2007 Special Olympics Georgia Style Guide

This guide covers style elements unique to Special Olympics Georgia. The organization’s editorial style is based on principles of Special Olympics Inc.  and The Associated Press Stylebook. Consult the AP Stylebook for questions not covered here. These principles should be used in any written communication going to the public about Special Olympics Georgia. If you have any questions, please e-mail Wendy.Bigham@SpecialOlympicsGA.org


A. Abbreviations- Except for postal purposes, use these abbreviations when referring to a city and state together:
Alabama: Ala.
Arizona: Ariz.
Arkansas: Ark.
California: Calif.
Colorado: Colo.
Connecticut: Conn.
Delaware: Del.
Florida: Fla.
Georgia: Ga.
Illinois: Ill.
Indiana: Ind.
Kansas: Kan.
Kentucky: Ky.
Louisiana: La.
Maryland: Md.
Massachusetts: Mass.
Michigan: Mich.
Minnesota: Minn.
Mississippi: Miss.
Missouri: Mo.
Montana: Mont.
Nebraska: Neb.
Nevada: Nev.
New Hampshire: N.H.
New Jersey: N.J.
New Mexico: N.M.
New York: N.Y.
North Carolina: N.C.
North Dakota: N.D.
Oklahoma: Okla.
Oregon: Ore.
Pennsylvania: Pa.
Rhode Island: R.I.
South Carolina: S.C.
South Dakota: S.D.
Tennessee: Tenn.
Vermont: Vt.
Virginia: Va.
Washington: Wash.
Wisconsin: Wis.
West Virginia: W.Va.
Wisconsin: Wis.
Wyoming: Wyo.

Addresses -When writing out addresses with building or house numbers abbreviate road as Rd., street, as St., avenue as Ave. and boulevard as Blvd. If writing just the name of the road or street, spell out road or street.
Example: 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., Pennsylvania Avenue

Months and dates: Abbreviate the month if you are using the date. If there is no date, write out the month. Here are the months’ abbreviations: Jan., Feb, Mar., April, May, June, July, Aug. Sept., Oct., Nov. and Dec.

Ages -- Always use numbers. Examples: a 5-year-old boy. The girl is 7 years old.

ALPS- Athlete Leadership Programs- Special Olympics Athlete Leadership Programs on first reference, ALPS thereafter. ALPS allows athletes to explore opportunities to participate in Special Olympics outside sports (e.g., serving on the Board of Directors or local organizing committee, as a spokesperson, coach or official.)

a.m., p.m.: Lowercase and use periods.

Among, between- Use among for more than two items, between for two items. Examples: The funds were divided among Tom, Dick and Harry. The argument was between Jim and Judy.

Athletes - Refer to Special Olympics participants as athletes. Do not put the word athletes in quotation marks. Distinguish between adults and children with intellectual disabilities, and older or younger athletes.

B. Book titles – Italicize, do not place in quotes.


C. Capitalization
Key words with Special Olympics. Athletes, state games, golf tournaments should be lowercased if no proper name is in front of the word.

Capital, capitol- Capital is the city where a seat of government is located. Capitol is the government building, e.g., U.S. Capitol.

Chief Executive Officer or CEO - is Georgia Milton-Sheats’ title.

Colors - When using Special Olympics Georgia colors, use PMS colors 132 (caramel); 181 (burnt red); 124 (mustard seed); 159 (pumpkin seed); 7491 (blue); 7462 (green); 284 (light blue).

For the Special Olympics Georgia logo colors, see LOGO.


D. Dateline -Use the city of the main office, Atlanta, without the state. Put the date underneath “For Immediate Release” in the top left corner.

Disabilities- Use “people first” language: person with disabilities, not a disabled person. Never use crippled. If applicable, refer to a person who uses a wheelchair, never someone confined to a wheelchair or wheelchair bound.

Down Syndrome - has replaced “Down’s Syndrome and Mongoloid.

Duck Derby Duck Race- Thousands of little rubber ducks will race at Atlantic Station April 28, 2007. It’s one of Special Olympics Georgia’s annual fundraisers.

E. E-mail- Use the hyphen. Lowercase unless used at the start of a sentence.

F. “Flame of Hope”- Place inside quotes, but do not italicize. The torch is carried in the Law Enforcement Torch Run and is used to light the cauldron at Special Olympics games.

G. Georgia- Abbreviation is Ga. For addressing, its GA. All cities’ names stand alone. It is understood that all cities and counties involved with Special Olympics Georgia are in the state of Georgia.

Games- Special Olympics has six state games each year: summer, winter, fall, horse show, master’s bowling and the sailing regatta. Each year, 500 Special Olympics Georgia events are held across the state.

Global Messengers- Always capitalize. The term refers to Special Olympics athletes who have received training and experience through the Sargent Shriver Global Messenger Program to become spokespeople for people with intellectual disabilities and to raise awareness of Special Olympics. Athletes who have been through that training anywhere in the world are referred to as Special Olympics Georgia Global Messengers. Every other year, 12 athletes are chosen from programs around the world to serve two-year terms as spokespersons for the movement; they are referred to as Special Olympics Sargent Shriver International Global Messengers.

Guardians of the flame – Capitalize, place within quotes. These are law enforcement officers participating in the final leg of the torch run.

H. Healthy Athletes – Use Special Olympics Healthy Athletes on first reference; Healthy Athletes thereafter. Refer to it as an initiative, not a program. Healthy Athletes is an umbrella for five components.
- Special Olympics- Opening Eyes (vision)
- Special Olympics Special Smiles (oral health)
- Special Olympics Healthy Hearing (hearing)
- Special Olympics FUNFitness (physical therapy))
- Special Olympics Health Promotion (nutrition, BMI index and cancer prevention

-  Special Olympics Fit Feet (podiatry)

A person has a hearing impairment rather than being deaf or deaf mute.

I. Athletes have intellectual disabilities. Think people first. Athletes have intellectual disabilities and are not intellectually disabled. Do not use the term mental retardation.

Internet – Capitalize.

L. Law Enforcement Torch Run – Refer to as Law Enforcement Torch Run for Special Olympics on first mention; use Law Enforcement Torch Run or Torch Run thereafter. Law enforcement officers carry the “Flame of Hope” (torch). Before a Special Olympics competition to raise money for and awareness of the Special Olympics movement worldwide. The large grass-roots fundraiser and public awareness vehicle for Special Olympics in the world. Law Enforcement Torch Run officers are also called “Guardians of the Flame” inside quotes and not italicized. Law enforcement officers are lowercased and without hyphens.

Long-distance – Hyphenate as a compound modifier. Example: She made a long-distance phone call.

Long jump – Noun and two words. As an adjective, hyphenate. Examples: He competed in the long jump. She won a meal in the long-jump event.

Logo- The Special Olympics Georgia logo should be used in all promotional materials.

Logotype -- Red: PMS 485 Font Serpentine Bold Oblique Seal: Teal: PMS 327 Region or Program: Teal: PMS 327 Font: Times Bold Italic.

Support artwork-- Whenever we’re promoting SOGA’s work in the community, we can use this logo to illustrate our six state games.


M. Magazines -- Capitalize the name, italicize but do not place in quotes. Lowercase magazine unless it’s part of the title of the publication, do not italicize the word magazine. Examples: Harper’s Magazine and Newsweek magazine.

The mission of Special Olympics Georgia is to provide year round sports and athletic competition to children and adults with intellectual disabilities.


N. Nonprofit – One word, no hyphen

Number of athletes -- This number increases. The current number we use is 22,797.

O. Oath (athlete oath) – “Let me win. But if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt.” On first mention, Special Olympics Athlete Oath; thereafter, the oath.

Official sponsor or official national sponsor – Do not capitalize.

Opening Ceremony – Capitalize.

P. Parade of Athletes – Capitalize. The procession of athletes at the commencement of Opening Ceremony during any Special Olympics Games.

An individual is physically challenged or disabled, not crippled.

Polar Bear Plunge – A U.S. Program Law Enforcement Torch Run fundraiser. Capitalize.

Powerlifting – One word.

R. Rollerskating – One word.


S. SO Get Into It – A K-12 school curriculum developed by Special Olympics and distributed to educational institutions to encourage students to learn to respect and embrace the differences and similarities in people with an without mental retardation. On first reference, use Special Olympics Get Into It; thereafter use SO Get Into It.

We offer 24 sports.



T. Team USA – Capitalize; do not use periods in USA. The U.S. delegation to a Special Olympics World Games.

All titles before names are capitalized. If the title comes after the name, it’s lower cased, except when referring to the President of the United States.

T-shirt- Capitalize the “T.”

Torch Lighting Ceremony- Always capitalize.


U. We offer 20 sports as unified partner sports. Unified sports is a program that brings together athletes with and without intellectual disabilities, people of similar age and athletic ability who train and compete on the same team. On first mention, refer to as Special Olympics Unified Sports. Thereafter, use Unified Sports. A specific sport should be referred to as Unified Sports [Sport name] such as Unified Sports Basketball.

V. Approximately 15,000 volunteers participate with Special Olympics Georgia.

W. A person uses a wheelchair. They are not confined or restricted to a wheelchair.

World Wide Web, Web – Always capitalize the first letter in each word..


Y. Leave off the year of an event if the event is occurring in the current year.

Yearlong – one word.
 

For more information, contact our Public Relations Department:

Wendy Bigham

Senior Public Relations Manager
Special Olympics Georgia
770.414.9390, ext. 117
Wendy.Bigham@SpecialOlympicsGA.org