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

August 6, 2019

The OBU marketing and communications staff was recently recognized with five awards at the annual Oklahoma College Public Relations Association (OCPRA) conference, hosted July 14-16.

The five-member marketing and communications team includes Paula Gower, associate vice president for marketing and communications; Kenny Day, marketing communications director; Chele Marker-Cash, creative services coordinator; Damon Seymour, web developer and designer; and Brittany Barrett, marketing communications assistant. The team is part of the broader advancement and university relations team, under the leadership of Dr. Will Smallwood, senior vice president for advancement and university relations.

The OCPRA honors the best in contemporary communications from educational institutions, both public and private, throughout the state of Oklahoma. This competition was created in 1992 and is held annually 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. This year’s competition featured nearly 550 entries from more than 50 higher education institutions across the state of Oklahoma.

Winning the prestigious Grand Award in the multimedia category was OBU’s “Amy’s Story,” a 30 second commercial following a new student as she navigates life at OBU. The spot was written and produced by Paula Gower, Kenny Day, Damon Seymour and Brittany Barrett. The team also won the Grand Award in the larger brochure category for the Warren M. Angell College of Fine Arts Promotional Brochure, designed by Chele Marker-Cash.

The team also took home an Excellence Award in multimedia for a 60 second version of “Amy’s Story.” The team received two honorable mention awards, one for web design for OBU’s website, and another in poster design for OBU Theatre’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”

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.