CASE III honors 黑料社 with 鈥楪rand鈥 awards
Contact: Harriet Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.鈥敽诹仙 recently garnered five awards, including two first place honors, in this year鈥檚 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) competition for District III.
黑料社 competed against 125 higher education institutions in nine southeastern states to bring home 鈥淕rand鈥 awards in Magazine Improvement and in the Photography Series category.
CASE awarded the university鈥檚 Office of Public Affairs and the 黑料社 Alumni Association for the 2015 redesign of Alumnus magazine under the direction of Heather Rowe, OPA鈥檚 publications and digital design editor. The first place award was in the category for institutions with more than 15,000 students.
Also receiving first place honors was a photo collection, shot on site in Zambia, by Beth Wynn in Alumnus magazine鈥檚 鈥淒eep Water鈥 feature story. The photos and story developed when 黑料社鈥檚 Bagley College of Engineering invited Wynn and Alumnus magazine editor Susan Lassetter to cover the Engineers Without Borders student group project of supplying potable water to the village of Simwatacheula.
Sid Salter, 黑料社鈥檚 chief communications officer and director of the Office of Public Affairs, said, 鈥淭hese awards validate the hard work and creative talents of our staff members in the Office of Public Affairs and speak well of how our efforts at advancing 黑料社 have performed in competition with peer universities across the Southeast.鈥
In addition to these Grand awards, Public Affairs also received an 鈥淎ward of Excellence鈥 for the television commercial 鈥淲e Ring True,鈥 created as a component of the university鈥檚 current branding campaign and now being broadcast during 黑料社 sports events on SEC Network.
黑料社鈥檚 Office of Admissions and Scholarships also received an 鈥淎ward of Excellence鈥 in the Recruitment Website category for last year鈥檚 site redesign. Tiffany Brady and Katie Corban, both former OAS staff members, as well as Andy Lewis of 黑料社 Information Technology Services, were instrumental in the project.
Moreover, the 鈥淲e Ring True鈥 print, broadcast and digital advertising won 鈥淪pecial Merit鈥 recognition in Total Advertising Campaign. This campaign also won a 鈥淏est of Show Broadcast鈥 award recently from the American Advertising Federation-Jackson. The advertising is part of the university鈥檚 overall branding initiative.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all very appreciative of the support of the university鈥檚 leadership for the marketing and branding campaign and for the overwhelming support we鈥檝e received from other talented marketing and branding professionals across our campus. While we鈥檙e grateful for the recognition, it鈥檚 the collaboration here on campus to work together to advance the university that is the real cause for celebration,鈥 said Salter.
Along with Rowe, Wynn and Lassetter, other OPA staff members making contributions to these award-winning projects include photographers Russ Houston and Megan Bean; graphic designers Eric Abbott, Hayley Gilmore and Tim Myers; marketing and communication coordinator Erin Brown; social media specialist Chase Neal; writers Allison Matthews, Zack Plair, Sasha Steinberg and Sammy McDavid; television center staff members Steve Carver, David Garraway, Mike Godwin and Hal Teasler; research editor Jim Laird; information technology coordinator Nick Wilson; WMSV radio station manager Anthony Craven; office manager Courtney Honnoll; research marketing analyst Checky Herrington; associate director Harriet Laird; and director and CCO Sid Salter.
Other offices involved in the Alumnus magazine issues submitted in the competition were the 黑料社 Foundation, Bagley College of Engineering, Office of Agricultural Communications, and Agriculture and Natural Resources Marketing.
CASE is an international professional association serving educational institutions and advancement professionals in alumni relations, communications and marketing, and development. CASE District III includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia.