2022 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 2022 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:

Annual Reports

Brochures, Multiple-page Booklets
o One-page brochure (bi-fold or tri-fold)
o Multiple page booklets

Publications (Published regularly and for internal use or external distribution)
o Internal Publication
o External Publication

Writing
o News Writing
o Feature Writing or Columns
o News Releases
o Speeches

Graphic Design
o Logos, Themes and Letterheads
o Graphics for Brochures and Publications
o Special Graphics (including posters, t-shirts, etc.)

Photographs 
o Single Color or Black & White Print or Series of Photographs

Audiovisual Production 
o One time Video Programming
o Video Series
o Podcasts or audio programming (e.g. PSA)

Special Projects
o Ceremonies or Community Events
o Public Education Campaign/Event

Electronic Communications
o Websites (please include URL address)
o Best Twitter Feed
o Best Facebook Page
o Best Use of Social Media (not Facebook or Twitter)
o Email Newsletter to citizens

The National Association of County Information Officers is seeking entries for the 2022 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 counties 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, 2019, and December 31, 2021.

Entry Fees
Submit between May 1-June 3, 2022 (deadline 5:00 p.m. CDT): $35 per entry for NACIO members; $50 per entry for non-NACIO members.*

*Payment can be made online through NACO https://member.naco.org/Events/Register/0c3b6891-ce47-ec11-8c62-00224804f64e  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 handling the payments on behalf of NACIO for this contest. 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 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 recipt from the NACO payment system as well as an email confirmation.

DEADLINE
The deadline to submit is June 3, 2022, 5:00 p.m. CDT.