AutoCom Associates Wins Three Awards.

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- AutoCom Associates, a public relations agency in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., recently received three awards for outstanding achievement in media relations and special-event planning, including a "Gold Award of Excellence" from the Automotive Public Relations Council (APRC) and two "Awards of Distinction" in the annual Communicator Awards Competition.

AutoCom received its APRC award in automotive communications and media relations for its "Tech Crawl 2004," a day-long tour of automotive technology centers for Detroit-area automotive journalists.

Companies participating in the Tech Crawl included Alcan Automotive, Behr America, Gage Products Company, GKN Driveline, GKN Sinter Metals, Grammer Automotive, Kolbenschmidt Pierburg and Roland Berger Strategy Consultants.

"Tech Crawl 2004 proved to be a very productive event for both our clients and selected media," said Larry Weis, president of AutoCom Associates. "The feedback we've received from our clients and media has all been positive and we are planning a similar event late this summer."

Entries in APRC's award competition are judged by the marketing and communications department of the Motor and Equipment Manufactures Association (MEMA), a panel of automotive trade editors and a select group of collegiate public relations professors.

The agency also earned two awards of distinction in the annual Communicator Awards program for the firm's 2005 North American International Auto Show Charity Night Preview dinner and a media program highlighting lighting and electronics technologies from Hella North America.

AutoCom's program for Hella included a technical briefing for journalists with detailed engineering information about the company's technology, a dinner program for journalists whose publications had high interest in Hella products and radio interviews to supplement print-media coverage. Media attendees also were able to test-drive vehicles equipped with Hella technology.

The 2004 Communicator Awards program was an international competition, which attracted close to 5,100 entries from around the world.

Located in the Detroit suburb of Bloomfield Hills, AutoCom provides management consulting and public relations services to businesses working in the global automotive industry. Celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, the firm is a member of the International Public Relations Network (IPRN) with more than 40 affiliate agencies, 500 employees and $40 million in annual billings.

AutoCom's client partners include: the Automotive Industry Action Group (AIAG), Behr America, Cendrowski Corporate Advisors, dSPACE, FEV Engine Technology, Gage Products Company, Grammer Automotive, GKN Driveline, GKN Sinter Metals, Hella North America, Hella Inc., Kolbenschmidt Pierburg, Launch Systems, MANN+HUMMEL, Novelis, Office for Foreign Investors in Wallonia (Belgium), Roland Berger Strategy Consultants, the Stuttgart Economic Development Corporation, Safford & Baker PLLC and TI Automotive.

An award-winning agency, AutoCom also provides "pro bono" support to a number of charitable and non-profit organizations, including Focus Hope, Make-A-Wish Foundation of Michigan and the Birmingham-Bloomfield Symphony Orchestra.

The agency is located on the Internet at www.usautocom.com.