UW Communications and Marketing Specialists Receive Seven State Association Awards

University of Wyoming Institutional Communications and Marketing specialists, and communications team members on campus received seven awards during the annual Wyoming Press Association (WPA) Associates group contest.

Winners were announced at the WPA’s annual winter meeting last weekend in Casper. The convention attracts Wyoming’s newspaper professionals and the WPA’s Associate members -- many of whom are public relations professionals -- for workshops, seminars and speakers.

The WPA convention culminated with the awards program where the top newspapers in three divisions were announced: The Jackson Hole News and Guide in the Deming Division; the Lovell Chronicle in the Hanway Division; and the Biggs Division winner was the Bridger Valley Pioneer. Individual award winners also were announced in several categories.

The WPA Associates contest drew entries from communications professionals from around the state. UW personnel competed against media representatives such as those from various Wyoming state government departments and area public relations firms.

WPA Associates members, including those from UW, attended job-related workshops during the convention.

In the Associates contest, the UW Institutional Communications team fared well in the news writing categories, winning three awards. Ron Podell, a communications specialist, won a first-place award for writing; and Chad Baldwin, UW associate vice president for communications and marketing, won a second-place writing award.

UW Institutional Marketing specialist Michaela Doyle, who is assigned to the College of Arts and Sciences, received an honorable mention writing award.

Birch Malotky, an assistant research scientist in the Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources, submitted entries on behalf of Western Confluence magazine that won a first and second place for feature writing, as well as second place awards for page layout and design, and publication.

The Wyoming Press Association awarded a “Best of WPA Associates” given to the Associates member winning the most contest awards across all categories. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department won the first place traveling trophy and plaque, earning 16 individual awards. Overall, UW public relations specialists were second, receiving seven individual honors.

“UW’s storytellers are working very hard to keep the public informed about the great work happening at the university,” Baldwin says. “I am delighted to see our excellence being recognized by our peers.”

Listed are the UW staff members with their individual awards, contest categories in which they won, titles of their entries and the judges’ comments, if any, for each entry:

UW Institutional Communications

Award Podell received:

-- First place, Three Features on the Same Topic that featured wildlife community outreach events and opportunities through UW’s Biodiversity Institute. The three releases were “UW Biodiversity Institute Ambassador Animals Receive New Habitat Enclosures”; “UW Biodiversity Institute to Host Rocky Mountain Amphibian Project Training May 10”; and “UW Biodiversity Institute to Host Vulture Watch Wyoming Training April 5.”

Award Baldwin received:

-- Second place, One News Release. The release was “UW Researchers: Sharp-Tailed Grouse in South-Central Wyoming Potentially a Distinct Subspecies.” The judge’s comment: “Grouse in Wyoming can be a deep-dive topic for anyone. The author did well on keeping the writing tight while informing the reader about this new subspecies and how it could impact future management.”

UW Institutional Marketing

Award Doyle received:

-- Honorable mention, One Feature. The feature was “Freedom Through Learning.” The judge’s comment: “A very interesting take -- I would guess very few people were even aware the program existed.”

Haub School of Environment and Natural Resources:

Awards received:

-- First place, One Feature. The feature, written by Christine Peterson, was “Alarm, Apathy, and Hope for Action: As chronic wasting disease spreads, wildlife managers plea for solutions that could work.” Judge's comments: “Wow! This story was head and shoulders above the rest in a competitive category. The lead and nut graph are pitch perfect and would make tremendous examples for anyone who is trying to teach others about the art of feature writing. But what Christine does most masterfully is convey very technical scientific information in a way that lay readers can understand. I was captivated from the very first sentence -- well done!”

-- Second place, One Feature. The feature, written by Isabella Sadler, was “Pellets versus Predators: A new tool to suppress an invasive fish species shows promise.” Judge's comments: “Well researched and written. The author does a very good job of conveying to the reader why cutthroat trout populations should be a matter of concern beyond the fishing community.”

-- Second place, Page Layout and Design, for “Managers Unite: The Greater Yellowstone Coordinating Committee celebrates six decades of cooperative conservation” in Western Confluence magazine. The story was written by Kristen Pope, with illustration by Claire Baldwin and page design by Tana Stith. Judge’s comment: “Very attractive first page. Overall good use of visual elements to break up gray space. Overall good reading flow through pages.”

-- Second place, Publication, Western Confluence magazine.