Got the Gold!

The Faces and Voices of Autism traveling exhibition is on the road – somewhere in California, last I heard.

Portrait of Rossi from Faces and Voices of Autism

Meanwhile, it's been recognized a little closer to home. The New England Society for Healthcare Communications (NESHCo, for the acronymly inclined) awarded Faces and Voices a best-in-category (Public Relations Projects) Gold award during its annual Lamplighter awards last month.

The Lamplighters are especially notable because they evaluate not just communication, but also outcome. When we (May Institute, the National Autism Center, and Andrew Child Photography) set-out to turn a body of work into an exhibition two years ago we approached it with a communication strategy. Rather than pulling together a group of attractive photographs, we identified the target audience groups and key messages we wanted to address. Among the groups were legislators, professionals who work in special needs fields, and the general public. One of the key goals was simply to make autism personal – to move people in a deeper and more meaningful way than facts and statistics can alone.

Faces and Voices of Autism at Boston's Prudential Center

What makes the Lamplighter Gold award especially gratifying is the peer acknowledgement that we hit our mark, scoring 98 out of a possible 100.