FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Sarah Coniski
212.616.3601
sconiski@stantoncomm.com
www.prnewsonline.com

PR News Recognizes the Top PR Campaigns of the Year

NEW YORK CITY, NY – Oct. 18, 2006 – PR News held its annual Platinum PR Awards Luncheon today at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. These highly competitive awards honored the best campaigns and practices in public relations.

Awards were given in 29 categories and winners included Bank of America, McDonald’s, Toyota Motor Sales, Yahoo!, Weber Shandwick, Burson-Marstellar and the American Medical Association.

“The winners of this year’s program – rising to the top of nearly a thousand entries -- demonstrate the value of public relations in everything from product launches to helping save communities during natural disasters,” says Diane Schwartz, vice president & group publisher of PR News.

Richard Woods, the senior vice president of corporate affairs at Capital One, gave the keynote presentation at the sold-out awards luncheon. The event was sponsored by BurrellesLuce, CommCore Consulting, DS Simon Productions, Medialink, NAPS, PR Newswire, Stanton Communications and Vocus.

The Oct. 16 PR News Platinum PR Issue profiles the winners and provides a behind the scenes look at what makes a winning PR campaign.

PLATINUM PR AWARD WINNERS:
(To view the Honorable Mentions, please go to www.prnewsonline.com)

Best Analyst Relations
CCG Investor Relations – Sell-side Analyst Outreach for Diodes

Best Anniversary Event
Yahoo! Inc – Yahoo! 10th Anniversary Global Campaign

Best Annual Report
Curran & Connors – FEMSA 2005 Annual Report

Best Blog
Peter Himler: Blog – The Flack

Best Branding Campaign
Weber Shandwick – Raising the Profile of a Quiet German Giant

Best Cause-Related Marketing Campaign
McDonald’s Corporation & GolinHarris – World Children’s Day at McDonald’s

Best Community Relations Campaign
Development Counsellors International on behalf of the Baton Rouge Area Foundation: Helping the Displaced of Hurricane Katrina: A National Public Outreach Campaign

Best Crisis Management Campaign
American Veterinary Medical Association – After The Storm: Hurricane Katrina

Best Email Communications
Greater Baltimore Committee – GBC “LEADER” Newsletter

Best Employee Relations Campaign
Quest Diagnostics & GolinHarris/Insidedge – Quest Diagnostics: Understanding the Patient Experience

Best Event Marketing
Bank of America & MWW Group – Bank of America: Consumers Keep the Change

Best External Publication
Latham & Watkins – Latham & Watkins: Recruting Flash Drive

Best Financial/Investor Relations Campaign
Merrill Lynch Investment Managers & Tiller LLC – Hindsight2hindsight

Large PR Firm of the Year
Weber Shandwick

Midsize PR Firm of the Year
MWW Group

Small PR Firm of the Year
Peppercom

Global PR Campaign
Kodak & Ketchum – Cutting the Cord – Kodak Leads the Wireless Photography Revolution

Internal Publicaton
Tie -
Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc. – Toyota Today, May-June 2005
American Airlines & Weber Shandwick – American Airlines Gets Fuel Smarter

Marketing Communications
Edelman – Microsoft Xbox Colony Turns the Gamily World Upside Down

Best Media Event
Dome HK – The Versatility of Hershey’s Cocoa

Best Media Relations Campaign
Smithsonian’s National Zoo – Giant Panda Cub Media Relations

Best Multicultural Campaign
New Jersey Department of Health & Senior Services & Fleishman-Hillard, Inc. – The 20-Minute Test That Could Save Your Love Life

Best Press Release
Cohn & Wolfe – Doubletree Hotels “Teaching Kids to CARE” Program

Pro Bono Campaign
Carter Public Relations – Taking Center Stage: Shakespeare Dallas Benefits from PR

Best Product Launch
Microsoft & Waggener Edstrom Worldwide – Raise the Speed Limit: Microsoft Launches 64-bit Windows

Public Affairs
Tie -
American Medical Association: Keep Medicare’s Promise: Physician Cuts Hurt Seniors
Cone LLC – American Heart Association Go Red for Women Campaign

Best Public Service Announcment
Christopher Reeve Foundation & MWW Group – Calling All Superheroes: A Smallville Superman Tag PSA

Research and Measurement
Hudson Highland Group & Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide – Creating “The Leading Economic Indicator’s Indicator”

Best Web Site
GE – GE’s World Healthy Day – Picture a Healthy World in Times Square, NY

About PR News

Published weekly, PR News is the knowledge resource for professional communicators building the bridge between public relations and the business bottom line. Now in its 63rd year, PR News is a flagship publication of Access Intelligence, LLC, a business-to-business publishing company. The PR News family of products includes PR News, the Platinum PR Awards, PR People Awards, the Nonprofit PR Awards and CSR Awards, The 100 Best Case Studies Book, Guidebook to Best Practices in CSR; Guidebook to Best Practices in Measurement and the upcoming Crisis Management and Media Training Guidebooks and PR News Webinars. For more information about PR News and related books, webinars and awards programs, visit www.prnewsonline.com

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