Puerto Rico Public Relations Practitioners Association grants Excel Awards
The Puerto Rico Public Relations Practitioners Association (ARPR) announced the winners of the 34th Excel awards during a luncheon at the Embassy Suites by Hilton Dorado del Mar Beach Resort over the weekend.
The event also included a pair of special awards to industry veterans for their contributions to the practice.
Special awards were given to industry veterans for their contributions. ARPR President Tomás Dardet presented the Fernando Valverde Award to public relations practitioner Raquel Rivera. Rivera, director of Corporate Communications of the Ferré Rangel Group, was recently named a PRSA fellow by the Public Relations Society of America for her professional and ethical contributions to public relations. She is one of three Puerto Ricans to hold this distinction.
Karen Garnik received the Distinguished Public Relations Practitioner’s Award for “her outstanding ethical and professional performance, her contribution to the improvement of the profession, her contribution to the ARPR and her commitment to the community.”
Garnik, who was president of the ARPR from 2020 to 2021, has been practicing public relations for 35 years. She is CEO of Global Vision Marketing & Communications and is part of the select group of PR professionals in Puerto Rico that maintains their APR certification by the Universal Accreditation Board.
“Today we’re very pleased not only to recognize the best Public Relations work during the past year and a half, but to recognize the trajectory of two colleagues who have left their mark on the practice of Public Relations in Puerto Rico,” said Dardet. “We’re proud to have two professionals of the caliber of Raquel Rivera and Karen Garnik.”
The Sixto Toro Award, which recognizes the effectiveness in achieving the objectives of PR, was given to the “Against Sexual Violence: Text or Call” campaign, which was planned and executed by Iris Rivera-Ortiz for Centro Salud y Justicia.
The 2023 Excel Awards winners included:
Public Relations Program, Private Sector:
“The Buchanan’s Studio PR”
Client: Diageo
Planning and Execution: Bernardo Fiol and Magda González
Events: Record Mundial Team Rubio
Client: Universal Group
Planning: Jescel Rolón
Execution: Gabriela Berríos
Corporate Social Responsibility, Private Sector:
“Espacio Azul”
Client: Arcos Dorados
Planning: Isabel Rovira, Francheska Maisonave
Execution: Yashira Torres and Emanuel Vera
Public Service, Nonprofit Organization:
“Contacto”
Client: Centro Salud y Justicia
Planning and Execution: Iris Rivera-Ortiz
Integrated Communication, Government:
PRECO
Client: Government Ethics Office
Planning and Execution: Lietchen Sarramía and Jennifer Rodríguez Ayala
Integrated Communication, Private Sector:
“San Juan, más allá de las murallas”
Client: Popular Inc.
Planning and Execution: Elaine Martínez and Angelisse Cortés
Utilization of Public Relations to Support Marketing, Private Sector:
“Shopper Interactivo de Walmart”
Client: Walmart Puerto Rico
Planning and Execution: Yamil Nieves
Best use of storytelling in digital media, Private Sector:
“Día de las Madres”
Client: Ford Puerto Rico
Planning: Vivian Dávila, APR
Execution: Jailyn Pérez
Web Pages and Sites, Government:
PRECO
Client: Government Ethics Office
Planning and Execution: Lietchen Sarramía
Online Videos, Nonprofit Organization:
“No te pegues que te quemas”
Client: Fundación A-Mar
Planning: Mónica Fernández
Execution: Myrna Liz Rodríguez, Nelsie Hernández and Mariano Somoza
Online Videos, Private Sector:
“Ford Paws”
Client: Ford Puerto Rico
Planning: Vivian Dávila, APR
Execution: Jailyn Pérez
