‘Conducting Communications Excellence’ set to take center stage Celebrates Mid-Florida Image and Wilton F. Martin Communicator of the Year awards

OCALA. Fla.– The Ocala Chapter of the Florida Public Relations Associations will celebrate outstanding public relations during Conducting Communications Excellence on Tuesday, April 19, at the Reilly Arts Center in Ocala.

Both the chapter’s Mid-Florida Image awards and the annual Wilton F. Martin Communicator of the Year awards will be presented during the evening.

FPRA’s local Image Awards and state Golden Image competition have become the standard of public relations excellence throughout Florida.

Now in its 12th year, the Communicator of the Year recognition was renamed in 2011 in honor of Wilton F. Martin, an Ocala native and former publicity director of Silver Springs who was instrumental in creation of the state Association.

FPRA, founded in 1938, is the oldest professional association of public relations practitioners in the nation.

FPRA/Ocala Chapter President Barbra Hernández, APR, notes that this year the chapter received 12 nominations for Individual and Institutional Communicator of the Year recognition.

“Twelve nominees for our 12th, you couldn’t orchestrate that better if you tried,” Hernández said.

This year’s nominees for Individual Communicator of the Year are Kevin Christian, APR, CPRC; Dr. Manal Fakhoury; Beth McCall; Marc Rice; Dave Schlenker; and Maclyn Walker. Institutional nominees are the City of Ocala; Coates Golf; Digital Fury Productions; the Public Education Foundation of Marion County; Measure Up Marion; and the Silver Springs International Film Festival. For information on these nominees, visit: http://www.fpraocala.org/COTY-Nominees-2016/.

“I think we struck just the right note with this year’s nominees,” Hernández said. “These individuals and organizations are well respected for their efforts to improve the quality of life in our community. Each is truly remarkable and a winner in their own right.”

In addition to the Wilton F. Martin Communicator of the Year awards, the FPRA Ocala Chapter will hold its Mid-Florida Image Awards honoring the very best in public relations innovation, planning and design. Contestants often go on to compete in the state Golden Image Awards which will be held during the Association’s 78th annual conference in August.

The awards gala begins at 5:30 p.m. and includes appetizers, cash bar and catered dinner. Guest tickets are available for $45 and reservations may be made by visiting www.fpraocala.org/Image/ or calling 352-671-4161.

Conducting Communications Excellence is sponsored by Cox Communications, NetSource Technologies, Webster University, JJ Fields, Gourmet Today, Floral Architecture, Ocala Style magazine and the Reilly Arts Center.

Tickets to attend the gala may be purchased online. For more information, contact FPRA Ocala’s Image/Communicator Awards Chair Laura Byrnes, APR, CPRC, at 352-816-1264.