Martin Waymire stood out as the elite communications firm in the Lansing region this evening as it swept individual honors and top overall awards while also claiming several other awards for public relations campaigns and tactics.
The agency took home a total of 12 awards – 10 for the firm overall and two individual honors – at this year’s PACE Awards ceremony. The annual event honors the achievements of public relations agencies and communications professionals in Central Michigan and the East-Central United States. Award entries were judged by the Southwest Dallas Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.
The team achieved the night’s highest honors, winning nine awards for client work in the Central Michigan Public Relations Society of America (CMPRSA) 2022 PACE Awards, including:
- Best of Show – the competition’s highest award – and a first-place Pinnacle Award for the I Vaccinate social marketing campaign. The clients are the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Franny Strong Foundation.
- People’s Choice Award and a first-place Pinnacle Award for public affairs campaign for the URC Advocacy Campaign. The client is the University Research Corridor.
- People’s Choice Award and a first-place Pinnacle Award for social mediums for I Vaccinate: Sharing Real Family Stories Through Social Media. The clients are the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Franny Strong Foundation.
- First-place Pinnacle Award for Editorial/Op-Ed Column for Michigan’s Redistricting Map Context. The client is Voters Not Politicians.
- Award of Excellence for research for the Upper Peninsula Health Plan Communications Audit. The client is the Upper Peninsula Health Plan.
- Award of Excellence for website for the ivaccinate.org website redesign. The clients are the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Franny Strong Foundation.
In addition to these client awards, two Martin Waymire team members received individual honors.
Martin Waymire Partner Andie Poole was named 2022 PACE Maker of the Year, the top award presented to an individual by the CMPRSA. This prestigious award recognizes a practitioner who made a significant contribution to the profession in the last year by demonstrating outstanding leadership, innovation and creativity in a challenging project or program.
Bridgette Bauer also won Student Practitioner of the Year, and a Pinnacle Award for her Michigan State University Mock Health Communication Campaign. Bridgette has been a student practitioner with Martin Waymire since May 2021 and was recently hired full-time by the firm as an assistant communications strategist.
Martin Waymire also won a Merit Award in the Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) East-Central District Diamond Awards for its work with client GR Noir, a Black-owned jazz club and wine bar in Grand Rapids that opened during the pandemic. The Diamond Awards recognize PR achievement in the entire East-Central United States, which includes Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
“Our focus as a company is to work with clients that are helping to make Michigan a better place, so to be recognized by our peers for the quality and effectiveness of our work means so much to all of us,” said Martin Waymire Partner Andie Poole.
All awards were received on May 12 at the annual PACE Awards, which were held in-person for the first time in two years.
