OBU Marketing and Communications Team Earns Seven Awards at College PR Conference

August 1, 2018

The Oklahoma Baptist University marketing and communications staff was recently recognized with seven awards at the annual Oklahoma College Public Relations Association (OCPRA) conference, hosted July 15-17 at the Artesian Hotel in Sulphur, Oklahoma.

The OCPRA awards competition recognizes the best in contemporary communications from educational institutions, both public and private, throughout the state of Oklahoma. This annual competition was created in 1992 by the OCPRA to reward achievement, recognize excellence and encourage 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.

The six-member marketing and communications team is made up of Paula Gower, associate vice president for marketing and communications; Kenny Day, marketing communications director; Chele Marker-Cash, creative services coordinator; Lane Castleberry, web content and social media coordinator; Joshua Midgley, communications coordinator; and Brittany Barrett, marketing communications assistant.

Winning the prestigious Grand Award in the print advertising category was OBU’s solar eclipse advertisement, designed for the James E. Hurley College of Science and Mathematics. The team also won the Grand Award in the square peg category for its design of the OBU trade show booth, featured at the Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting.

The team also won the Excellence Award in two other categories. The 2018 spring commencement snapchat filters won in the campaign category, and the 2017-18 OBU Admissions Viewbook won in the viewbook category.

Taking home the Achievement Award in the magazine category was the University’s fall 2017 edition of the OBU Magazine.

The team also received two honorable mention awards for its full-length feature, “Worthy Walker: Graduate of the Last Decade,” and its poster design for the recent Ben Rector concert at OBU.

“This recognition from the rigorous OCPRA competition is an incredible testimony to the hard work, dedication, skill and talent of the OBU marketing and communications team,” said Dr. Will Smallwood, senior vice president for advancement and university relations. “Winning seven awards, including two Grand Awards, is proof positive of the faithfulness of God to provide OBU with outstanding individuals who create, imagine and innovate with excellence in design, writing andproduction.”

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. This year’s competition featured nearly 550 entries from more than 50 higher education institutions across the state of Oklahoma.