Florida Utility Wins 5 PR Awards

Kissimmee, Fla. (PRWEB) April 25, 2008 -- Kissimmee Utility Authority (KUA) won five awards on April 24 at the 2008 Image Awards, an annual competition sponsored by the Orlando Area Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Association. The winners were announced at a gala held at CityArts Factory in downtown Orlando.

The utility earned two of the competition's biggest honors -- Grand Image Awards -- as well as two Image Awards and a Judges' Award. Only three Grand Image Awards are handed out each year.

The Image Awards competition recognizes companies that exhibit and employ comprehensive public relations projects that meet the highest standards of excellence in four components of PR programming: research, planning, execution and evaluation.

An Image Award is presented to the top-scoring entry in each category. An Award of Distinction is presented to all entries that meet the standard of excellence set by a panel of judges. A Judges' Award is presented by judges for an outstanding entry that achieves maximum results while using a minimum amount of money.

Image Award winners in each division are automatically considered for the Grand Image Award, representing the finest examples of public relations programming in Central Florida.

In the crisis communications category, KUA received a Grand Image Award and an Image Award for its 2007 hurricane preparedness campaign. The seven-month campaign included the promotion of electronic storm alerts, distribution of printed newsletters and 65,000 hurricane handbooks, and the hosting of a series of free neighborhood meetings designed to help residents prepare for the storm season. The campaign was implemented at a cost of 35 cents per utility customer. Additional information is available at http://www.kua.com/hurricane.

In the calendar/poster category, KUA received a Grand Image Award, an Image Award and a Judges' Award for its 2008 calendar of energy conservation. The annual calendar used student artwork to encourage the conservation of electricity among utility customers. Copies of the calendar -- 16,500 in all -- were provided free of charge to utility customers. The winning artwork is featured online at http://www.kua.com/Community/Features/StudentArt08.

KUA's winning entries will now advance to FPRA's statewide level of competition, the Golden Image Awards. Those awards will be announced on August 5 at Gaylord Palms Resort in Kissimmee.

KUA has earned 216 local, state, national and international communication awards for public relations programs, events and publications since 1995.

Founded in 1901, KUA (www.kua.com) is Florida's sixth largest community-owned utility providing electric and telecommunication services to 170,000 residents in five Central Florida counties.

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