CHESPRA | Communications Contest

Contest Information

2012 Communications Contest Winners

Contest Winners 2011

Communications Contest Rules

Communications Contest Winners

2007 Communication Contest Winners

2008 Communication Contest Winners

2010 Communications Contest Winners

2009 Communications Contest Winners

CHESPRA Communications Contest

Rules and Eligibility

Purpose

To recognize outstanding communications produced by school divisions and local schools in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia and to encourage Chesapeake Chapter members to evaluate and enhance their communications.

Eligibility

Any public or private school divisions (K-12), including special schools such as vocational-technical centers, located in the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and West Virginia.

Judging and Recognition

The top award in each category is the Award of Excellence, followed by the Award of Merit and Honorable Mention.
Entries will not be judged against each other, and awards will be given in any category only if merited.
Entries will be judged against criteria for content and design. Districts and divisions of all sizes are encouraged to submit entires.
Judging will be conducted by media and public relations professionals who work for entities not eligible to enter the contest.
Winners will be notified and awards distributed at the Fall CHESPRA Conference.

Rules

Entries must have been produced by your school division in the PRIOR (2011-12) school year. Entries submitted for the current school year will not be considered for the contest.
Submissions are limited to two for each category.
The same publication may not be entered in more than one category. Choose the primary distribution method when deciding category.
Multiple issues of the same publication count as one entry.
Student-written and or/student-produced publications are not eligible for this contest.

Contest Categories

Newsletter

Any regular periodical that is distributed at least twice a year. Submit two different issues.

Calendar

The calendar is a separate category even if it is used as a division handbook.

Brochure

Any publication designed to inform the public about the school district or division, its schools, or its programs.

Handbook

A printed piece in booklet form for specific audiences, such as a handbook for bus drivers, parent handbook, a volunteer handbook, etc.

Financial Information

A printed piece that addresses school finances, budgets, employee fringe benefits, or other types of school financial issues. Published materials may be directed at internal and/or external audiences. Do not send official school budgets.

Special Publication

This category includes annual reports and any piece printed for a specific occasion or purpose – that is not included in another category.

Speech or Op-Ed

Any speech that was written to address an internal or external audience or any statement or article that appeared in print or online for the sole purpose of expressing an opinion on a school-related subject.

Web

Home Page

Any school system public website. Provide the URL.

Website Subsection

This category includes any of the subsections of a website. Send the URL to the entry page for the subsection being nominated.

Intranet Page

A public system’s internal Web site for employees or another internal audience. Provide the URL and appropriate ID and password for access, if possible. Otherwise, submit a series of no more than six screen shots that provide insight into the site features. You may submit a home or subsection of your Intranet site.

Web Publication

This category includes any communication that is regularly published and distributed via the web. Send the URL of two separate editions.

Blog

A blog generated by the school division for the specific purpose of soliciting opinions of an internal or external audience.

Podcast

This category is for a school-generated digital media that has the ability to be syndicated, subscribed to, and downloaded automatically when new content was added. You must be able to demonstrate that an aggregator or feed reader capable of reading feed formats such as RSS or Atom was used to qualify your entry as a podcast. The podcast submitted can be an audio or video format.

Multi-Media

VideoProduction

Each entry is limited to one program or series and must show time length, not to exceed 30 minutes per program. For a series, select the best 10 minutes of all programs for your entry and submit ONE FILE ONLY.

Acceptable Formats: YouTube link, DVD, .mov, MPEG 2, MPEG 4, or Flash

Public Service Announcements

Submit a promotional announcement for use on television or radio. Each entry is limited to one PSA or PSA series and must show time length.

Miscellaneous

Special Events

This category is for an event supporting a school initiative. It can be one-time event or annual event. Please submit any material that provides purpose and overview of the event.

Crisis Communication

This category is to share the response of a crisis that occurred in your school division. Please clearly state the crisis that occurred and include all supporting documents that demonstrate the response.

Special Campaign

Submit any material that was used to create an awareness, inform, or educate an internal or external audience about a specific topic or initiative that occurred in your school division.

Entry Deadline: September 28, 2012

Print and Video Entries

Submit print and video entries in the following manner:
- Provide one copy of each entry.
- Complete the registration form. Make copies of form to attach to each entry.
A fee of $15 per entry ($25 for nonmembers) must be included. Make checks payable to Chesapeake Chapter Publications Contest. Send check or money order only. Purchase orders and vouchers are not accepted. Or pay online.
All entries must be postmarked by Friday, September 28, 2012.
Send to:

Kelly Gordon

Video Production Specialist

Frederick County Public Schools

191 East South Street

Frederick, MD 21701

Web Entries

For each Web entry, complete the following steps:

· Submit your entry via email only.

· Use the subject line of your email to type the name of the category you are entering.

· Place URL links to the electronic documents you are entering in the message portion of the email.

· Attach to the email your PDF registration form.

· Email your entries no later than Friday, Sept. 28, 2012 to

kelly.gordon@fcps.org.

· An entry fee of $15 per entry ($25 for nonmembers) must be sent by U.S. mail, postmarked no later than September 28. Make checks payable to Chesapeake Chapter Publications Contest. Purchase orders and vouchers are not accepted.

· Send to: