Chattanooga, TN – The Lookout Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) recently recognized several local organizations for excellence in COVID-19 communications. The Chapter developed the Crown Awards to acknowledge exemplary work in the greater Chattanooga area during unparalleled circumstances.
2020 Crown Awards were bestowed on Chambliss Law (large business/organization), River City Company (small business/organization), Hunter Museum of American Art (non-profit or event) and See Rock City, Inc. (honorable mention) during a virtual presentation.
Chambliss Law was recognized for the Chambliss COVID-19 Insight Center, where team members generated news-style content online for business owners, community leaders and others. The new feature on the company’s website provided a knowledgeable breakdown of key topics including the Paycheck Protection Plan, CARES Act, and employer guidance on paid and sick leave.
River City Company garnered praise for Support Downtown Chattanooga Business, a directory utilizing the existing downtownchattanooga.org website to list the current operating conditions of nearly 400 businesses. The clearinghouse of information not only helps local businesses, but members of the public decipher what is open and what COVID-19 protocols they may encounter when visiting.
Hunter Museum of American Art also stood out for its efforts to find new avenues to reach the public. Unable to open their doors to visitors, museum staff targeted ways to be welcomed into their patrons homes. Through Virtual Hunter, the museum offered pre-recorded in-gallery performances and lectures, Zoom backgrounds, and at-home arts and crafts activities relating to works in the Hunter collection via Facebook live.
In addition to these awards, See Rock City, Inc. received an honorable mention for “Roam like a Gnome.” The social media campaign offered a lighthearted look at what Rock City Gnomes did while the attraction was shutdown, and the public wasn’t around, due to COVID-19.
Nominations were judged by a panel of professionals from the Tri-Cities Chapter of PRSA. Judges based their selections on criteria including how big a pivot an organization had to make, creativity, impact and effectiveness of the campaign and measurable results.
PRSA Lookout is the leading Chattanooga-area communications professional organization with members across a variety of industries from southeast Tennessee and northwest Georgia.
Based in New York City, PRSA is the world’s largest professional organization for public relations practitioners, with more than 33,000 professional and student members across 400 chapters.