2023 NACIO Awards of Excellence
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The National Association of County Information Officers was formed in 1966 to bring together communications professionals who wanted to share and exchange information with county public information officers from across the United States.

We are proud to host the 2023 Awards of Excellence contest to recognize the best works of county public information officers and state association of counties communications staff. Awards of Excellence winners demonstrate the highest level of proficiency in their work and display best practices for peers nationwide.

Best of Show and Best of Class awards are presented in a special ceremony held during the annual conference of the National Association of Counties (NACo), in which county elected leaders and administrators are invited to receive the honors.

Award Types
• Best of Show: Awarded to the most outstanding single entry in the entire competition.
• Best of Class: Best overall entry for the entire category.

• Superior: Exceptional work among peers.
• Excellence: Exceeds industry standards.
• Meritorious: Good Work


Award Categories:

Printed Publications
• Short one page / tri fold
• Multi Page education booklet
• Annual report
• Newsletter

Electronic Communications
• Website
• Specialized websites / pages (single issue/campaign focused)
• Email newsletter

Writing
• Short article (less than 250 words)
• Featured article / editorial (500-700 words)
• Best headline / campaign title

Social Media
• Single platform campaign (use of only one social media platform e.g., LinkedIn employee recruitment campaign)
• Social media campaign (use of multiple social media platforms)

Graphic Design
• Logo
• Special Graphics (t-shirts, posters, banners, ads)
• Banners / buttons

Audiovisual
• Short video (under 60 sec)
• Medium length video (1-5 min)
• Long video (more than 5 min)
• Video series
• Podcast series
• Podcast episode
• Photo / photo series

Campaigns (All-encompassing using multiple communication tools such as social media, print, electronic, graphics, websites, etc.)
• Public Safety
• Utilities
• General information
• Community engagement
• Crisis
• Quality of Life (e.g., parks, libraries, environmental, etc.)
• Budget

The National Association of County Information Officers is seeking entries for the 2023 Awards of Excellence. This contest recognizes and awards outstanding public relations and public information work being done in counties across the nation.

Eligibility
This contest is open to counties eligible to join the National Association of Counties or any staff of an eligible state county association. Entrants are not required to be current members of NACo or NACIO.

All entries must have been produced by the contestant with outside assistance strictly limited to support functions (typesetting, printing, technical and production services.) Projects contracted to outside individuals, studios, ad agencies, and public relations firms are not eligible.

For this cycle of the Awards of Excellence contest, entries must have been created between January 1, 2022, and December 31, 2022.

Nomination Submission Period:
Submit between Monday, April 17 - Wednesday, May 31, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. EST

Entry Fees:

$40 per entry for NACIO members; $60 per entry for non-NACIO members.

*Payment can be made online through NACo https://member.naco.org/events/GuestRegistration/810fcaa8-5ad9-ed11-a7c7-6045bd029cb7. You do not have to be a member of NACo or NACIO to enter this contest. You will, however, need to use the link above to make your entry payment(s).


What to know about payment: NACo is managing the Awards of Excellence payment process on behalf of NACIO. If you already have a NACo username and password, please use that and proceed with payment. If you do not have a NACo username and password, please click the link and then click the "My Profile" box, enter a user name and password of your choosing and submit. NACo staff will approve your account within one business day. Once you receive an email from NACo stating that your account was approved, click that payment link above, enter your username and password, and proceed to payment. If you have any questions or issues, please email nacio1966@gmail.com.
When you enter your payment information, please have the following: Entrant County, First and Last Name of the Entrant, Title of Entry, credit card information and billing information. Please make sure your zip code matches the address to where the bill is mailed. IN THE ADD-ON SECTION OF THE REGISTRATION PROCESS, PLEASE FILL IN THE NUMBER OF ENTRIES YOU ARE PAYING FOR. You can pay for multiple entries at once.
You will then receive a receipt from the NACo payment system as well as an email confirmation.

DEADLINE
The deadline to submit is Wednesday, May 31, 2023, 11:59 p.m. EST.