Chad Baldwin, UW associate vice president for communications and marketing, won first
place for his media release, titled “UW Faculty, Students Persevere to Make Online
Instruction Successful,” in the Wyoming Press Association Associates’ contest for
media relations professionals. The media release featured UW Department of Visual
Arts Professor Doug Russell, above, recording an instructional video for one of his
drawing courses at his home. (Doug Russell Photo)
University of Wyoming Institutional Communications and Marketing specialists, and
a UW editor received 17 awards during the Jan. 14-16 Wyoming Press Association (WPA)
Associates group annual contest.
Winners were announced at the WPA’s annual winter meeting, which was held virtually
this year because of the ongoing pandemic. The convention attracts Wyoming’s newspaper
professionals and the WPA’s Associate members for workshops, seminars and speakers.
The convention culminated with the awards program where the top newspapers in three
divisions (daily, Casper Star-Tribune; large weekly, Powell Tribune; and small weekly,
Platte County Record-Times) were named. Individual award winners also were announced
in several categories.
In the Associates contest, Chad Baldwin, UW associate vice president for communications
and marketing, won two first-place awards and a third-place award; and media specialists
Milton Ontiveroz and Ron Podell each won a first-place award and a second-place award.
Ali Grossman, UW Institutional Marketing video producer, dominated the videography
categories, winning six first-place awards and a second place. Marketing staff members
Micaela Myers, Michelle Eberle, Baldwin and Ted Brummond combined to win a third-place
award. And Mark Belcher, communications and marketing specialist assigned to the College
of Health Sciences, received an honorable mention.
UW Extension Editor Steve Miller received a first-place award.
This year’s contest drew entries from communications professionals from around the
state. UW personnel competed against media representatives such as those from the
Wyoming Game and Fish Department, Wyoming Department of Transportation and area public
relations firms.
“The university’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic provided some new opportunities
to communicate UW’s service, research and educational activities, and it’s nice to
see those efforts and others recognized for excellence,” Baldwin says. “During difficult,
unprecedented times, the university’s story is still being told across the state and
beyond, due to the efforts of many members of the UW community.”
WPA Associates members, including those from UW, attended five workshops during the
virtual convention, including the keynote speaker address from outdoor adventurer
Mark Jenkins, the resident scholar for Wyoming Humanities, and the annual Associates
meeting. Ontiveroz moderated a panel discussion, titled “Covering the COVID-19 Pandemic,”
which featured Associates members and newspaper editors and reporters.
Ontiveroz is the statewide Associates members’ chair, representing the Associates
on the WPA board. He is only the second person to hold that position in the association’s
28-year history.
Listed are the UW staff members with their individual awards, contest categories in
which they won, and titles of their entries:
UW Institutional Communications
-- Baldwin, first place, Three Releases on One Topic, “UW Economists Provide Scientific
Perspective on Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic”; first place, One Feature, “UW Faculty,
Students Persevere to Make Online Instruction Successful”; and third place, Three
Releases on One Topic, “UW Research on Wyoming’s Flora and Fauna Provides Insights
to Better Management.”
-- Belcher, honorable mention, Three Releases on One Topic, “UW College of Health
Sciences Responds to Pandemic.”
-- Ontiveroz, first place, One News Release, “UW’s Ben Markley and His Big Band Raise
Money During Pandemic for Struggling Artists”; and second place, Three Features on
One Topic, “UW Makerspace Team Donates 3D Produced Protective Gear Throughout the
State During Pandemic.”
-- Podell, first place, Three Features on One Topic, “Michael Cheadle Ocean Exploration/Community
Outreach”; and second place, Three Releases on One Topic, “UW Researchers Study Genetics
of Key Wyoming Wildlife.”
UW Institutional Marketing
-- Grossman, first place, Single Video -- Feature (Under 1 minute), “Notes of Excellence:
UW Collegiate Chorale at Northwest ACDA”; first place, Three Video Features on Same
Topic or Campaign (Under 1 minute), “The World Needs More Cowboys and So Does Wyoming”;
first place, Three Video Features on Same Topic or Campaign (Full Feature), “The World
Needs More Cowboys and So Does Wyoming”; first place, Single Video -- PSA, Instructional
or Educational (Under 1 minute), “Food Friends Flavor Fun: Downtown Laramie Farmers
Market”; first place, Single Video -- PSA, Instructional or Educational (Full Feature),
“UW Research Spotlight: Riding Reindeer and Digging the American West”; first place,
Three Videos on a Single Topic -- PSA, Instructional or Educational (Full Feature),
“UW Research Spotlights”; and second place, Single Video -- Full Feature, “Tim Painter:
The World Needs More Cowboys and So Does Wyoming.”
-- Myers, Eberle, Baldwin and Brummond, third place, Publications, “UWyo Magazine.”
UW Extension
-- Miller, first place, Feature Photo, “On the Border.”
