Allan Schoenberg Award
Today I got a letter in the mail. I opened it slowly, hoping it wasn’t a rejection letter. I read the first word, “Congratulations!” and relaxed. The letter said I was the 2009-2010 Allan Schoenberg Award recipient.
I’m thrilled and honored. I’m looking forward to meeting Allan Schoenberg in person at our PRSSA conference. I’ve gotten to know him a little bit already via Twitter.
The letter said, “The Allan Schoenberg Award was established to recognize an outstanding member of PRSSA or PR Central who shows leadership potentials and commitment to the field of public relations.”
I will be recognized as the winner at the PRSSA Spring Conference, but Dr. Krider and Allan Schoenberg said it was fine to share the news early.
The hardest part of the application was the essay. I had to define my philosophy of public relations.
I wanted to say something Natalie Ebig Scott tweeted to me once: “It’s PR, not the ER. I’m influencing lives, not saving them.” But, I don’t think that was essay appropriate!
So, I wrote, “Overall, I believe public relations is positively influencing people’s ideas and opinions through communication to achieve strategic goals.”
You wouldn’t believe how long it took to come up with that! Coming up with a philosophy is harder than I thought. I talked to the recipients from the past two years and they said they felt the same way.
Learn it. Live it. Love it.
Congratulations on your award! And thanks for the shout-out.
EEK!! Congratulations, Rachel! You’re certainly deserving of this honor. Enjoy it. I know there will be many more of these proud moments for you in the future
@Natalie - Thanks. And no problem–I think your quote inspired me
@Cynthia-Thanks!! You’re so encouraging!
This is great news indeed and I’m looking forward to meeting you in person and spending time talking with you this weekend.
[...] Saturday, I met one of my newest mentors. One of the perks of being an Allan Schoenberg Award recipient is being mentored by Allan himself (picture to left is of us at the conference last [...]
[...] Saturday, I met one of my newest mentors. One of the perks of being an Allan Schoenberg Award recipient is being mentored by Allan himself (picture to left is of us at the conference last [...]