City of San Diego's Communications Team Receives Public Relations Professional of the Year Honors From PRSA

NEW YORK, NY, Jun 06 (MARKET WIRE) --
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) presented its highly coveted
PublicRelations Professional of the Year award to San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders'
communications team for its expert handling of citywide communications during
the
wildfires in October 2007 that burned nearly 198,000 acres. The city's
communications team is Fred Sainz, communications director; and deputy press
secretaries George Biagi, Eileen Brennan and Bill Harris. The award was
presented last night at the annual PRSA Silver Anvil Evening at the
Equitable Tower in New York City.

"The communications team in Mayor Jerry Sander's office pitted the power
ofcommunications against the fury of a natural disaster, turning best practices
into safety and recovery for residents of San Diego," said PRSA Chair & CEO
Jeffrey Julin. "The communications team not only used cutting-edge techniques
to steer ground operations toward favorable outcomes, but then also effectively
communicated the positive stories they helped create. This effort was public
relations at its ultimate best."

During the course of the disaster, the City of San Diego implemented an
effective crisis communications plan that targeted evacuees, the media, public
officials and employees, corporations offering donations, and the public
around the country and the world. Through the use of regular advisories and
press
briefings, in both English and Spanish, as well as online postings and
digital databases, the team kept all audiences informed about the need to
evacuate
as the fires spread, the status of city services and the safety and needs of the
more than 14,000 evacuees being sheltered in the city's Qualcomm Center. The
resulting effort enabled the city to communicate vital evacuation,
repopulation and recovery information to the widest possible audience.

"When the fires broke out, I told my communications team that we would
needto supply the public with frequent, timely, detailed and accurate
information --
around the clock -- and they got that done in tremendous fashion. They had the
extraordinarily complicated task of helping to evacuate and later bring
people back to large portions of America's eighth largest city. They needed to
inform people about the locations, and the volunteer and donation needs of
our emergency shelters, and they also needed to let people know about the
services and support systems that were available to them if their homes were
damaged or destroyed during the fires," said San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders on
a video clip he prepared for the Silver Anvils to congratulate his
communications team for their outstanding efforts throughout the wildfires. "I
am extremely proud that PRSA has seen fit to honor Fred and his team --
George, Bill and Eileen -- with this prestigious award. Their efforts during
one of the most difficult times in our region's history helped keep our
residents
safe, calm and informed."

The city's communications team drew on its research and experience from
the2003 San Diego Cedar Fire, as well as the recent lessons learned from
Hurricane Katrina. Their round-the-clock communications initiatives
ensuredthat the evacuation was smooth and that all available resources were
harnessed
and disseminated in a proper and timely manner to those in need.

"The tireless efforts of the communications team of San Diego publicly
conveyed to
the country and the world that the evacuees were safe and well cared for and
also provided needed reassurance to all Americans that we can be prepared and
responsible in a natural disaster. By jumping into the fire and working round
the clock to ensure every possible interested party received the information
they needed, they demonstrated exemplary commitment and public relations
acumen,"
said Sherry Goldman, 2008 Honors and Awards Committee chair and president of
Goldman Communications Group. "They are a great example of true public relations
pros and are most deserving of this honor."

The Public Relations Professional of the Year award represents the highest
achievement in the practice of public relations by an individual or team. Past
award recipients include:

2007: The public relations campaign team for Al Gore's
Oscar-winning film, "An Inconvenient Truth," included Megan Colligan,
Paramount Vantage executive vice president of Publicity and Promotions; Buffy
Shutt, Participant Productions executive vice president for Marketing; and
Michael
Feldman,Glover Park Group.

2006: Bernadette Mansur, senior vice president for Communications,
NationalHockey League (NHL).

2005: Charles Conner, senior vice president, Communication &
Marketing; Darren Irby, vice president, Public Relations; and Deborah Daley,
vice president, Corporate Communications, American Red Cross.

2004: Grace Chen Trent, senior vice
president, Communications/Chief of Staff and Brad Burns, senior vice
president, Public Relations, MCI.

About the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA)

The Public Relations Society of America, headquartered in New York City, is
the
world's largest organization for public relations professionals with nearly
32,000 professional and student members. PRSA is organized into 109 Chapters and
10 Districts nationwide, and 19 Professional Interest Sections and Affinity
Groups,
which represent business and industry, counseling firms, independent
practitioners, military,
government, associations, hospitals, schools, professional services firms and
nonprofit organizations. The Public Relations Student Society of America
(PRSSA) has 296 Chapters at colleges and universities throughout the United
States,
and one Chapter in Argentina.

To view online, visit
http://media.prsa.org/article_display.cfm?article_id=1181.

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CONTACT:
Joe DeRupo
212-460-1495
joseph.derupo@prsa.org

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