PR's big night is coming up this Thursday, as the industry gathers at New York's Tavern on the Green for the annual PRWeek awards. This year's finalists include many of the usual suspects: Burson-Marsteller, Fleishman-Hillard, GolinHarris, Weber Shandwick, Ruder Finn, Ketchum, Ogilvy, Manning, Selvage & Lee, and Edelman among them. However, there are some upstarts among the nominees, including M Booth & Associates & O'Malley Hansen Communications.

Asked about some of the trends PRWeek has seen in the applications this year, editor-in-chief Keith O'Brien tells PRNewser, "We were really impressed with the submissions for PR Innovation of the Year. I think we have five solid finalists, and they vary from tech or online-influenced initiatives to pop-up agencies to spins on traditional elements. We also were delighted with the submissions for our debut category - PR Education Program of the Year."

If anything, winning an award is not getting any easier. "This year we continued our trend in having a record number of applications," said O'Brien. Despite the economy, O'Brien pointed out that the team "hit our attendance goals this year, due to the hard work of our events department, as well as the industry's continued support of our brand and our awards. While you always wish you have more attendees, we are happy to report we will have a packed room full of senior leaders."

You can view the complete list of finalists here. This PRNewser will personally be rooting for his alma mater James Madison University, who is a finalist in the "PR Education Program of the Year" award.