PRSA-WV Honors FSU with Three Awards
The West Virginia Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America honored Fairmont State University with three awards at its 2012 Crystal Awards Gala, which acknowledges the best work of 2011.
During the event at Edgewood Country Club in Charleston, 16 Crystal Awards and 12 honorable mentions were presented for campaign work. Thirty-nine Crystal Awards and 24 honorable mentions were given for project work. A record number of entries were received for this year’s competition. For a complete list of winners, visit www.prsawv.org.
FSU’s Blue Jean Ball event invitation received a Crystal Award in the Invitation, Not for Profit category. Katie Mallonee, Senior Graphic Designer in the FSU Office of Creative Services, designed the invitation for the event organized by the Office of Institutional Advancement. The new fundraising event, the Blue Jean Ball, helped launch the newly created Fairmont Fund. The goal of the invitation was to reflect the casualness of blue jeans with the elegance and glamour of a ball. The paper chosen for the invitation was pearlized with a slight blue shimmer. The design itself relied heavily on the texture and look of a pair of blue jeans, and the event logo had a western feel. The invitations were printed by Fairmont Printing Company.
“The Blue Jean Ball was such a fun, new event at FSU with a worthy purpose. I really enjoyed designing for this project and am very honored and excited to receive this award,” Mallonee said.
The FSU “be First” marketing campaign received an honorable mention in the Integrated Communications, Not for Profit category. Amy Pellegrin, Director of Marketing and Branding, and Tammy Holden, Director of Creative Services, served as team leaders for the campaign. Other members of the Office of Marketing and Communications, the Office of Creative Services, the Office of Institutional Advancement and the Office of Information Technology contributed to the success of the campaign. Auge + Gray, a Charleston agency, assisted the team with creative concepts.
In the summer of 2011, the newly restructured communications team was charged by President Maria Rose to create and launch a re-energized brand identity for FSU. The team developed a new campaign highlighting FSU’s unique identity; expressed the values of FSU’s president while remaining relevant to prospective students; re-energized employee morale with a motivational message; and unified campus-wide communications. Click here to read some of the “be First” stories featured in the campaign.
“Working on the ‘be First’ campaign united and inspired our team of creative professionals. At FSU, our focus is our students and the experiences this unique environment provides for them. By highlighting stories of the ‘firsts’ that FSU has created in the lives of students and alumni, the campaign reflects the reasons why students choose the FSU experience—the caring of our faculty and staff and our high quality academic programs. It reminds us all that at FSU, students are our ‘first’ priority,” Pellegrin said.
The FSU alumni magazine, “maroon&white,” received an honorable mention in the External Magazine or Newsletter, Not for Profit category. Jessica Sharps, Director of Publications, and Nicole Crane, Graphic Designer, had lead roles on the project. During a 12-month comprehensive redesign, the magazine went from a 16-page publication focused on donor development to a 50-page publication focused on campus life and its people.
“As Falcons, we have a history of success and ‘maroon&white’ takes pride in telling our story,” Sharps said.
To view the most recent edition of “maroon&white,” visit www.maroonwhite.com.
The West Virginia Chapter of PRSA is in its 30th year of service to public relations professionals in West Virginia. For more information about the chapter, visit www.prsawv.org.
Office of Information TechnologyMaroon and WhiteAmy PellegrinTammy HoldenBlue Jean BallOffice of Institutional AdvancementJessica SharpsPublic Relations Society of America West Virginia ChapterKatie MalloneeNicole CraneLynne ConradOffice of Creative ServicesOffice of Marketing and Communicationsbe First
