Staffers win top state public relations awards
Mississippi State communication and public affairs professionals are among winners from the university receiving honors from the Public Relations Association of Mississippi.
PRAM represents approximately 600 professionals in advertising and public relations agencies around the state, as well as corporations, non-profits, government, education, industries and other organizations serving the public.
The organization's recent annual conference in Tupelo recognized teachers, full-time practitioners and successful promotional projects. From MSU, these included:
-- Office of Agricultural Communications, two Awards of Excellence. Photographer Kat Lawrence's image titled "Taking Flight" was selected, as was an Extension Service advertisement developed by department head Elizabeth Gregory North and artist Phillip Smith for Mississippi Agricultural Magazine.
-- MSU Extension Service office, three merit certificates. Keri Collins Lewis, OAC media relations manager and writer, was recognized for "Born for the Show Ring"; and North and extension associate Kim Trimm, for an MSU Division of Agriculture, Forestry and Veterinary Medicine advertisement.
-- OAC's television production team, for "The Food Factor," a weekly series airing on commercial stations around the state.
-- Geosystems Research Institute and High Performance Computing Collaboratory Publishing Group, sharing an Award of Excellence for the GRI's 2014 annual report. The production team included Diane Godwin and Diana Janus, HPC2's publications manager and graphic designer, respectively, along with photographers Megan Bean and Beth Wynn of the Office of Public Affairs.
-- ASSURE, acronym for the university-led Alliance for System Safety of UAS (unmanned aerial systems) through Research Excellence, Award of Excellence for developing the website http://assureuas.org. The team included retired U.S. Air Force Maj. Gen. James Poss, now director of strategic initiatives for MSU's Center for Battlefield Innovation and executive director of the ASSURE Federal Aviation Administration Unmanned Aircraft Systems Center ff Excellence team; HPC2 research associate Cliff Abbott; graphic designer Bethany Stroud; and Godwin.
Others from the university receiving a PRAM Award of Excellence included:
-- Leah Barbour, Office of Public Affairs news writer, for a feature story titled "New life-form found at MSU" and an Alumnus magazine article titled "MSU Mascot History."
-- Heather Rowe, digital design editor and others in OPA, for developing the interactive online webpage, www.alumnus.msstate.edu/Fall14/bully.html.
-- A PRAM Certificate of Merit went to Vision Magazine, a College of Arts and Sciences publication produced by Karyn Brown and Laura Dunn. Brown is a communication department instructor also serving as the college's communications director; Dunn, the major academic unit's admissions coordinator.
Two senior Mississippi State communication/public relations majors are also among the PRAM winners.
Christine B. Bowman of Jackson is the 2015 PRAM Student of the Year, while Chelsea E. Dilliard of Olive Branch is the organization's Outstanding Public Relations Student of the Year.
More information about PRAM, its conferences and the 2015 honorees is found at www.pramonline.org.
Discover more about Mississippi's flagship research university at www.msstate.edu or www.meridian.msstate.edu, facebook.com/msstate, pinterest.com/msstate, instagram.com/msstate and twitter.com/msstate using the hashtag #WeRingTrue.
Leah Barbour | Public Affairs
