I’m a pretty competitive guy.
Just like so many other kids growing up, I had a dream to play professional sports. Whether it be running around the baseball diamonds of the Oxford Park Commission during my middle school days or schooling my best friend in table tennis in my parent’s garage while in high school, I wanted to win. Quite obviously, I wasn’t among the best at either sport, so I redirected my career path.
Lindsey's 2013 Southern Public Relations Federation Lantern Award
But the professional world of higher education and public relations is a bit different than playing a game. And for folks who still have that urge to be competitive (I’m a beast on the local adult softball circuit), it leaves a lot to be desired.
So when we were asked to enter more of our work into nationally recognized public relations award competitions, I was ecstatic. It presented an outstanding opportunity for our department to be recognized for our more creative and successful PR projects and allowed me to channel my competitive nature.
Over the last year, we’ve entered quite a few cool projects into multiple awards contests and we’ve started to see the accolades roll in. Our first big win came in October 2013 when our own Lindsey Abernathy landed a coveted Lantern Award from the Southern Public Relations Federation for best use of interactive media in public relations for her awesome work with the Ole Miss Pinterest page. Just last week, we heard that PR Daily, a daily news site and branch of Ragan Communications, Inc., selected TWO of our entries as finalists for their 2013 Social Media Awards (Best Use of Instagram, Best Use of Pinterest).
We also have plans to enter one of our most successful PR campaigns of 2013 into PRSA’s Silver Anvil Awards competition later this month (fingers crossed).
We’ll be sure to keep you posted on all of our current and future award entries right here on our blog, so check back regularly for more updates. Until then, I’ll be working on my swing – softball season is right around the corner!