PR Xchange Winners from ALA '15

Some of the PRX winners on display

The 2015 American Library Association Conference took place in sunny San Francisco at the end of June. There were plenty of interesting marketing-related events, and as always, I met great people and learned new things at them. Read my complete conference coverage in the September / October issue of Marketing Library Services. (WHAT?!? You don't subscribe to MLS?? Well head over to the newsletter's home page, check it out, and subscribe now so you don't miss anything else!)

Sundays are always my favorite days at ALA, since that's when the big marketing events happen. One is the John Cotton Dana Library Public Relations Awards. I already covered this year's winners in this earlier post. Now I want to share photos and info about the PR Xchange awards; they're kind of the "cousins" of the JCDs. 

I'm honored to have the chance to not only attend, but also participate, in the busy PR Xchange event, which is put on by the Public Relations and Marketing Section (PRMS) of LLAMA (Library Leadership & Management Association). During the PRX, hundreds of people come through the large Special Events Area during the Xchange’s open hours to network as well as to study and pick up samples of all sorts of collateral materials. It’s like a smorgasbord of free brochures, calendars, buttons, bookmarks, annual reports, and more. I had a table where I gave away free sample issues of Marketing Library Services, sold my book (The Accidental Library Marketer), and sold cool stickers that say "Libraries Are Essential." 

While many people come to network and get great PR ideas, the highlight of this event is the ceremony for the PR Xchange Award winners. As I announced in the News section of the July/August issue of MLS, 60 winners were chosen from 374 entries. (See the full list here. Full disclosure: I was one of the judges.)

Full house at the PR Xchange Awards ceremony

The ceremony where co-chairs Mark Aaron Polger and Scott Sheidlower handed out certificates amid smiles and applause is the end of a long process. The PRMS Committee members work hard to publicize the contest in the spring, then accept submissions and organize them, seek volunteer judges, create the judging rubric, and oversee the long, careful process of scoring all the entries. After winners are chosen, the chairs notify each one by email, print certificates, and create lists and photos to share online. (See this year’s winners on Flickr.) 

Kudos to these hard-working volunteers for putting on a well-organized, well-attended event where public relations peers could learn from one another! I'm looking forward to being part of it again in the years to come.

Some of the colorful PR materials that people could pick up