Ouachita Stories

Ouachita Baptist University’s Office of Communications and Marketing won a grand prize award as well as seven other awards in various categories at the Baptist Communicators Association’s (BCA) 2020 W.C. Fields Awards. Ouachita’s grand prize was one of seven total grand prizes awarded, one for each overall division within the competition.

Ouachita won the Diane Reasoner Award for Exceptional Achievement in Interactive Communications for its “Meaningful Work Video Series,” which also received first place in the Social Media Campaign or Event category. The team also won third place for its “Ouachita GIFs and Stickers” in the Interactive Communications Division’s Website, Organization or Company Site Custom-built category.

This is the second consecutive year for Ouachita to win the Diane Reasoner Award and multiple awards within the Interactive Communications division, as well as the third consecutive year to be awarded a grand prize. And according to Joshua Minatrea, 2020 BCA awards chair and director of communications for Texas Baptists, there also were a “modern record number of submissions” for this year’s competition.

“Winning a grand prize from BCA is a huge honor, and I am so proud of our team for earning one for the third consecutive year,” said Brooke Zimny, assistant to the president for communications & marketing at Ouachita. “They produce outstanding work throughout the year, are expert collaborators and tell the Ouachita story well in so many ways.”

During the grand prize award announcement, a judge described the Meaningful Work campaign as “…a moving series of videos highlighting Ouachita alumni who found value in the work they do and the way they can bless others.” The series featured five different videos of Ouachita alumni stories that illustrated the theme “lives of meaningful work,” a phrase taken from the university’s mission statement.

“It's always an honor to be recognized for our office's work,” said Tyler Rosenthal, assistant director of communications and digital media coordinator. “But winning a grand prize when competing against organizations with much larger staff and resources truly affirms the talent, creativity, dedication and hard work in our office.

“Receiving consecutive recognition for these efforts helps motivate our team to continue evolving and innovating in our ever-changing industry,” he added.

BCA was established in 1953 as a network and professional development organization for communications professionals at primarily Southern Baptist agencies. Members represent such institutions as the North American Mission Board, GuideStone Financial Resources, state and national Baptist newspapers and magazines, state Baptist conventions and universities like Ouachita, Baylor University, California Baptist University, Union University and Samford University.

In addition to Rosenthal and Zimny, other staff members in the Office of Communications and Marketing include Ashley Carozza, graphic design coordinator; Rachel Gaddis, editorial coordinator; and Tiffany Pickett, recruitment communications coordinator.

Zimny also currently is serving as a national BCA officer for 2019-2020 as awards chair-elect. She will serve as awards chair for the 2020-2021 BCA workshop.

Other 2020 BCA awards earned by the Ouachita team include:

• 1^st Place for “Ouachita Alumni: Justin Seale” in the Video Editorial Feature 2-5 Minutes category, Audio-Visual Communications Division.
• 1^st Place for “Patterson School of Natural Sciences” in the Video Promotion 2-5 Minutes category, Audio-Visual Communications Division. The video was also a finalist for the grand prize M.E. Dodd Memorial Award for Exceptional Achievement in Radio, Television, Film and Video.
• 1^st Place for “Legacy Campaign” in the Total Public Relations or Development Campaign Less than $25,000 budget category, Public Relations & Development Division.
• 2^nd Place for “Best Value Marketing Campaign” in the Communications and/or Marketing Strategy Less than $25,000 budget category, Public Relations & Development Division.
• 3^rd Place for “Connect Event Branding” in the Print Collateral Integrated Branding category, Design Division.

For more information on BCA, visit www.baptistcommunicators.org.

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