The awards honored the work done by the office in promoting the vision, history and research being conducted at Texas Tech.
The Office of Communications & Marketing at Texas Tech University received eight awards covering design, marketing, writing and special events from the recently announced CASE District IV Awards.
CASE – the Council for Advancement and Support of Education – is dedicated to the promotion of alumni relations, communications, development, marketing and advancement services to improve and enhance higher education that transforms lives and society. The CASE Awards highlight the tremendous work being done by those at colleges and universities to help in that cause. District IV/Southwest represents work done by colleges and universities from Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
"The passion to tell the story of Texas Tech through written and visual communication is something that is shared by our entire team," said Matt Dewey, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer. "These awards demonstrate the creative talents of our entire staff, and we are honored to be recognized by CASE and encouraged to find compelling stories and exciting ways to tell them."
Entries into the CASE District IV Awards were submitted by CASE member institutions, of which Texas Tech is one, for works completed between June 30, 2019, and Aug. 20, 2020. Awards are designated by three levels – gold, silver and bronze.
Texas Tech received three gold awards in design, marketing and special events coverage. The design award was for an illustration done by graphic designer Armando Godinez for the event Hip Hop as Protest, a roundtable discussion held by the Department of English. The marketing award was presented to senior art director Veronica Medina for an advertisement published in Texas Monthly promoting the university's motto, "From Here, It's Possible,"™ for the Texas Tech Office of Communications & Marketing.
The special event coverage was a team effort that highlighted Texas Tech's coverage of the 50th anniversary of the 1970 tornado that struck Lubbock. That effort included a special commemoration; a microsite featuring four stories, a then-and-now photo gallery and two videos; hosting an all-day social media campaign using Facebook and Twitter, promoting the stories and microsite earlier in the day and, throughout the evening, tweeting the warnings and events that led up to the tornado at the exact times they happened; and a livestreamed memorial bell-ringing at the time the deadly second tornado touched down.
Texas Tech also won three sliver and two bronze awards in various writing categories. Media relations coordinator George Watson earned two silver awards in the Research-Medicine & Sciences News category for features that highlighted mule deer research and the work done in the Fiber & Biopolymer Research Institute converting low-grade cotton into a reusable gel. Media relations specialist Glenys Young won a silver award in Feature Writing for her story on Milton Jones and his effort to bring clean water to Africa.
The two bronze awards were given to Watson in the General News category for his story highlighting the groundbreaking ceremony for the Texas Tech University School of Veterinary Medicine in Amarillo; and Young for her feature on Texas Tech alumnus Ronnie Green and his path from All-American sprinter to hosting his own television fishing show.
Click here for a full list of the CASE District IV Awards.
