The College’s Office of College Communications won a Gold award in the Marketing|Branding Programs – Institution Wide category for its entry “The Beacon Salon Speaker Series — Digitized!” in the 2021 Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) District III Awards competition.
The Gold award honored the Beacon Salon Speaker Series’ innovation and impact in elevating the profile and branding a small, niche liberal arts school as a sober, rigorous liberal arts institution that is actively involved in both the discourse of the day and in educating, edifying, and entertaining the community in which it operates. It also commended the College’s successful transition to a virtual program amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“The ability to regroup and create an outstanding series with previously unused resources should be recognized. Beacon College and their team created a connection and outreach to their alumni, community partners, and thousands that would have not normally become engaged with the program,” the judges noted.
Moreover, “The Beacon Salon Speaker Series — Digitized!” also collected a Bronze award in the “Communications Pivot” category for Beacon’s pivot of rising above the COVID pandemic. In the world of COVID, the series — like many in-person events — faced a devastating prospect: cancellation. Instead, the College took its heralded in-person speaker series to both broadcast and digital platforms. The programs combined recorded lectures with live Zoom Q&As and then disseminated the content through a televised hosted broadcast shared globally on social media. In this category, The University of Virginia and The Citadel scored gold.
“A college of our age and scope — and this region in Central Florida — is very fortunate to have a lecture series that brings world-class authors, journalists, academics, musicians and performers right to our front door. Beyond our campus, thousands of citizens in this region have learned of Beacon through this valued series,” said Richard J. Killion, vice president for institutional advancement.
Killion praised the Office of College Communications — led by communications director Darryl E. Owens — for the “foresight, hard work, planning and sheer determination” that helped bring “us a sense of normalcy, by ensuring that the show went on. In doing so, [Owens] did it in innovative fashion and earned Beacon national recognition.”
The CASE competition fielded nearly 800 entries and pitted advancement and communications professionals from colleges and universities in nine states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia. Winners were announced via Zoom on Jan. 28.
Here are the CASE winners: https://diiiawards.secure-platform.com/a/gallery?roundId=37
Additional recognition
In addition to the CASE awards, the Office of College Communications also collected more hardware in the 8th Annual Education Digital Marketing Awards.
The comms team won two Gold awards, one in the Branded Content & Entertainment for Online/Interactive category for its “Beacon College Makes ‘A World of Difference’” entry, and another in the Total Digital Marketing Program category for “The Beacon Salon Speaker Series — Digitized!”
The team also was recognized with a Bronze award in the Total Digital Marketing Program for “Beacon College Makes ‘A World of Difference.’”
“A World of Difference” is a Beacon-produced monthly magazine show that celebrates and supports families rearing children with learning disabilities, ADHD, dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders, and other learning differences.
The Education Digital Marketing Awards salutes the best educational websites, digital content, electronic communications, mobile media and social media. Colleges, universities and secondary schools from across the country compete in 37 categories and 14 groups. A national panel of higher education marketers, advertising creative directors, marketing and advertising professionals and our editorial board judges the entries.
Here are the Education Digital Marketing Awards winners: https://educationdigitalmarketingawards.com/edma-winners-list-2020/