Capstrat Walks Away with Five Sir Walter Raleigh Awards

The Raleigh Wide Open celebration brought tens of thousands of people downtown last summer, and on Tuesday night it was still producing – delivering two major awards to Capstrat and its partners. The promotional campaign around the event earned Gold and Best in Show honors at the 2007 Raleigh Public Relations Society Sir Walter Raleigh Awards for Capstrat, the Raleigh Convention Center, the City of Raleigh and the Downtown Raleigh Alliance.

Capstrat, a strategic communications firm based in Raleigh, N.C., won three Sir Walter Awards and two honorable mentions at the award ceremony, held June 26, for outstanding achievements in the communications industry.

Capstrat accepted awards for:

Division I: Total Campaign, Best in Show
Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh Wide Open
Gold
Raleigh Convention Center, Raleigh Wide Open
Silver
FitTogether, Fit Community Obesity Prevention Awareness Campaign
Honorable Mention
Raleigh Convention Center, Promotional Campaign
Honorable Mention
Stewart Engineering, Survey Magazine cover story: A gun, a magazine, a critical hit

Raleigh Wide Open, which was held in July 2006, celebrated the reopening of Fayetteville Street in downtown Raleigh. Its promotional campaign included branding, advertising, media relations and event planning.

“Raleigh Wide Open is proof that a leap of faith can lead to wonderful things. We went to bed the night before hoping 20,000 people would show up – we got 70,000,” said Billy Warden, who led the campaign for Capstrat. “That just goes to show this was much more than a team effort, it was a city effort. The Sir Walter Raleigh Award belongs to everyone who’s working to make our downtown a great place to be.”

The Sir Walter Raleigh Awards honor outstanding public relations practices in the Triangle area. The awards are pursued by industry leaders and carry a distinct prestige within the community.

About Capstrat
Capstrat is a strategic communications firm based in Raleigh with offices in Washington, D.C. The company’s services include marketing communications, public relations, public affairs and interactive design. For more information about Capstrat, visit www.capstrat.com.