Southold, NY (October 19, 2022) – Rapid Media, publisher of Paddling Magazine, Kayak Angler, Paddling Business and the Paddling Film Festival, was recently recognized as a winner of the 2022 National Boating Industry Safety Awards as the Top Marine Media Outlet.
The awards program sponsored by the Sea Tow Foundation, in conjunction with their Boating Safety Advisory Council, recognizes efforts to promote boating safety within the for-profit sector of the boating industry.
Rapid Media received the award via a special online awards ceremony taking place after the cancellation of IBEX 2022 due to Hurricane Ian.
This is the second year Rapid Media has won the top prize in this category, this time for a completely new project, Strategic Search Engine Content Marketing Targeting America’s Highest-Risk, Most Difficult-To-Reach Paddlers.
As a contractor for the Water Sports Foundation, Rapid Media developed the targeted boating safety marketing campaign focused on the highest risk, most difficult-to-reach boaters—new paddlers, many of whom purchase from non-specialty retailers who lack boating safety and educational expertise. Reaching and influencing this most-at-risk audience required “out of the box” thinking. Multiple media platforms were used with impressive results including 5.6 million paddling safety impressions.
“Winning this award is important to us. It’s recognition and appreciation, but really it’s an indicator we’re on the right track, not only for this project but for everything else we’re doing. It reinforces we’re putting our energy into something that really matters,” says Marketing Director Cristin Plaice. “If we want to create a positive cultural shift, we need efforts at every single level. This campaign targets new paddlesports consumers weaving in best practices and safety messaging when and where they are doing their initial research.”
“We received a record number of applications this year, making Rapid Media’s win an exciting accomplishment,” says Gail R. Kulp, executive director of the Sea Tow Foundation. “Rapid Media’s award-winning project is a great example of how for-profit companies can promote boating safety through innovation, creativity and passion.”
For more information about the National Boating Industry Safety Awards and the Sea Tow Foundation’s Boating Safety Advisory Council, visit https://www.boatingsafety.com/.
ABOUT SEA TOW FOUNDATION
The Sea Tow Foundation—a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization—was started in 2007 by Captain Joe Frohnhoefer, founder of Sea Tow Services International, after he witnessed too many preventable accidents and fatalities on the water. Through its flagship programs which include the Life Jacket Loaner Program, Sober Skipper Campaign, and the National Boating Industry Safety Awards, the Sea Tow Foundation strives toward its vision of a world where boaters are safe and responsible.
ABOUT RAPID MEDIA
Rapid Media is the world’s leading paddlesports media company. Rapid Media publishes Paddling Magazine, Kayak Angler and Paddling Business. Rapid Media produces the Paddling Film Festival and Rapid Media TV.
MEDIA CONTACT
Cristin Plaice
cristin@rapidmedia.com
613-706-0677
