Local communications professionals win big at Gem City PR Awards
Dayton, Ohio. – The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Dayton Area Chapter celebrated the 2023 achievements of public relations at the Gem City Awards banquet presented by CareSource held on May 22, 2024 at Dayton Children’s Inspiration Center in Tech Town. The awards banquet is held each year to recognize the best talent in public relations across the Miami Valley.
"We have an amazing community of marketing and communications professionals producing great work in Dayton and the Miami Valley," said Hannah Krafka, Dayton Area Chapter president. "It's truly an honor to celebrate their accomplishments in the company of their co-workers and public relations peers."
Seven local organizations were recognized across six categories for their superior work in public relations, with eleven PR Awards and 7 Awards of Merit given out during the evening. Businesses and individuals submit nominations for the Gem City PR Awards each year. The nominations are then judged by a group of PR professionals in a sister chapter (PRSA Memphis was this year’s reciprocal judging chapter), determined which entries will receive a Gem City PR Award or an Award of Merit based on overall scoring.
Bob Sadowski, Marketing Specialist with myCUmortgage, accepted the Best in Show award recognition for the “2023 myCUmortgage Partner Conference”. That event brought together representatives from partner credit unions from across the country for two and half days of insights, information, education and networking delivered by industry experts.
The chapter also awarded four individual awards to outstanding professionals and newsmakers who are making Dayton a better place to live and work. The individual award recipients included:
- Richard Hairston, Communications Coordinator at Premier Health, was named Young Professional of the Year
- Crystal Allen, Chief Executive Officer at Boys & Girls Club of Dayton was named Newsmaker of the Year
- Hannah Poturalski, Managing Editor at the Dayton Business Journal, was named Media Friend of the Year
- Sheri Sword, Vice President of Communications at the Better Business Bureau was named Communicator of the Year
More information about the Gem City PR Award banquet and photos from this year’s event are available on PRSA Dayton's Facebook page. Nominations for the next awards will open in January of 2025 via PRSA Dayton website.
Gem City PR award winners included:
- Dayton Children's Hospital "When to be Concerned Blog Series"
- Dayton Children’s Hospital “Mental Health Groundbreaking"
- muCUmortgage “2023 myCUmortgage Partner Event”
- City of Beavercreek “Spring House Park”
- Solvita “12 Days of Giving”
- Solvita “Announcement Event”
- Dayton Children’s Hospital “Focus News Weekly Recap”
Award of Merit winners included:
- myCUmortgage “Mort the Mortgage Mentor’s Blog”
- Dayton Children’s “Connected – Separation of Pedro and Augusto”
- Kenny Consulting – “City of Dayton’s Recovery Plan”
- The Dayton Foundation “We Help You Help Others”
- The Ohlmann Group “Wright-Patt Credit Union Annual Report”
- The Ohlmann Group “Area Agency on Aging Annual Report”
- Dayton Children’s “Well Being Wednesday”
Special thank you to our sponsors:
- CareSource
- TriComB2B
- Kenny Consulting Group
- Montgomery County Veterans Service Commission
- Preservation Dayton
- Dayton Children’s Hospital
- Minute Man Press
About the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Dayton Area Chapter
The PRSA Dayton Area Chapter consists of public relations professionals representing all facets of the industry, including corporate, non-profit, agency and independent practitioners. The chapter offers numerous benefits to its members including monthly meetings featuring local and national speakers addressing both strategic and tactical public relations topics. The Public Relations Society of America, headquartered in New York City, is the world's largest professional organization for public relations professionals, with nearly 20,000 members, organized into 117 Chapters nationwide, who represent business and industry, counseling firms, government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and nonprofit organizations.
Note: High-resolution images and additional information about the winners are available upon request.
