Port of Long Beach, Port of Stockton and Port of Green Bay to receive Overall Excellence trophies for submitting top-scoring entries ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The American Association of Port Authorities (AAPA)…the unified and recognized voice of seaports in the Americas…will recognize 25 seaports for exemplary communications projects and programs at its annual convention and awards luncheon this fall. Winning entrants in AAPA’s 51st annual Communications Awards Program will be recognized at an Oct. 4 awards luncheon in conjunction with AAPA’s 106th Annual Convention and Expo in Long Beach, Calif., which runs Oct. 1-4. The recipients of the 2017 Overall Award of Communications Excellence trophies - the top awards in AAPA's Communications Awards Program - are Southern California’s Port of Long Beach (Category 3); Northern California’s Port of Stockton (Category 2); and the Great Lakes’ Port of Green Bay in Wisconsin (Category 1). Each of the three categories of ports is based on the size of the port's public relations/advertising/marketing budget. “When port authorities communicate strategically with their many audiences, including their communities, business leaders and policymakers, they’re better able to show their tremendous value as drivers of economic development, environmental enhancement and job creation,” said Kurt Nagle, AAPA’s president and CEO. “This competition helps our member ports by rewarding effective communications and highlighting best practices and lessons learned.” The 2017 AAPA Communications Awards Program, which had a May 1 deadline for entries, utilized 29 professional public relations practitioners from the Washington, D.C. area who cumulatively spent nearly 120 hours over two weeks judging the 15 classifications of entries, ranging from advertisements and periodicals to videos and websites.  Based on the number of points awarded each entry by the judges, three of the 93 entries earned an Overall Award of Communications Excellence trophy, while 18 entries earned an Award of Excellence, 41 entries scored an Award of Distinction, and 22 entries netted an Award of Merit.