PR Club Toasts Best of New England Communications at 56th Bell Ringer Awards

Gala Event Highlights 40 Years of Industry Change with Re-Opening of 1984 Time Capsule

Cheryl Gale Named Winner of John J. Molloy Crystal Bell Lifetime Achievement Award

PR Club, New England’s leading communications trade organization, held its 56th annual Bell Ringer Awards last night, hosted by WBZ News’s Matt Shearer, an Emmy-nominated reporter and winner of the National Murrow Award for Excellence in Media Innovation. Each year, the Bell Ringer Awards honor the work of public relations and communications professionals from across the region in dozens of categories, including content marketing, events, media placements, social media excellence, and industry and communication campaigns.

This year, 360PR+ took home the prestigious Platinum Super Bell Award, given to the top PR campaign of the year, for its hospitality, travel, and entertainment industry campaign, “Trainline: Americans’ Ultimate Travel Guide to Europe.”

Cheryl Gale earned PR Club’s John J. Molloy Crystal Bell Lifetime Achievement Award. Gale co-founded March Communications, which earned its reputation as one of the most innovative, people-first tech agencies in the Northeast for 16 years before she guided the business through a 2021 acquisition to Walker Sands. A former intern at The Weber Group (now Weber Shandwick) in Boston who rose to agency executive in the UK, Cheryl has succeeded with a people-first approach that creates uncommon loyalty – while still producing the results that make clients lifetime fans and friends.

PR Club presented Sean McLean of Matter Communications with the 2024 Striker Award, recognizing a practitioner who demonstrates an early passion for public relations, a dedication to their career, and a superior work ethic. Carly Martinetti, co-founder of Notably, earned the 2024 Ringer Award, recognizing a mid-level practitioner who has demonstrated steady and significant progress in impacting their agency, company or practice, and the New England PR community.

RDW Group led the night with 13 Bell Ringers. Duffy and Shanley and 360PR+ each earned 12 awards, tying for the second most. A full list of all winners is available here. Click here for the winner’s showcase.

“In a challenging and ever-evolving field, this year’s Bell Ringer Award winners showcased the absolute best of what the New England PR community has to offer,” said Sofia Giovannello, PR Club president and vice president of Methods+Mastery. “It was an honor to continue the longstanding tradition of this event and celebrate the outstanding work of our award winners.”

The event also featured the unveiling of a 40-year-old time capsule compiled by the Publicity Club of Boston (the previous name of the association), providing a view into the world of communications in 1984. The PR Club plans to assemble another time capsule to be opened in 2034.

The PR Club will once again donate to the nonprofit organization of our host’s choice. This year, in honor of Matt Shearer, the PR Club raised and donated $1,000 to ZUMIX, an East Boston, Massachusetts-based nonprofit organization that empowers young people to build successful futures for themselves, transforming lives and community through music, technology, and creative employment.

About PR Club 

Founded in 1948, PR Club (formerly the Publicity Club of New England) 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 PR Club programs, social and networking events, the Club blog, and the Bell Ringer Awards at www.PRClub.org. Follow the Club 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 superior execution to achieve a high degree of success in reaching predetermined objectives. Open to all New England practitioners, the program, now in its 56^th year, celebrates the extraordinary work of the region’s communications professionals.

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