While our firm has won more awards in the past decade than we can often recall, we never take them for granted because we take seriously what the awards represent: The fact that our peers, who are experts in the field, have deemed our work worthy of recognition.
We recently attended a Central Michigan Public Relations Society of America luncheon at which we were officially presented with awards from the East Central District’s 37th Annual Diamond Awards competition. The Martin Waymire team joined our colleagues at a CMPRSA luncheon held at the Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center to accept the Diamond Award for public affairs and the Diamond Award for best in show for our 2012 Vote No on Proposal 5 Campaign. Proposal 5 was defeated by a margin of 69 percent to 31 percent — winning more than 3 million votes, despite being outspent more than 2-1 by supporters of the measure.Had this proposal passed, the state would have been open to complete legislative gridlock, which could have decimated the budgets of law enforcement, schools and municipalities.
It seems like I very recently accepted two other awards for the firm. Back in April, the Martin Waymire team took home two Pinnacle awards during the annual PACE Awards held at the delightful Old Town Marquee. The first Pinnacle award was for outstanding public relations success in video programs for the “Get a Shot. Save a Life campaign” we developed and executed for the Franny Strong Foundation.
The second was awarded for our success in a public affairs campaign for Expand Medicaid. Using extensive primary and secondary research, and earned, paid and new media strategies and tactics, we helped the governor, legislative supporters, and the coalition create a political environment favorable to passage of the Healthy Michigan Plan. I’ve been blessed to have had a long career in two fields I have a passion for: journalism and public relations. And I have to say that of all the victories I’ve been part of, the success of Expand Medicaid holds a special place in for me. It is something else to know that 470,000 more Michigan women and men now have access to quality care thanks to the efforts of a lot of people who care about health and wellness of Michiganders.
