RF Washington Wins 2008 Silver Anvil Award

June 18, 2008

Ruder Finn Washington, a leading independent communications agency, and Jamestown 2007, an agency of the Commonwealth of Virginia, are the recipients of the Public Relations Society of America's (PRSA) coveted 2008 Silver Anvil Award and the 2008 Silver Anvil Award of Excellence in recognition of exceptional work promoting "America's 400th Anniversary." The 2008 Silver Anvil Awards, which recognize outstanding achievements in strategic public relations planning and implementation, were presented during the Silver Anvil Awards Evening held June 5 at the Equitable Tower in New York City.

Ruder Finn Washington and Jamestown 2007 won the Silver Anvil Award in the Events and Observances, Government (more than seven days) category for their work on America's 400th Anniversary, an 18-month commemoration that recognized the founding of Jamestown, Virginia, as North America's first permanent English settlement. The organizations worked together to concept and execute a massive awareness campaign that garnered significant national and international attention for the Commemoration's 10 high-profile Signature Events. In just 18 months, the public relations team secured more than 24,000 media placements with an estimated audience of more than 12 billion that illuminated Jamestown's pivotal role in our nation's founding. The campaign also helped draw more than one million visitors to Jamestown's historic sites in 2007, a 44.7 percent increase over 2006.

Ruder Finn Washington and Jamestown 2007 also won PRSA's Award of Excellence in the Events and Observances, Government (less than seven days) category for their role in creating, executing and promoting a multifaceted communications plan for "America's Anniversary Weekend," the Commemoration's culminating event. On May 11-13, 2007, more than 63,000 visitors including President George W. Bush, First Lady Laura Bush and Virginia Governor Timothy Kaine traveled to the Jamestown sites for "America's Anniversary Weekend."