News Release
FOR RELEASE - May 31, 2013
Contact: Aaron Ellis, aellis@aapa-ports.org
703-684-5700

American Association of Port Authorities
Phone: (202) 792-4033
www.aapa-ports.org

26 Ports To Receive Awards In AAPA’s 2013 Communications Competition

Georgia Ports Authority earns prestigious Dan Maynard Communications Award

The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA), a trade association representing leading port authorities throughout the Western Hemisphere, has selected 26 seaports to be recognized for exemplary communications projects and programs at its annual convention and awards luncheon this fall. Winning entrants in AAPA’s 46^th annual Communications Awards Program will be recognized at an Oct. 16 luncheon in conjunction with AAPA’s 102^nd Annual Convention in Orlando, Fla., which runs Oct. 13-17.

“When port authorities communicate strategically with their many audiences, including their communities, business leaders and policymakers, they’re better able to show their tremendous value as economic development and jobs drivers,” said Kurt Nagle, AAPA’s president and CEO.  “This competition helps our member ports by rewarding effective communications and highlighting best practices and lessons learned.”

The 2013 AAPA Communications Awards Program, which had a May 1 deadline for entries, utilized 36 professional public relations practitioners from the Washington, D.C. area who cumulatively spent more than 144 hours over a period of two weeks judging the 15 classifications of entries, ranging from advertisements and periodicals to videos and websites. 

Based on the number of points awarded each entry by the judges, 28 submissions from 14 ports received an Award of Excellence, while 52 submissions from 18 ports scored an Award of Distinction, and 19 submissions from seven ports earned an Award of Merit. 

To recognize superior performance in the competition, the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) will, for the first time, receive the Dan Maynard Communications Award for Overall Excellence.  This “traveling” award is presented annually to the port that earns the most award points in the competition. The trophy was renamed by AAPA’s Public Relations Committee in 2004 after the late Dan Maynard, the committee’s former colleague and communications director for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.

To see all of the winning entries in the 2013 AAPA Communications Awards Program, as well as winners from previous years, click here. 

Port Name: American Association of Port Authorities