March 20, 2012
Bishop State Community College captured two first place (Gold) public relations and marketing awards in the prestigious Paragon Awards Competition held yearly by the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR). NCMPR (www.ncmpr.org) is the only organization of its kind that represents marketing and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges. Bishop State’s Public Relations Director, Herb Jordan, accepted the awards during a banquet in San Francisco, Calif., on March 13. According to NCMPR Executive Director Becky Olson, there were a total of 1,800 entries and 80 judges in this year’s contest.
Bishop State was a winner in the following categories: Single Television Ad category for “Get Your GED,” which aired on several local television stations and can be found on Bishop State’s Web site under “Watch Videos,” and Print Ad Series category, which was published in several local newspapers. Visit http://www.ncmpr.org/paragon to see the list of winners from across the United States and Canada. According to Olson, there were 56 entries in the Television Ad, Single category and 34 entries in the Print Ad, Series category.
The entries were produced for Bishop State by J Thomas, Inc. of Fairhope, Alabama.
Judges’ comments for Bishop State’s Television Ad entry were “Great technique with focused message,” “Done as a song with very interesting video technique,” “Compelling and effective use of humor,” “Clear, focused message and call to action -- Get Your GED, make more money,” “Good use of video technology.” The judges’ comments for the Print Ad, Series were “Very engaging! Great photos,” “Very well refined design and not too much MatrixBlock,” “Text that may be overwhelming has been carefully placed so there is a clear hierarchy,” “Very well done. A lot of attention to detail,” and “Very well designed, great photography and very professional.”
The only other college from Alabama to win in the competition this year was Snead State Community College, which won third place (Bronze) in the Original Photography category. Other colleges that placed in the Single Television Ad category were Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Penn., for second place (Silver); and Suny Adirondack Community College in Queensbury, New York, for third place (Bronze). Colleges that placed in the Print Ad, Series category were College of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas, Nev., for second place (Silver) and Pulaski Technical College in North Little Rock Ark., for third place (Bronze).
NCMPR has more than 1,550 members from more than 650 colleges across the United States, Canada and other countries.