Each year since 1987, PRSA Nashville has recognized exceptional work and thought leadership from the Middle Tennessee public relations community at its annual Parthenon Awards. It’s no secret that Nashville’s creativity, expertise and innovation truly are the very best our industry has to offer. Parthenon Awards are bestowed to projects and programs that demonstrate excellence in the public relations profession, and are open to all Middle Tennessee professionals. The awards program is mirrored after PRSA National’s Silver and Bronze Anvil Programs.

Public relations and communications professionals working in the Middle Tennessee area. PRSA Nashville members, non-members AND students are eligible.

All work entered must have been released, published or performed at least in substantial part during the previous calendar year. The same material may be submitted in more than one category. Each category entered will incur a separate entry fee.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CATEGORIES

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE 2026 SCORING RUBRIC

All entries must be submitted online.

Early bird submission deadline: Friday, May 22, 2026; 11:59 p.m. CT

Final submission deadline: Friday, May 29, 2026; at 11:59 p.m. CT

Entry fees must accompany all Program and Project category entries as well as Organizational Award submissions. Individual Awards of Excellence may be entered at no cost.

Early bird:

PRSA Members: $75 per entry / $65 per entry for nonprofits
Non-Members: $100 per entry / $90 per entry for nonprofits

Last chance:

PRSA Members: $100 per entry / $90 per entry for nonprofits
Non-Members: $125 per entry / $115 per entry for nonprofits

Student fees are $25 for public relations students currently attending:

• Austin Peay State University

• Belmont University

• Lipscomb University

• Middle Tennessee State University

• Western Kentucky University

You will be prompted to pay when completing your online entry. Finalists will be notified by email prior to the awards event.

Entries will be judged by a distinguished panel of senior-level public relations practitioners from a fellow Public Relations Society of America chapter. This group will examine the entries and select the winners. Parthenon Awards are presented for excellence in public relations programming. Judges reserve the right to limit the number of Parthenons or Awards of Merit per category.

CLICK HERE TO REVIEW THE 2026 SCORING RUBRIC

Each of the following criteria receives equal weight in PROGRAM categories.

Research
Each entry will be judged for the quality of original or secondary research used to determine the scope of the problem or opportunity the entry addressed and the factors of importance to strategic planning.

Planning
Each entry is examined from the standpoint of the objectives established, creativity, judgment in selecting strategies and techniques, budget accuracy and difficulties encountered.

Implementation
Judges will examine how the plan was implemented, materials used, in-progress adjustments to the plan, techniques to win management’s support, difficulties encountered and how effectively resources were used.

Evaluation
Judges will consider to what degree a program met its objectives and what efforts were undertaken to identify, analyze and quantify results.

For PROJECT categories, judging will be based on creativity, quality of production, persuasiveness of content, technical excellence and appropriateness for the declared audience.

For ORGANIZATIONAL AWARDS, judging will be based on criteria specific to each award category, including outstanding accomplishments by the entrant. See the 2026 categories overview for more.

For INDIVIDUAL AWARDS, judging will be based on criteria specific to each award category, including outstanding accomplishments by the entrant. See the 2026 categories overview for more.

1. Click here to go directly to the Awards submission site.
2. Please read carefully the Call for Entry information along with the category descriptions before starting your submission.
3. Please designate one contact per company for your awards.
4. Your entry should include the following: The name of entrant, contact information, entry title, indication of whether the entry is a Program or Project, a 50-word overview describing the entry, a Summary (two pages maximum for PROGRAMS, one page maximum for PROJECTS) detailing the important aspects of your entry, and a visual to illustrate the project.
5. You may attach up to five (5) supporting files in an approved format (Word doc, PDF, JPG, PNG - 25M maximum per file) and three (3) URLs to include with your entry. File examples include a copy of the public relations plan, pictures, letters, scripts, reports, clippings, brochures, etc. URLs can be used to link videos from sites such as YouTube and Vimeo.
6. Once you have completed your submission, please click "Add to Cart" and follow the prompts to pay online - Entries are not complete until payment is received.

Please provide a JPEG depicting the program or activity in case your entry is chosen to be shared at the awards event. 

Entries cannot be changed once they have been submitted. Please check your entry for grammar, spelling and typographical errors prior to submission.

Deadlines:

Early bird submission deadline: Friday, May 22, at 11:59 p.m. CT
Final deadline for submissions: Friday, May 29, at 11:59 p.m. CT

QUESTIONS? Contact 2026 Parthenon Awards Committee members: Neysa Taylor ([email protected]); Emily Holt ([email protected]); Michael Curtis ([email protected]); or Bri Carlesimo ([email protected]).