NORTH ANDOVER and CANTON – John Guilfoil Public Relations LLC (JGPR) is proud to announce that the company was the first winner of this year’s 53rd Bell Ringer Awards, winning 15 awards in various categories, including two Gold Bell Ringer Awards for the company’s work with municipal government and law enforcement.

Sponsored by The New England Public Relations Club, the region’s premier networking and education organization for public relations and communications professionals, the Bell Ringer Awards honor the superior work of public relations and communications professionals across New England.

This is the first time in eight years of history that JGPR has been New England’s top Bell winner.

“I am so proud of our team and what we have been able to accomplish over the past year and more,” said Company Founder and Director John Guilfoil. “Like all businesses, the Covid-19 pandemic has revealed many challenges and periods of uncertainty. Through it all, I have watched our staff consistently and professionally respond to our clients’ calls and produce some of the most amazing work I have seen in my career. We are a small company, mainly dedicated to the needs of the municipal government. We don’t have the budgets of big corporations, so to be recognized among some of New England’s biggest and most successful PR firms is truly an honor.

In total, JGPR won two gold bells, three silver bells, six bronze bells and four merit awards.

One of the company’s golden bells was for work done on behalf of the Rhode Island Police Chief’s Association (RIPCA), where JGPR developed the Twenty for 2020 Campaign. The company worked alongside RIPCA to create a list of 20 policy reforms and promises from every Rhode Island police department after George Floyd died at the hands of members of the Minneapolis Police Department. The campaign was announced at a poignant event in June 2020 where nearly all of Rhode Island’s police chiefs were in attendance to show their support and sign the program document. JGPR also won an award of merit in the Local / Regional TV Placement category for its work with RIPCA to combat the rising number of motor vehicle fatalities in the state.

The Twenty for 2020 campaign material was written by Guilfoil, with assistance from Director of Marketing and Special Projects Melina Gambino, Video Division Executive Producer Cynthia Johnson, Editor Matthew Reid, Account Coordinator junior Alia Spring, photographer / videographer Aram Boghosian and vice-president Benjamin Paulin. .

JGPR received a second golden bell for an awareness campaign on behalf of the towns of Cohasset, Hingham, Scituate and Hull which helped educate community members on proposed cuts to transit services on the Shore. South. The “Save the Greenbush – Save the boat”Was part of an effort that successfully saw the preservation of public transport services for the four cities. The campaign has received many accolades, as its “Ride the Ferry Day” also won a bronze bell in the Media Events category.

The transit campaign was led by Matthew Reid of JGPR and the campaign website was designed by WordPress specialist Kristen Potter.

In addition to the many awards received for the company’s work in public relations, JGPR also won its highest award in the company’s history for website design, winning a Silver Bell for its innovative and well-followed COVID-19 news portals, with its Brookline COVID-19 news portal serving as an example which has been replicated in more than a dozen other communities whose residents have benefited from a unique source of information and vital resources on the pandemic. Many of these sites were designed and launched within hours for customers at the height of the pandemic.

JGPR’s all-new video division also took home its first awards on Thursday, winning a Bronze Bell for the City of Gloucester’s 2020 Census Multilingual Video Campaign and two Merit Awards: a department profile video for Bedford, NH. Police department and an executive chef profile for the Revolution Tap Room and Grill in Rochester, executive producer NH Johnson, video division account manager / coordinator Kelsey Bode and photographer / videographer Aram Boghosian shared the honors. The video division was launched in early 2020.

This is the sixth consecutive year that JGPR has been honored by the PR Club and the third and fourth time in the company’s history that it has received a Gold Bell Award. He was previously recognized by Gold Bells for his work with the Gloucester ANGEL Initiative in 2016 and for helping fire departments expose the dangers of a TikTok viral trend in 2020.

The Bell Ringer Awards took place on Thursday, June 10, with a hybrid awards ceremony in which the PR Club honored the winners with a single item throughout the day via social media, as well as the campaign and professional award winners at a video event hosted by Justin Joseph, a professor at Boston University.

JGPR staff, interns, freelancers, clients and friends celebrated at a corporate meeting at the Archer Hotel in Burlington. It was the first time the entire company had met in 15 months and it was the first time that some of the staff from both JGPR offices had met in person.

The Bell Ringer Awards have attracted hundreds of entries in over 40 categories, from one-off placements to one-year campaigns. The PR Club gave out 110 awards, and the 15 awards JGPR won were the most important for any business.

JGPR also won or received the only awards in the Video – Single, Video – Series, Regional / Local TV Placement and Government / Public Affairs Campaign categories and nearly swept the Crisis Communication Campaign category, winning three of the four awards. awarded.

“The strength of the New England PR community is evident in this year’s Bell Ringer Awards,” said Amanda Fountain, President of the PR Club and Director of Social Media for March Communications. “Seeing the exceptional work of so many businesses, nonprofits and agencies is a beacon of hope in these difficult times. We applaud your resilience and your contributions to both your organizations and the industry as a whole. “

In total, JGPR received the following awards:

Campaign entries

Government or public affairs

Cloche d’or: the “Save the greenbush-Save the Boat” campaign preserves public transport on the South Shore

Bronze Bell: Using Multimedia to Help ConVal Schools Budget Process

Crisis communication

Gold Bell: Rhode Island Association of Chiefs of Police’s Twenty for 2020 Campaign Takes State-Wide Policing Standards and Practices

Bronze bell: City of Norwood successfully manages first Covid-19 crises

Award of Merit: Fairfield Police Department apologizes after euthanizing dog mistakenly mistaken for coyote

Single element entries

Media event

Bronze bell: “Ride the Ferry Day” highlights the need to preserve public transport on the South Shore

Company / agency blog
Silver Bell: City of Brookline Streamlines Real-Time Communications During Pandemic Emergency

Video – Unique
Award of Merit: Bedford, New Hampshire Police Department explains why they chose to serve

Video – Series

Bronze Bell: City of Gloucester creates multilingual video campaign to encourage census participation

Merit Award: 5 Diamond Chef moves into the kitchen at Revolution Taproom & Grill

Television – Regional / Local

Silver Bell: North Reading Police Sergeant, on leave, saves three people in early morning house fire

Bronze Bell: Burlington Police Showcase Department’s 21st Century Training

Award of Merit: Speech by Rhode Island Police Chiefs Regarding Rising Motor Vehicle Fatalities

Television – National
Bronze bell: Somerset officer buying Christmas dinner for his family after shoplifting receives worldwide acclaim

Response to the latest news
Silver Bell: Braintree Police Respond to South Shore Plaza Mall Shooting

About the RP Club

Founded in 1948, PR Club strives to promote and encourage involvement in the communications industry and in particular the professions of public relations, promotions and marketing. Learn more about the New England-based PR Club’s monthly programs, social and networking events, the “Bell Ringer” blog and the Bell Ringer Awards at prclub.org. Follow them on Twitter @PRClubofNE.

About the Bell Ringer Awards

The Bell Ringer Awards recognize public relations and communications work that demonstrates excellence in creative planning and professional training and exhibits a high degree of success in achieving predetermined goals. Open to all New England practitioners, the program, now in its 53rd year, symbolizes one of the greatest accolades in all fields of endeavor – recognition of superior performance by one’s peers.

About John Guilfoil Public Relations LLC:
Content, strategy, standards. With the philosophy that every police and fire department and government agency deserves effective communications and public relations on the same scale as large corporations, John Guilfoil Public Relations produces clear and concise written materials, a communications strategy, the website development and crisis management services for our clients. and responds to last-minute events for more than 300 police and fire departments, public schools, city governments, and non-profit organizations across New England and beyond. The company is based in Georgetown, Massachusetts, and was founded by John Guilfoil, a former Boston Globe reporter who served as deputy press secretary to the late Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. JGPR.net.

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