Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Office of Communications staff earned 10 national awards, including the grand prize for exceptional achievement in public relations and development, during Baptist Communicators Association’s 2018 Wilmer C. Fields Awards Competition. The winners were announced at an awards banquet held in conjunction with BCA’s annual workshop in Washington, D.C.

Baptist Communicators Association is the professional development organization of professional communicators serving at Baptist universities, mission boards, state conventions, newspapers, children’s homes and related ministry organizations. The annual awards competition “is designed to encourage professional excellence among association members and to recognize those members who have done exemplary work,” according to the BCA website.

The BCA awards honored the work of Trennis Henderson, vice president for communications; Brooke Zimny, director of communications and marketing; René Zimny, assistant director of graphic services; and Tyler Rosenthal, digital content coordinator. Ouachita’s communications staff has received a total of 35 national BCA awards over the past five years.

The Office of Communications earned the 2018 Arthur S. Davenport Grand Prize for Exceptional Achievement in Public Relations and Development for its Texas marketing campaign aimed at recruiting prospective students from throughout Texas to explore Ouachita as their higher education choice. Judges noted that the marketing campaign “definitely reached your target audience in a very well thought-out way,” adding that “the videos to students and parents ensured you hit all the right people.” The Texas campaign also earned a first place award for marketing strategy.

Other awards earned by the Office of Communications include:

• First place for digital media template for “Ouachita Baptist University Website Template”


• First place for promotional video (less than three minutes) for “Ouachita Campus Life Highlights Video”


• First place for print booklet for “Ouachita Baptist University Viewbook” designed by René Zimny


• First place for print promotion for “Ouachita Baptist University Viewbook”


• First place for social media post for “Faculty, Staff & Snapchat” post produced by Tyler Rosenthal


• Second place for integrated branding for “Ouachita Baptist University ‘Invested in You’ Recruitment Materials”


• Second place for billboard design for “Ouachita Baptist University ‘Invested in You’ Billboards” designed by René Zimny


• Second place for social media campaign for “#WearOuachitaWeekend Social Media Campaign”

“It's a privilege for our staff to be honored by our professional peers,” Henderson said. “Our team values the opportunity to share the Ouachita story through a variety of platforms and to have fellow communicators affirm the quality and impact of those efforts.”

 

May 7, 2018