The San Antonio Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America held its annual Del Oro Awards banquet on May 6, 2010. See the list of 2010 La Plata and El Bronce winners. We also honored the following public relations professionals at our 2010 Del Oro Awards Banquet and Silent Auction.
Join us in congratulating them!
Paige Ramsey-Palmer, APR
2010 Tex Taylor Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Paige Ramsey-Palmer, APR, is a 25-year practitioner in public relations, corporate communications and legislative affairs. She currently is corporate communications officer for San Antonio Federal Credit Union (SACU), one of the oldest and largest credit unions in South Texas. For 11 years, she has been in charge of media relations and internal and external communication for 650 employees and more than 250,000 members. A number of her campaigns have won PRSA and credit union recognition, including the Dora Maxwell Award from the Texas Credit Union League. She has served on the PRSA San Antonio board of directors since 2000, filling numerous board positions including president and secretary. She chaired the Del Oro Award program for two years and currently is serving a second term as job bank chairperson.
For 14 years, Paige and her husband owned an international geological consulting business for which she provided strategy and execution for public relations and marketing. She also worked as a freelance educational writer for publishing companies, and she is a published author of a non-fiction history book, Young Troopers: Stories of Army Children on the Frontier. She has served on the board of Women Writing the West, a national writers’ organization, as president, secretary and catalog editor and publisher. She is actively involved in the local and national writing communities.
A graduate of Baylor University with a B.A. in English and history, she also has completed post-graduate training in public relations, corporate communications and e-commerce. While living in Oslo, Norway, and Madrid, Spain, she attended the universities to study languages and cultural history. She was actively involved in historical preservation in Boerne, where she lived for 26 years, and served as first chair of the Historical Landmark Commission and member for 18 years. She mentors aspiring writers and public relations students and is an active volunteer for Elf Louise and United Way agencies.
David Gabler
2010 Public Relations Professional of the Year
David Gabler joined The University of Texas at San Antonio in 1995 and is currently the associate vice president for University Communications and Marketing. In this role, David is responsible for a team of 25 individuals in the offices of Public Affairs, Web and Multimedia Services, Marketing and Publications. He is also the chief university spokesperson for news and information generated by more than 29,000 students and 5,100 faculty and administrative staff.
David moved to San Antonio in 1989 to join Trinity University’s communications team where he served as public information officer and assistant director of public affairs.
Tonight, we honor David for successfully garnering media support of UTSA’s quest to become a national research or “Tier One” institution. When the Texas Legislature passed House Bill 51 in 2009, opening the door for UTSA and six other Texas universities to achieve national research status, David began a bold media relations campaign. To date, David’s efforts have resulted in more than 700 news articles discussing UTSA’s goal to become a national research university and over the past 15 months the tone of those articles has evolved from indifference to encouragement to advocacy.
Over his professional career, David has been an active member of the Downtown Rotary and has served in leadership roles for the San Antonio HIV/AIDS Commission, the No Kill Commission, the San Antonio Area Foundation and the YMCA.
David earned a Bachelor’s in English and a Bachelor’s in Economics from Centre College, Danville, Kentucky followed by a year of graduate work at the University of Exeter in England as a Rotary Scholar. David also holds a master’s in public administration from Trinity University.
Stephen Chavez
Community Service Award Winner
Stephen Chavez is a 24-year-old San Antonio native. He began his public relations career as a member of a Civil War reenacting group, the Alamo Rifles Living History Organization. In 2005, Stephen began helping the non-profit group, planning local events and assisting the organization in obtaining recognition within the community. Since then, Stephen has helped raise awareness for the Alamo Rifles in the San Antonio community through social media, print and television. Currently, he hosts an online radio program to promote Civil War reenacting and Civil War history across the country.
Stephen has dedicated countless hours to helping the Alamo Area Parkinson’s Support Group, whose mission is to increase Parkinson’s disease awareness in San Antonio. Stephen is the chairman of publicity and has been working with the organization for more than one year.
After becoming a Freemason at Helotes Masonic Lodge #1429, Stephen offered his services as PR practitioner to assist in planning and publicizing the Lodge’s first golf tournament to raise money for scholarships and disabled veterans in the community. He continues to support the Lodge by informing the Helotes community about its events and fundraising opportunities.
As an Account Executive at MasonPR, Stephen mentors three interns who are beginning their careers in the public relations industry. Stephen continues to support his community and plans to be an integral part of San Antonio, giving back for years to come.
Kathrynne “Katie” Hornstrom
2010 Horizon Award Winner
Katie Hornstrom is currently employed as a communication specialist with Medina Electric Cooperative Inc. Her duties encompass internal and external communications for the Cooperative’s 17-county service area, five district offices and general office. Katie’s primary responsibilities include keeping Medina Electric Cooperative members informed about their electricity through topics such as energy efficiency, renewable energy resources and more. She also produces the organization’s monthly employee newsletter, Watts New.
In addition to working for Medina Electric Cooperative, Katie is developing a social media campaign for L&B Beverage LLC, a new start-up company in San Antonio, to promote their premiere product, Better Half Premium Cocktail Mix.
Prior to joining Medina Electric Cooperative in 2009, Katie was the media and publication specialist on the award-winning SeaWorld San Antonio communications team, where she began her career in PR in 2007.
In her free time, Katie authors Making Ripples, a blog detailing her experiences, challenges and observations as a professional communicator working in and exploring a rural environment. She has also served on the San Antonio PRSA Chapter’s Board of Directors since 2008 and currently edits Byline, the chapter’s monthly e-newsletter.
This year, Katie also celebrates 19 years as a member of the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas. In 2001, she earned the Girl Scout Gold Award.
Katie graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism, News/Editorial with a minor in Social Work from Baylor University in December of 2005.
Meet Our Del Oro Banquet Emcee
The San Antonio chapter of the Public Relations Society of America is pleased to present Monica Taylor as our 2010 Del Oro Awards Banquet emcee.
Monica Taylor is a Morning News Anchor and co-host of FOX San Antonio's morning show, Fox News First.
Prior to joining the Fox News First team, Taylor made countless appearances on FOX San Antonio as the face and voice of the San Antonio Spurs and is now happy to call the station her new home.
Monica also worked in public relations for nine years prior to starting her TV career. She worked with several organizations and companies including the March of Dimes, Creative Civilization and Dublin & Associates before heading to the Spurs.
She loves having the chance to connect to the San Antonio community through the lens of the camera. When people ask her why she left the Spurs, Monica just simply says "working at FOX 29 was an opportunity I just couldn't pass up."
Monica was born in Madrid, Spain and moved to San Antonio when she was just two years old. She is a San Antonio native who graduated from Judson High School and the University of Texas at San Antonio where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Communication with a concentration in Public Relations.
Monica will tell you that TV has always flowed through her veins. Her family still has recordings of her as a child delivering the news of the day to whoever would listen.
Awards Program Standards
Eligibility
PRSA members and nonmembers are eligible to submit as may entries as they wish in any category. Entrants must be members of the San Antonio Area PRSA chapter or public relations professionals serving a San Antonio and South Texas client, company, event or program.
Awards Committee
An awards committee created by the PRSA San Antonio board of directors administers the Del Oro Awards.
Judging
An impartial panel of distinguished professionals in public relations and closely related fields is recruited to judge the competition. Judges have the right to declare multiple winners in any category and may move entries between categories or combine categories where appropriate, especially where such action enhances the ability of an entry to win an award. The judges may reject any entry that does not meet contest requirements and may choose not to present an award in any category.
Awards Presentation
All winners will be notified in time to make reservations for the annual awards banquet to be held Thursday, May 6, 2010 at The Bright Shawl, 819 Augusta, San Antonio, Texas. Winners who attend the banquet and confirm their attendance by the RSVP deadline will be called to the stage to receive their awards. Duplicate awards may be ordered for a fee through PRSA San Antonio.
Return of Entries
Del Oro, La Plata and El Bronce entries will not be returned by mail. La Plata and El Bronce entries will be displayed during the awards banquet in May. Entries not picked up following the banquet become the property of PRSA San Antonio chapter and will be donated for student education. PRSA will not be responsible for loss or damage to any entry.
Please direct questions regarding your entry to Del Oro judging committee chair Nancy Arispe at 210-567-0729.