M. Silver Associates won one of the top public relations awards, the Silver Anvil, for its “Explore Chinatown” campaign, Thursday night.
The New York and Florida based public relations agency was recognized for its two- public relations campaign at the Public Relations Society of America’s annual Silver Anvil Awards presentation, in the category, Marketing Consumer Services Travel and Tourism/Hospitality. “The Silver Anvil in the public relations industry is our equivalent of the Oscar,” M. Silver Associates President, Virginia Sheridan said. “It’s generally thought of as the highest and most prestigious award.”
The campaign was established by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation to rejuvenate Chinatown after 9/11. “A big part of the campaign was to get people to feel confident and comfortable to visit Chinatown and give them a reason to come back,” Sheridan said. The campaign started out as a two-year campaign but the L.M.D.C. approved the campaign for a third year.
M.S.A. treated Chinatown as a “travel destination” during their campaign, bringing in travel journalists and introducing them to Chinatown restaurants and personalities. “We showed them what was interesting about Chinatown,” said Sheridan. The campaign also established the first public map, photo library, and visitor information kiosk in Chinatown, in addition to publicizing some old favorite events, like the Lunar New Year celebration.
While M.S.A had a small office celebration the day after the award ceremony, they are planning to celebrate properly in Chinatown later this month. “We’re going to take all of our office staff down for a Dim Sum Chinese banquet,” Sheridan happily exclaimed.
—Anindita Dasgupta
WWW Downtown Express
