USAO wins state-wide recognition for media excellence

Competing against a record number of entries, the Media and Community Relations department at the University of Science and Arts brought home seven awards for media excellence from the 2012 Oklahoma College Public Relations Association (OCPRA) conference.

Two projects scored second place awards.

In the category of Web Design, Jessica Jackson, Shayna Pond and Cody Dracars were honored for their work on the new athletics webpage. Jackson manages sports information for the university. Pond is USAO’s lead graphic designer and Dracars spearheads the university’s web efforts.

The Worx Company, a state leader in website architecture, also contributed to the website and was acknowledged in the award.

Pond shared USAO’s other second place finish with Jed Copley, a senior communication student from Marlow, on an animated version of an admissions piece. Working from an imaginative infographic-style piece highlighting USAO’s many unique features, Copley used computer animation to create a one-minute video for an admissions event that wowed the judges.

“Since the list of honorees includes comprehensive institutions and private schools with bigger staffs and budgets, we take great pride in earning recognition among our peers," said Dr. Michael Nealeigh.

“Our media team has consistently won awards from OCPRA since its inception. They work to uphold the high standards for which USAO is known statewide.”

Three pieces were honored with third place awards.

David Duncan, television production specialist, was honored, along with Jackson, for a special episode of In the Saddle highlighting the achievements of recent USAO graduate and basketball legend Mike Williamson.

Jackson and Pond also scored a third place award in poster design for the 2012 baseball/softball schedule poster.

Rob Vollmar, who manages USAO’s news bureau, also was acknowledged with a third place win in the News Writing category for a story about a showing of Nesbitt Collection in the art gallery.

Duncan and Vollmar each received one honorable mention award in the Video Feature and News Featurette categories respectively.

The conference, which ran from July 8-10, was held at the Choctaw Grand Tower and focused on social media as a tool for institutional promotion.

OCPRA “provides meaningful networking opportunities and honors the creative imagination of its members and member institutions in their marketing and public relations efforts,” according to the organization’s website.

This was the 20th year that OCPRA has awarded individuals and institutions, both public and private, for media excellence.

Thirty institutions from around the state competed and 629 entries were judged by out of state panels.