Double congratulations are in order for public relations veteran Suzanne Hartman, who is this year’s recipient of the coveted Jay Rockey Lifetime Achievement Award and a new inductee into the prestigious PRSA College of Fellows.
Suzanne will receive the Rockey Award at the annual meeting of the Puget Sound PRSA Chapter at 5:30pm on Nov. 7 at Art Marble 21, 731 Westlake Ave. N. in Seattle. For details, visit prsapugetsound.org/events. The keynote speaker is Noah Purcell, Washington state solicitor general, who took the Trump administration’s proposed travel ban to court.
Hartman was inducted into the PRSA College of Fellows at the PRSA International Conference in Austin, TX on Saturday, Oct. 6. Only those who have achieved APR (Accredited Public Relation) status are eligible for the College. Of note: She was inducted 25 years after the late Jay Rockey, and fewer than 2% of the PRSA membership are inducted into the College.
Suzanne began her career as principal of the Hartman Public Relations Group, where she was responsible for creating Seattle’s wildly successful recycling campaign that subsequently was used by a number of municipalities (dancing cans and bottles–the Recyclettes!) She sold the agency to EvansGroup (which later became Publicis) and worked there for several years, building one of the top environmental PR firms nationally. For the past 12 years, she’s been in the utility world, first as communication director for Seatttle City Light and currently in a similar post at the Chelan Public Utility District.
The Jay Rockey Lifetime Achievement Award was established in 2002 in honor of the late Jay Rockey’s commitment to the public relations profession. This award recognizes the career achievements of a Puget Sound area public relations professional who has advanced the field of public relations and demonstrated outstanding professional ability and conduct throughout his or her career.
Dave Syferd, also a MARKETING IMMORTAL, was the 2017 recipient. Other winners since 2002 include:
2002 Jay Rockey, APR, Fellow PRSA (2002 Inaugural Recipient)
2003 Neil McReynolds, APR
2004 Harold Carr
2005 Art Merrick, APR, Fellow PRSA
2006 Dan McConnell
2007 Pat Fearey
2008 Kay Herring, APR, Fellow PRSA
2009 Wendy Townsend, APR
2010 Sue Brush, APR, Fellow PRSA
2011 Bob Frause, APR, Fellow PRSA
2012 Cheri Brennan, APR
2013 David Marriott, APR
2014 Marilyn Hawkins, APR
2015 Art and Jeri McDonald
2016 Not Awarded
—LC