MPRC Awards At Annual Conference
The Maine Public Relations Council (MPRC) honored two individuals and one company at its annual conference on October 7. - 10/17/2005
Bernays AwardMidge Vreeland, APR, received the 2005 Edward L. Bernays Award, MPRC?s highest honor. The award, named for Edward L. Bernays, widely regarded as the father of modern public relations, was created in 1987 to honor outstanding contributions to the public-relations profession.
Vreeland is the co-founder Vreeland Marketing and Design in Yarmouth. A graduate of Northwestern University, Midge and her husband, Stewart, founded the agency in1978. For twenty years, Vreeland Marketing & Design has served as pro bono agency for the Yarmouth Clam Festival. Midge Vreeland has won Broderson awards from the Maine Advertising Club and Golden Arrow Awards from MPRC. In 1994, she received the prestigious Conwell Award from the Maine Advertising Club for her service to the industry and community.
President?s Award
Burgess Advertising & Associates was presented with the President?s Award, the first time that an organization has been recognized with the honor. The President?s Award is given annually to an MPRC member or organization that has made great contributions to the public-relations field and MPRC. Burgess Advertising was recognized for supporting MPRC through volunteers, board service and pro bono work.
Lightship Award
Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the Maine Bureau of Health and Maine's chief health officer, received the Lightship Award, presented each year to an individual outside the public-relations field. Recipients are recognized for their ability to interact and successfully communicate with the public and the media.
Dr. Mills has been the state?s chief health officer and director of the Maine Bureau of Health since 1996. Dr. Mills' best-known effort is the Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine. Under her leadership, the state has undertaken a serious and aggressive campaign to cut smoking rates. Mills is also working on programs to reduce obesity, particularly among young people, and she took on the soda companies last year with an ad campaign that called attention to sodas' contribution to the youth obesity problem.
Now in its 30th year, the Maine Public Relations Council (MPRC) is a professional association of Maine public-relations practitioners. MPRC is dedicated to the professional development of its members and a greater awareness of the role of public relations in the world today. www.meprcouncil.org.