(Galveston, TX) June 8, 2018 – The Port of Galveston is pleased to announce that it will receive three top honors in the annual American Association of Port Authorities Communications Awards Competition.
“We are honored to be the recipient of these prestigious awards that recognize our recent communications efforts. These accolades are well deserved. It reinforces that the Port of Galveston is effectively highlighting the important role that the Port plays not just to the community and port partners but also to the global maritime community,” said Rodger Rees, Port Director and CEO.
Sponsored by the AAPA Public Relations Committee, the annual Communications Awards Program has recognized excellence in port communications since 1966. AAPA-member ports are invited to submit entries into one of three categories, based on the port's public relations resources. AAPA recognizes a total of 25 seaports for exemplary communications projects.
This year, the communications awards competition attracted 83 entries from numerous ports in both the United States and Canada. The AAPA Communications Awards program utilized 23 professional public relations practitioners from the Washington, D.C. area who cumulatively spent more than 90 hours over two weeks judging the 15 classifications of entries, ranging from advertisements, periodicals, videos and websites, to social media and overall campaigns.
“When port authorities communicate strategically with their many audiences, including their communities, business leaders and policymakers, they’re better able to show their tremendous value as drivers of economic development, environmental enhancement, and job creation,” said Kurt Nagle, AAPA’s president and CEO. “This competition helps our member ports by rewarding effective communications and highlighting best practices and lessons learned.”
The AAPA recognized the Port of Galveston with an Award of Distinction for advertisement: The Port of Everything, an Award of Distinction for social/web-based media: Hurricane Harvey Communications and an Award of Merit for special events: Community Open House.
The “Port of Everything” advertisement gave the Port the opportunity to reposition its message strategy to help support the local business owners of the community while complementing the Park Board and City’s message of promoting Galveston as more than just a beginning or ending to a cruise. The message was designed to bring a fun, livelier, more colorful image of Galveston as it competed with other port destinations. The idea was to convey that Galveston has something to offer for everyone: The Port of Everything.
The Port’s Hurricane Harvey communications effectively and quickly communicated vital information to the regional community, port partners and tenants, and cruise passengers that were scheduled to sail from Galveston or that were on board one of the four cruise ships that sailed out of Galveston prior to the storm. Additionally, users wrote and shared complimentary posts about Port of Galveston communications during Hurricane Harvey related events, including a mention in an article by Mark Orwoll in Conde Nast Traveler.
At the Community Open House the Port had the opportunity to educate, inform and engage the public, and the community was able to meet port staff, staff of port tenants, and members of several maritime organizations.
About the Port of Galveston
The Port of Galveston is the region’s gateway to the Gulf for cruise ships and international trade. Located at the entrance to Galveston Bay, the Port leases and maintains facilities on both Galveston Island and Pelican Island. The Galveston Island operations are a diversified mix of cargo including roll-on-roll-off cargo, dry bulk, export grain, refrigerated fruit, general cargo, and project cargo. In addition, the Port handles over 1.8 million cruise passenger movements annually. The Port’s Pelican Island facilities comprise a combination of undeveloped property, an active ship and rig repair facility, and liquid bulk operations. The Port is a self-supporting enterprise utility with operating revenues of approximately $38 million. It does not rely on tax dollars for operations.
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