PRSA-NY Big Apple Awards: Cynthia Inacio

Doug Simon, President-Elect of PRSA-NY, spoke with 2017 15 Under 35 winner Cynthia Inacio about the benefits of PRSA-NY and how the Big Apple Awards are a great platform for generating exposure.

“Bring on the competition.” – Cynthia on her submissions for the Big Apple Awards

DOUG SIMON: I’ve got Cynthia Inacio who’s joining us. A 15 Under 35 winner and she is vice president of King & Company.

CYNTHIA INACIO: Thanks so much for having me.

DOUG SIMON: So we just had a great brief chat with Meredith. The 2017 class of 15 under 35 winners was amazing. You know it’s cliche to say you’re the future of PR because you’re the present and the future are the 22 year olds graduating. But you know given that you’ve had experience and you’re advancing your career, what role did positioning yourself for this nomination and to be accepted as 15 Under 35. What does that mean to you?

CYNTHIA INACIO: It meant so much. It is definitely very validating. It gave a lot of credibility to myself and to the agency. So it was really exciting to be a part of it and to be nominated and chosen.

DOUG SIMON: That’s great. Any tips for people who are considering it. I think we can expand it because you know obviously giving your success in the profession it’s not only this little 15 under 35 pigeonhole you know there are more than 100 different award opportunities in a dozen different categories. So you know what are some of the things that stick out to you and hopefully your team will be entering awards and I should throw that out there just because you’re volunteering or a judge or even on the board, that doesn’t mean that you’re not eligible to enter participate or sponsor. In fact there are some great opportunities for you to do that. However you’re not going to be judging the category that you’re nominated and just to put that out there.

DOUG SIMON: So I’ve got that. Any other thoughts about some of the categories that maybe sparked your interest.

CYNTHIA INACIO: Yes definitely. PRSA has so many different events and different awards that I would say inform yourself utilize the extra materials for 15 under 35. I definitely love the references and I got tons of recommendations from peers from clients and that I think is what really puts your package together and shows who you are so find different ways of expressing what you’ve done your campaigns and showing your work.

DOUG SIMON: Are you going to be entering for awards on behalf of clients this year or are you looking to do that.

CYNTHIA INACIO: Yeah. We’ve been looking at the Big Apple awards that are coming up. I believe that deadline is March 16.

DOUG SIMON: It is.

CYNTHIA INACIO: And so we’re looking at a few of those. We specialize in healthcare nonprofits. We’ve got some great campaigns.

DOUG SIMON: Any advice for people who are looking at awards, hopefully not in categories you’re contending because you don’t necessarily want the competition.

CYNTHIA INACIO: Bring on the competition.

DOUG SIMON: I like that confidence. You mentioned the nonprofit space. And those are strong areas and even for corporations there’s been so much interest in the corporate responsibility. Obviously Sharon’s mission of diversity and inclusion and increasing that in the PR community and representing in the work is important.

CYNTHIA INACIO: It’s something big and a huge part I think in general in across all industries that everyone’s a lot more conscious about what they’re doing and how they’re giving back. So that’s definitely a great part of even putting that into your story as Sarah was talking about earlier.

DOUG SIMON: Great. Well I hope your six social streams that you guys created are lighting up a buzz. Do you have any message to all the people who are watching through some of your channels.

CYNTHIA INACIO: I mean I think the most important thing is to just be informed. In PR it’s always important to network and PRSA is definitely one of the top places to do that.

DOUG SIMON: Great. And thank you for bringing your knowledge to us. We look forward to you continuing to be a part of PRSA-New York this year and in the future with hopefully more awards on the horizon for you.

CYNTHIA INACIO: Thanks for having me.