JGPR Senior Vice President Benjamin Paulin accepted the Silver Anvil Award at Thursday’s 2025 Anvil Awards Ceremony in New York City. (Photo Courtesy John Guilfoil Public Relations)
NEW YORK — John Guilfoil Public Relations (JGPR) is thrilled to announce that it has, for the first time, won the prestigious Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) Silver Anvil Award, widely considered the highest honor given in the PR industry, at a ceremony Thursday night.
JGPR won a Silver Anvil Award in the Most Effective Campaign on a $5,000 to $10,000 Budget category for our work with the Dennis Police Department and the Town of Dennis in 2024. The campaign helped communicate new public safety and parking initiatives at three of Dennis’s beaches on the Fourth of July, addressing a recent surge in large, unruly crowds, fighting, alcohol and drug consumption, and other unsafe behaviors at the family beaches that had widely circulated online as viral YouTube videos. Through a strategic and well-executed communications plan, executed just three weeks prior to the holiday weekend in 2024, our team played a pivotal role in helping to curb these issues by informing the public and media about the Town’s new measures.
Through the multifaceted communications campaign, which included news releases, a press conference, a social media campaign, infographics, a video and strategic media relations, JGPR successfully secured over 100 media placements locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally. The results included a 75% drop in public safety calls for service year-over-year and zero arrests at the beaches, compared to 13 the previous year.
JGPR Senior Vice President Benjamin Paulin spearheaded the campaign, crafting the communications strategy and overseeing execution from start to finish. Paulin was in New York City on Thursday night at The Edison Ballroom to accept the 2025 Anvil Awards Ceremony award.
“This is an incredible honor, and a proud moment for all of us at JGPR,” said Paulin. “To be recognized for the work our team did in such a short period of time and on such a modest budget is a perfect representation of the valuable work that JGPR does for its clients every day. Most of our company’s campaigns operate within this budget range, and this award reinforces what we have always believed: meaningful results don’t require massive spending, just smart strategy and dedicated execution.”
Marketing Manager Katelyn Goddard played a key role in the campaign’s success, designing eye-catching graphics that defined the social media presence and ensured the messaging stood out. Executive Video Producer Gerald Hinch contributed significantly by producing an impactful video featuring Dennis Police Chief John Brady in under 24 hours, which garnered over 18,000 views on Facebook, exceeding the Town’s population of 14,000. Vice President of Digital & Enterprise Accounts Kristen Potter offered invaluable insight and feedback throughout the campaign’s execution.
The Silver Anvil is considered the benchmark of excellence in the public relations industry. It is often called the “Pulitzer Prize of Public Relations.”
“This achievement would not have been possible without the vision and leadership of our company founder, John Guilfoil,” said Paulin. “His daily support and trust empower us to do our best work.”
JGPR was hired in mid-June of 2024 to begin the campaign for the Fourth of July in Dennis, giving the team only about a week to create and craft all of the deliverables that made the campaign as successful as it was.
“I could not be more proud of our team for bringing home the Silver Anvil Award,” Guilfoil said. “Our team overcame an incredibly short turnaround and left a measurable and meaningful impact on the community we serve. Too often, this industry equates bigger, corporate budgets with better ideas. This award isn’t just a win for us, it’s a win for public information officers nationwide, and it is a reminder that good PR isn’t about spin or scale. It’s about people and talent. I am always in awe of the talented people who work at JGPR and serve so many communities across New England and the nation.”
In recent weeks, we are proud to announce that the Dennis Police Department once again hired the services of JGPR to help communicate this year’s Fourth of July safety measures and regulations to create a Family-Friendly Fourth at all of Dennis’s beaches.
About John Guilfoil Public Relations LLC:
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 500 police and fire departments, public schools, and municipal governments, and nonprofits throughout the U.S. The company is based in Massachusetts 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.
About PRSA
The Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) is the leading professional organization serving the communications community through a network of more than 400 professional and student chapters in the U.S., Argentina, Colombia, Peru and Puerto Rico. Guided by its Code of Ethics, PRSA empowers its members to succeed at every stage of their careers through a wide breadth of premium professional development programs, exclusive networking events and leadership opportunities. Signature events include the Anvil Awards and ICON, the premier annual gathering for communications professionals and students. For more information, visit www.prsa.org.
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