An Evening to Remember for John Guilfoil Public Relations

Seven Bell Ringer Awards and Young Professional of the Year Honors all Claimed by JGPR on Wednesday

CAMBRIDGE — The 51st PR Club of New England Bell Ringer Awards Ceremony was held Wednesday evening at the Royal Sonesta Hotel, and it was quite a night for the John Guilfoil Public Relations agency.

John Guilfoil Public Relations LLC (JGPR) was honored by the assembled public relations industry with a company-record eight awards during the annual ceremony, which recognizes the highest achievements in communications, media relations and marketing each year in New England.

Spearheaded by the company’s work within the Town of Andover communications and leadership teams during the 2018 Merrimack Valley Gas Emergency and its pro-bono service to fire departments who lost firefighters in the line of duty, JGPR was lauded for its work in crisis management, responding to breaking news, media relations, community affairs and Agency Citizenship/Pro Bono work.

“It is absolutely incredible to see the dedicated, hard-working team at JGPR receive the recognition they deserve in front of their peers in the public relations industry,” said company founder and principal John Guilfoil. “Receiving a Bell Ringer is the pinnacle of success for a New England public relations campaign in a given year, but to receive this many honors is just unprecedented for our small company.”

In addition to its Bell Ringer awards, JGPR Southern New England Account Manager Benjamin Paulin was honored as New England’s young PR Professional of the Year with the PR Club’s “Striker” award. Paulin was recognized for his transition from journalism to PR and for coming into his new career in a leadership role, opening the JGPR Braintree office in late 2017.

All told, JGPR received the following awards Wednesday:

• Silver Bell Ringer for Local/Regional News Placement: Rockland Boy Hailed for Saving Sister’s Life. (Benjamin Paulin)
• Silver Bell Ringer for Crisis Communications: Shared with the Town of Andover for the Merrimack Valley Gas Disaster (John Guilfoil, Jordan Mayblum, Andover Police, Andover Fire and the Town of Andover)
• Silver Bell Ringer for Response to Breaking News: Shared with the Town of Andover for the Merrimack Valley Gas Disaster (John Guilfoil, Jordan Mayblum, Andover Police, Andover Fire and the Town of Andover)
• Bronze Bell Ringer for Community/Consumer Affairs: Shared with the Town of Andover for Andover Supports its Community during the Merrimack Valley Gas Disaster (John Guilfoil, Jordan Mayblum, Andover Police, Andover Fire and the Town of Andover)
• Bronze Bell Ringer Regional Television News Placement: Text-to-911 Program helps Randolph Police Save Man’s Life (Benjamin Paulin)
• Bronze Bell Ringer for PR Agency Citizenship/Pro Bono Work for Supporting Firefighters and Communities in Mourning for the company’s no-fee service to the Marion, North Attleborough and Berwick, Maine Fire Departments in the past year.
• Merit Award for National Television News Placement: Massachusetts Woman Speaks out Following Attempted Abduction while Jogging (Benjamin Paulin)

Additionally, Paulin was nominated for a Bell Ringer for Local TV News for “An Inside Look at SEMLEC” and JGPR Senior Account Executive Jessica Sacco was nominated for a Bell Ringer for Local TV News for WBZ-TV’s It Happens Here: Melrose, Pioneering A New Trend In Education.

For Mayblum, who spent hundreds of hours in Andover and in Maine over the past year, the awards validate JGPR’s focus on local government and public safety.

“It’s pretty amazing to see our names, and the names of the community leaders and first responders we work with so closely, mentioned alongside major PR and marketing campaigns by national brands like Dunkin’, Liberty Mutual and Akamai,” Mayblum said. “I am very proud of the work we have done over the past year. Effective communication by small cities and towns makes a huge difference in the lives of many, and I feel privileged to come to work every day and play a role in that.”

This is the fourth consecutive year that JGPR has been honored by the PR Club but the first time the company has received more than one Bell Ringer. In 2016, JGPR received a Gold Bell Ringer and was a finalist for the PR Campaign of the Year/Platinum Super Bell for its work on the Gloucester ANGEL Initiative. In 2017, JGPR received two merit awards for web design and local TV news, and last year the company received a Silver Bell Ringer for Paulin’s work profiling the good deeds of a Randolph Police Officer for local TV news coverage.

The annual awards celebration showcased the work of public relations and communications professionals from dozens of agencies, companies, and nonprofits from across New England.

Hosted by Emmy-nominated Tina Martin, television and radio anchor and reporter at WGBH News, the Bell Ringer Awards drew from hundreds of entries in more than 45 categories, from single placements to year-long campaigns.

JGPR received the third most awards given to an agency at this year’s Bell Ringers. 360PR+ received 19 awards, and SHIFT Communications received 10.

About the PR Club

Founded in 1948, PR Club strives to promote and encourage involvement in the communications industry and specifically the professions of public relations, promotions, and marketing. Get additional information about monthly New England-based PR Club programs, social and networking events, the “Bell Ringer” blog, and the Bell Ringer Awards Ceremony 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 education and exhibits a high degree of success in reaching predetermined objectives. Open to all New England practitioners, the program, now in its 51st year, symbolizes one of the greatest tributes in any field of endeavor – the 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 major corporations, John Guilfoil Public Relations produces clear, concise written materials, communications strategy, website development, and crisis management services for our clients and responds to breaking news incidents for more than 400 police and fire departments, public schools, and municipal governments, and non-profits in 9 states. The company is based in Georgetown, Mass. and was founded by John Guilfoil, a former Boston Globe staff reporter who served as deputy press secretary for the late Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. JGPR.net.

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