Annual Communication Contest showcases best practices
By Kelly Avants; Clovis Unified School District
Looking for a new way to tackle an old project? CalSPRA’s annual communication contest offers a bundle of fresh ideas for school communicators. Winners of the 2003 competition were recognized for applying innovative and effective techniques to some of the same projects PR professionals tackle year after year.
“Award winners are not chosen simply on the basis of which entry has the most eye-catching graphics, or the crispest writing,” said Dianne Pavia, chairperson of the 2003 contest. “Although writing and design are clearly important elements, the analysis of how the entry reached its target audience and achieved its purpose is an equally important factor in the judging process,” she added.
“It was a huge honor and motivation to be recognized
with these awards,” said Contra Costa County Office
of Education’s (CCCOE) Julie Thompson. The CCCOE team
was recognized as first place winners in the Promotion/Awareness
Package and County Office Web Site categories.
“It was an encouragement to those who contributed to
the projects and reflected well upon the agency as a whole.
On a personal note, it served as a confirmation of my skills
and inspired me to take on new projects,” said Thompson.
Contest organizers attempted to create group categories that represented the wide variety of projects school communicators work on in a given year. Twenty categories covering everything from cost-saving innovations to Web sites were featured in the 2003 competition.
A team of school communication professionals from New York judged the more than 125 entries in the 2003 contest. According to Pavia, NYSPRA Chapter President Pat Burgio organized a panel of judges with backgrounds in journalism, graphic design and advertising. “Pat shared with me that the New York judges were very impressed with the high level of creativity and quality they saw in our members’ work,” she said.
Winners of this year’s awards shared several features. Though the entries included such diverse projects as Grant Joint Union High School’s three-year communication plan and the LA County 2003 Academic Decathlon logo, winners focused on following the process of effective communication.
“For the most part you could see that the winning entries were the result of following the four-step process. By that I mean that most of the winning entries were not a shot-in-the-dark, one-time type of product, but were part of a strategic, planned effort,” Pavia said.
CalSPRA’s contest, like other award programs, offers school communicators the opportunity to highlight projects that worked.
“It’s really meaningful to be recognized by a group of your peers,” said Linda Holmes, Clovis Unified School District’s administrator of grant development and a past contest winner. “You know you’ve done something right when professionals in the communication field recognize your work,” she added.
According to Pavia and Heidi Van Zandt, chairperson of the 2004 contest, besides offering recognition to the winners, the contest provides a long list of resources for anyone in school communications. Examples of the winning entries are posted on CalSPRA’s Web site along with details on how to contact each school organization involved in the projects.
Pavia presented the awards at CalSPRA’s May 2003 conference in San Diego. “I thought this year’s entries were extremely creative and inspiring,” Pavia said. “One of the best things about being contest chairperson is having so much wonderful work come across your desk, and holding on to some of the best ideas for future inspiration,” she added.
The 2004 contest will be held early next year, with awards again handed out at CalSPRA’s May conference. To view the 2003 winning entries visit the CalSPRA Web site at www.calspra.org.