Baltic PR Awards rules

DATE AND LOCATION

The Baltic PR Awards 2012 will take place in Riga on Monday, November 12. The presentation of shortlisted nominees in 10 categories will take the first half of the day.The venue: Tallink Hotel Riga, 24 Elizabetes, Riga, Latvia.

ELIGIBILITY1. The Festival is open to all parties involved in the use of public relations or communication management,

throughout the Baltic region, such as PR agencies, in house PR departments, freelancers, etc.

2. It is the responsibility of the entrant to ensure that the commissioning client has the rights to use the intellectual property of the client/brand communicated.

3. Entries cannot be made without the prior permission of the client/owner of the rights of the PR case.

4. The Organisers may refuse entries which offend national or religious sentiments or public taste.

5. Entries must not have been entered in the Baltic PR Awards contest in previous years.

6. Any entry which, up to and including the final day of judging, has infringed any of its country of origin's voluntary or regulatory codes of practice, is not eligible. It is the responsibility of the entrant to inform the Organisers should any infringement have arisen prior to the judging and Awards Ceremony.

7. All Baltic PR Awards campaigns submitted must be designed for implementation and the majority of the campaign must have been implemented between 1 January 2011 and 12 October 2012. Entries cannot be cancelled or removed from the Festival in any way AFTER 12 OCTOBER 2012.

8. Only one party may submit an entry, i.e. – PR consultancy or in house department, and this is to be agreed in advance between the parties concerned. In the event that the same entry is submitted by two different entrants, only the first entry will be accepted.

9. The Festival organisers may need to contact the client related to any entry at the request of the jury at any time during the voting process, should any questions about the implementation or presentation of the work arise. In such cases, wherever possible, the entrant will be advised before this is done.

10. The Organisers will endeavour to move entries to more appropriate categories if necessary before the judging begins and will inform the entrants if their entry is moved.

However, the Jury may be allowed to move entries between categories during the judging.11. All entry forms must be completed online at www.balticprawards.com. Please note that entries completed

online will not be considered complete until the entry has been fully paid for.

ENFORCEMENT OF THE RULES

1. All entries must be submitted for judging exactly as published, aired or implemented and may not be modified for awards entry. However, entries that are not originally in English may be translated as long as the presentation is exactly the same as the original version.

2. Directors cuts, spec ads and conceptual PR/advertising are not eligible.

3. The Festival reserves the right to request a full media schedule and/or other documentation from each entrant company to verify the authenticity of the campaign(s) in the event that entry is shortlisted or a winner.

4. In the event of a complaint against any winning or shortlisted entry, the Organisers will conduct a full investigation into each case and will request detailed documentation from all parties concerned including the complainant, the entrants and the client.

5. The Organisers will have no hesitation in withdrawing an award in cases where the complaint is upheld.

6. Entrants or companies who are proved to have deliberately and knowingly contravened any rules relating to eligibility may be barred from entering the awards for a period of time following the Baltic PR Awards as specified by the organisers.

JUDGING

An international jury of top PR specialists will select the award-winning entries.Judging stagesIn the first phase, an online jury of experts will assess the projects and announce three shortlisted works in ten categories.In the second evaluation stage, the international jury headed by IPRA president 2013 Christophe Ginisty will publicly assess the shortlisted projects and select the winner in each of the categories.

Judging criteria

Entries in all ten categories will be evaluated according to several clearly defined criteria. This ensures that all applicants are assessed in exactly the same way, based on the same parameters. These criteria range from strategy and creativity to the project’s contribution to sustainability. Jury members will award between zero and five points for each criterion, five signifying excellence and zero indicating failure.

Each of these criteria, however, is accorded a different weight in determining the score. The greatest weight has been assigned to the criteria “objectives” and “results.” The former assesses whether a methodology has been used to set clear objectives to achieve the client’s goals, and whether these objects are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound. The latter criterion examines whether the project’s results meet the defined objectives.

The four entries in each of the ten categories with the highest score will be shortlisted for the final presentations, to be held in Riga on November 12. At the presentations, applicants will present their projects video case studies (max 5 minutes long) before the international jury of judges. The jury will assess each presentation based on several questions: Is the presentation inspiring? Is the case well explained? Are there lessons that can be learned from it? The Winner in each category will be awarded to the campaign with the highest total score, including points for the presentation.

AWARDS

The Baltic PR Awards will be given in 10 categories. In each category there will be 4 short-listed nominees and the one with highest total score will be awarded the Winner of the category.

ENTRY DEADLINE; 12 October 2012

All entry materials, documentation and payment must be received in by Organizators of Baltic PR Awards no later than this date.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

1. Only one party may submit an entry and this is to be agreed in advance between the parties concerned. In the event the same entry is submitted by two different entrants, only the first entry received will be accepted.

2. Each campaign constitutes one entry.

3. All entries must relate to one PR campaign. Entries relating to more than one campaign (even if communicating the same client), must be entered and paid for as separate entries.

4. An entry may be entered in up to 3 different categories. You must supply a separate entry form and set of material for each entry and pay for each entry. You must also tailor each entry to suit the category you are entering rather than submitting the same entry in multiple categories.

5. The Organisers will endeavour to move entries to more appropriate categories if necessary before the judging begins and will inform the entrants if their entry is moved.

6. All entry forms must be completed online at www.balticprawards.com. Please note that entries completed online will not be considered complete until the entry has been fully paid for.

Within the entry form, you will be required to submit the following written information:

SummaryGive a brief overview of the whole campaign from start to finish, including the challenge, the objectives, the strategy and the outcome. (200 words max)

Then explore each of the above points in more detail as follows:1. SituationDescribe the situation, problem or opportunity that has elicited the need for this campaign. (100 words max)

2. ObjectivesDescribe the goals and objectives of the campaign, the target audience / stakeholders and the research that was undertaken to choose the right strategy. (100 words max)

3. StrategyDescribe the planning for the campaign and strategy chosen to achieve the goals and objectives. (150 words max)

4. ExecutionDescribe step by step how the plan was implemented including where, when and for how long. Did the campaign run according to the original plan or was it adapted at any stage? (150 words max)

5. Documented ResultsInclude tangible and quantifiable results and show how they can be measured against the original objectives and achieved the communication and business goals. Include commercial results as sales and profit as well as change in consumer awareness and attitudes. Please note, in the absence of any indication of results, the Jury cannot give a mark for this and the entry could suffer as a result. (150 words max)

Maximum 850 words

For the purpose of judging impartiality, there must be no company branding anywhere on your entry materials, with the exception of self-promotion, nor any reference to anyone who has contributed to the entry.You will be offered the opportunity, when entering online, to submit information separately that will be kept confidential (i.e. submitted only to the jury).

MATERIAL REQUIREMENTS

For each entry you must supply one JPEG picture of the PRESENTATION BOARD at 300 dpi, RGB with the longest side measuring approximately 420 mm. You will be able to upload your presentation board on the Baltic PR Awards website as part of your entry.

The Presentation Board will be a visual summary of your entry and MUST be contained on one page.This presentation should contain some key visuals and a simple, clear summary in English of the written part of your entry (see Entry Form above). There must be no more than 100 words in total on this presentation board (excluding words contained in visuals).

To guide you, we have provided some tips for preparing this presentation, and some examples of typical presentations. Please ensure that the Presentation board focuses on a few key visuals of your entry and only on the key points of your explanation.

You must not refer to the name of your agency or any contributing PR or creative companies on this Presentation Board.

For further assistance and guidance on preparing your presentation, please contact entries@balticprawards.com

FEES

The entry fee of € 90.00 is applicable on the Baltic PR Awards entry. Every next entry fee € 70.00. No VAT will be added.

Entrant will be asked to provide the billing information while completing the Entry Form. A relevant invoice will be issued shortly, sent by e-mail in digital format.

It is imperative that entrant covers ALL Bank charges; otherwise entries may be refused. Please ensure that payment is made in EUROS and arrives at our bank in EUROS.

TREATMENT AND PUBLICATION OF ENTRIES

1. Any material submitted in the course of entering the awards becomes the property of the Organisers and cannot be returned.

2. Entrants may be required to supply additional material of any shortlisted or winning work.

3. In order to promote the Baltic PR Awards, each entrant authorises the Organisers to screen or publish his materials with or without charge at public or private presentations, wherever and as often as the Organisers think fit.

4. Any entry may be compiled by the Organisers into a collection of entries. Such a collection may not, nor may any extracts of it, be copied, marketed or sold by any organisation other than the Organisation or any organisation authorised to do so by the Organisation. Each entrant agrees to assist the Organisers in supporting any legal action that may be taken to prevent a breach of this condition and to supply information

to the Organisers immediately should they become aware that an unauthorised collection or compilation is available for sale or distribution.

5. Each entrant agrees to hold the Festival Organisers harmless of any claims that may be made against them by reason of any such screenings or publishing. Winners have the right to use any award given to them for promotional purposes on condition that this is correctly described.

6. All entrants must accept that their entries may be used in the Baltic PR Awards Archive.

7. Each entrant confirms to the Organisers that they have the legal right to enter the Baltic PR Awards on the terms of these Entry Rules. Each entrant indemnifies the Organisers against all liability to any other person, firm or company and all loss arising from a breach by the entrant of any of these rules.

MISCELLANEOUS

1. Each entrant accepts full responsibility for the quality of entries and discharges the Organisers from any responsibility in respect of third parties.

2. The Entry Rules will be strictly observed by all entrants. Completion of the Entries Page will imply full acceptance by each entrant of the Rules. Non-compliance with any of the Entry Rules will result in automatic disqualification of the entry.

3. In the event of a win, any duties, fees and charges accrued from the transporting of the trophy, will be covered by the recipient, not Baltic PR Awards.