2015 Summit Award Winner - Communicator

The Summit for Communicator of the Year recognizes an organization that develops a concept and successfully delivers compelling content to promotes a better environment for urban animals. Our winner this year, by acclamation, is…

Alison Cross, Ontario SPCA

The Ontario SPCA partnered with the Ontario Veterinary Medical Association (OVMA) on a new campaign called Got a Pet? Get a Vet!™ Promoting the importance for pet owners to develop a relationship with their veterinarian, the campaign quickly became national.

Got a Pet? Get a Vet! shared how it’s important to establish a relationship with a veterinarian when you have a pet. Including pointing out that just one veterinary check-up a year would help protect against a variety of potentially life-threatening diseases, detect health problems sooner, and avoid unexpected costs. It encouraged pet owners to not wait until something went wrong to take their pet in for a check-up and that scheduling a visit with a local veterinarian would help ensure a longer, healthier life for pet(s). The campaign shared images of real life vets with their patients.

The campaign was shared with SPCAs and Humane Society all across Ontario and Canada allowing the local Society to add their own logo and work with their local vets to encourage this message. In addition, pet owners were encouraged to nominate their favourite veterinarian clinic for the Got a Pet? Get a Vet! Award.

The campaign ran for one month and was promoted on the Ontario SPCA and OVMA’s Facebook pages, on their twitter accounts, as well as through paid advertising on Facebook and through Google. Posters were given to SPCAs and Humane Societies all across the province and Canada to be posted at the local shelter. E-blasts from the Ontario SPCA as well as through the OVMA network were sent out to promote the campaign and the contest.

Over 780 clinics were nominated for the Got a Pet? Get a Vet! Award and almost 14,000 votes were cast for those nominated. The campaign received over half a million online impressions and was embraced by over 15 SPCAs, Humane Societies and Associations across Canada.

Urban Animal is grateful to Pets Plus Us for sponsoring the Summit Awards.

2014 Summit Awards Tour visits Halifax today

The Harbourstone Sea Grill and Pour House, at the Marriott Harbourside Hotel in Halifax, Nova Scotia will be the venue for the first event to recognize the 2014 Summit Award winners across North America. 

- 2014 Summit Award Winners - Halifax -

The Communicator Summit recognizes an organization that develops a concept and successfully delivers compelling content to promote a better environment for urban animals. 

Rodney Habib, Planet Paws Pet Essentials won with 19.8% of the votes for his success in pet nutrition blogging and social media.

The Summit for Distinguished Service Provider recognizes a service provider that has achieved a remarkable impact on the lives of people and pets within a community. 

Heather Brown, Playful Paws won with 64.5% for her open-door doggy daycare policy. Playful Paws frequently opens its doors to local rescue organizations to help socialize dogs and promote them for adoption as well as provide much needed space for large transports of rescued dogs entering Halifax.

The Summit for Wellness recognizes the efforts of an organization to improve overall levels of health and wellness for urban animals in a specific community, area of intervention or industry sector. 

Medric Cousineau, Paws Fur Thought won with 40.2% of the votes for his efforts with PTSD Service Dogs. By educating all levels of government, landlords and business owners, pet industry staff and the general public, Cpt. Cousineau has improved the working and living conditions for both dogs and their handlers.

Medric Cousineau will also be presented with the Summit for Innovator of the Year which recognizes an innovative product or service that improves the quality of life for people and pets in homes, in communities or industry sector(s). 

The Urban Animal Program mission is to illuminate successful strategies for urban animals and to provide recognition for those who lead. The Summit Awards are an essential element of delivering on this mission

About the Summit Awards: The Summit Awards have been part of the Urban Animal program since its inception in 2006. Summits illuminate the achievements of those who toil in the trenches of the industry in eleven different categories. Summits are presented using an academy style system of nominations and elimination rounds that feature the automated casting of secret ballots for each category. Nominees for the Summits include individuals and organizations active in the Urban Animal Industry. The nomination process begins immediately following the Regional Conferences and completes with the opening of the envelope indicating the winner of the Summit at the Friday evening Gala of the International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies.

Poll 5 Summit Award Nomination - Current Leaders

The current leaders in Poll 5 of the 2014 YourSay™ Summit Awards are identified below. Those who haven't yet voted, can still honour industry nominees by clicking on the VOTE NOW link below:

Communicator
There are 4 Nominations in this category:

74% Rodney Habib - Planet Paws Pet Essentials
14% Kim Marosevich - Surrey Animal Resource Centre
7% Rich Avanzino - Maddie's Fund
5% Karen Ramsden - Langara College

Individual Achievement
There are 4 Nominations in this category:

44% Cassandra Hanrahan - Dalhousie University

36% Erica Coomber - Alberta Animal Services  

10% Kim Monteith - BC SPCA
10% Betsy Saul - Heal House Call Veterinarian

VOTE NOW

Poll 5 closes Wednesday, 24 September 2014. 

REVIEW NOMINATIONS

Summit Awards Poll 5 is NOW OPEN!

Poll FIVE is now OPEN! This final of five polls in the 2014 Summit Awards program elects the Summit Award winners for the following categories:

INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT
COMMUNICATOR

In 2014, Urban Animal presents and expands the ninth annual Summit Awards program by inviting the public to vote on Summit nominations. Please use the following link (copy and paste) to share this poll through email, websites and social channels: 

http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e9uesxjvi046mny8/start

Review all Nominations

VOTE NOW!!

This survey will close Wednesday, 24 September at 10 p.m. MST. Winners will be announced during the 2014 Summit Awards Gala, 24 October.

The 2014 Summit Award elections will be accomplished in five polls of 2-3 categories. Each poll will take about 3 minutes. Voting for the 2014 Summit Awards is by secret ballot using the YourSAY™ electronic polling system. 

The International Summit for Urban Animal Strategies has developed an overnight package for those who live close by or plan to be in the area on Friday, 24 October. Please contact Shannon Woodward for details.  

Communicators of 2014 garner Summit Award recognition

Four nominees vie for the Urban Animal Industry's highest award in the Communicator category: 

1. Rich Avanzino, Maddie's Fund is nominated for the tools and resources the organization develops to strengthen all sectors of the industry. Maddie's Fund consistently delivers relevant and important webinars and other training programs through its Maddie's Institute channel. The Institute is dedicated to increasing the lifesaving of homeless dogs and cats by providing the most innovative animal welfare information to shelter staff, veterinarians, rescue groups and community members through articles, videos, free webcasts, a blog and other educational tools.

2. Rodney Habib, Planet Paws Pet Essentials is nominated for his success in pet nutrition blogging and social media. As a pet nutrition blogger, Rodney's followers see him as the voice of today's pet parents. He writes about nutrition, health, the pet industry and anything that pet owners need to know. Rodney does this for one reason: He wants to be the change he wishes to see in the world. 

3. Kim Marosevich, Surrey Animal Resource Centre is nominated for her approach to communication between employees and management. Engaging a mind set of being empathetic towards one another, Kim illustrates the positive power of this mindful thought process which generates a deeper level of communication allowing each person to express themselves and be heard.

4. Karen Ramsden, Langara College is nominated for creating the 'amazing' and 'much needed' dog walking program to educate pet owners and professional dog walkers. Program Coordinator at Langara, Karen has attracted Rebecca Ledger, PhD Animal Behaviour Scientist and Therapist, as instructor for the program. Elements of the program include: Typical dog behaviour; Dog First Aid; City Bylaws and legislation; and Marketing your dog walking business. The program boasts 71 graduates to date. 

The Summit for Communicator of the Year  recognizes an organization that develops a concept and successfully delivers compelling content to promotes a better environment for urban animals.

Review all Nominations

VOTE NOW!!

The 2014 Summit for Communicator will be presented during the Awards Gala on Friday, 24 October. This event is open to the public.