OBU Marketing and Communications Team Wins ‘Best of Show,’ 16 Awards at College PR Conference

August 26, 2021

The OBU marketing and communications team recently won the “Best of Show” award at the 2021 Oklahoma College Public Relations Association (OCPRA) Awards Competition. The team won 16 total awards during the event, competing against more than 50 colleges and universities throughout the state. Winners were announced during a special awards presentation July 11 in Oklahoma City.

The OBU team won the “Best of Show” award for its “We Are Future Shapers” campaign, taking the top spot among a total of 416 entries submitted to the competition. Also, due to the 2020 competition being cancelled during the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s contest included two years of entries instead of one, making the award even more significant.

The five-member marketing and communications team includes Paula Gower, associate vice president for marketing and communications; Kenny Day, marketing and communications director; Chele Marker-Cash, creative director/publications manager; Damon Seymour, web development and digital marketing coordinator; and Brittany Barrett, web communications and social media coordinator. Justin Hull, video production coordinator, and Coy Cypert, director of academic technology and creative communications, directed and produced the video entries respectively.

The OCPRA hosts its awards competition annually to honor the best in contemporary communications from educational institutions, both public and private, throughout the state of Oklahoma. This competition was created in 1992 and rewards achievement, recognizes excellence and encourages a healthy competitive spirit by those who represent higher education to the public. Materials are submitted by individuals who work in public relations, sports information, video, development, digital media or alumni affairs at any of the state’s higher education institutions.

In addition to the team’s “Best of Show” award for the “We Are Future Shapers” campaign, they took home Grand Awards (first place) in four other categories, including Campaign for the “We Are Future Shapers” campaign; Newsletter for a College of Nursing newsletter design; Video Featurette for the “We Are Future Shapers” :60 commercial; and Logo Design with the design for the Good Things Food Pantry logo.

The team also won six Excellence Awards (second place), including Video Featurette for the “We Are Future Shapers” :30 commercial; Print Advertising with an ad themed “Faith Forward Education”; Video Feature for the “We Are Future Shapers” :60 commercial; Large Brochure with the admissions road piece; Direct Mail Piece for admissions postcards; and Viewbook for the OBU 2020 admissions viewbook.

The team also won three Achievement Awards (third place) for Video Featurette with the “We Are Future Shapers” :15 commercial; Magazine for the Fall 2019 edition of OBU Magazine; and Digital Advertising for Future Shapers landing pages. They were likewise recognized with two Honorable Mention awards, one for Logo Design for the Lamppost Literary Conference and another for Digital Advertising for the “We Are Future Shapers” :60 commercial.

OCPRA’s mission is to bring together professional communicators from both public and private institutions of higher education in Oklahoma with a single focus, promoting higher education in Oklahoma as a means to enrich its citizens and economy. College and university public relations professionals of all backgrounds participate as OCPRA members and form a network for sharing ideas and resources.