou, CEO of Shipping Enterprises Corp, stressed the importance of face-to-face meetings during his conversations with PRWeek. The story notes his trip to India (a whirlwind 72 hours when he met with families) at the beginning of January, but he also made another trip with members of his team when the crew members returned home. Meeting with the families in-person made them trust Christodoulou and his team even more. He says crew members have even asked to sail with his company again on future trips.

The mental and emotional well-being of the crew was just as important to Christodoulou and his team as the physical well-being.

“When I look at a measure of success, I have to look at the physical and mental and emotional state of the crew and their families at the end of this ordeal,” he said.

Based on conversations I’ve had with a number of people in the industry, measurement (and measurement during this recessionary economy) is a hot topic. Join me and PR executives from SAP, FedEx, and Weber Shandwick on February 17 where we’ll be discussing this topic via Webcast. Details are below, including a link to register:

Measurement in an uncertain economy

Historically, PR measurement was one of the first things to go when organizations cut budgets. But smart PR client-side professionals are making the compelling case to their bosses that measurement is even more important during times of uncertainty. These PR professionals will discuss the cases they make for measurement, how it impacts the bottom line, and will show the audience how to answer questions that might come from their clients or the C-suite.

Date: Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Time: 1pm est/10am pst

Featured speakers:
Saswato Das, director, global communications, SAP AG
Bill Margaritis, SVP of worldwide communications and IR, FedEx
Tim Marklein, executive VP, measurement & strategy, Weber Shandwick

More news of holding company slow-downs: Publicis Groupe does not intend to make “major acquisitions in the months to come,” CEO Maurice Levy told CNBC, last week, in response to a question about the company’s strength in emerging markets.

The company is currently in negotiations for future acquisitions in markets, such as China and India, but these businesses would be “comparatively limited” and added “just to strengthen our current operations,” Levy said.

Also, Levy noted that emerging markets are still on the rise by approximately 7 or 8 % and digital is “still [in]double digit growth.”  The growth in these two areas, according to Levy, will help bolster the company against the downward spiral of traditional media and “mature economies.”

This report aligns with Levy’s previously cautious predictions for difficulties in early 2009, reported by PRWeek.

On Tuesday, PRWeek’s editor-in-chief Keith O’Brien moderated a mediabistro.com panel, “The Customer is the Company: How Social Media is Changing Business”. Among the seven panelists were Craig Newmark, Craigslist founder and customer service rep; Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos; and Jeff Howe, contributing editor at Wired and “crowdsourcing” expert.

The panel touched upon your typical social media issues - why/how/when to use, when to separate corporate and personal blogs and Twitter accounts, ROI, etc. - but the techy talk seemed to fall flat next to Hsieh’s passion for customer service and a discussion about Zappos’ internal comms and hiring strategy (and Keith’s jokes about robots, of course). At the end of the first week of the four-week long new employee orientation, which includes customer service training, Zappos offers employees $2,000 to quit to weed out those who aren’t completely dedicated to the concept of service and the brand– seriously!

While Hsieh focused less on social media than on how Zappos’ corporate culture - customer service and a positive staff energy - contributes to its success, it’s well known that the company served as a social media pioneer, using Twitter for customer interaction. So Zappos serves as a model that success in the digital age can also be rooted in Stone Age values.

On November 6, Erica Iacono and I traveled to Philadelphia to host PRWeek’s healthcare roundtable and a panel discussion. The roundtable, which is scheduled to appear in our December 1 print issue, covered everything from the FDA’s view on social media to how pharmaceutical companies need to educate reporters about drug safety issues.

The panel, which was open to the public, featured an hour-long discussion with Laurie Hurley, MD of the New York office of Resolute Communications; Gwen Fisher, assistant VP of PR at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals; and Ray Kerins, VP of worldwide communications at Pfizer.

I’ve posted two podcasts (here and here) and a video where the three discuss the merits of social media for Big Pharma.