It’s the season to recognize outstanding student work being done in public relations, and one of the best awards programs takes place in America’s heartland at the University of Oklahoma. The Zenith Awards recognizes exceptional public relations efforts of undergraduate students from U.S. colleges.
Originally organized as a joint effort by the University of Central Oklahoma and the University of Oklahoma, the first competition took place 14 years ago when it was hosted by by Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) members and judged by local PRSA professionals. This year, the entries were judged by PR professionals from throughout the U.S.
The Zenith Awards provides students with an outlet to showcase their work and recognize those who perform exceptionally in the public relations discipline. The competition has seven categories for submission including public relations writing, public relations campaigns, publications design, electronic media, case studies, social media, and public relations research.
The 2012 winners are:
1. PR Campaigns: Jessica Prater, University of Oklahoma
“Run for a Little, Help for a Lot” in partnership with Big Brother Big Sister of Oklahoma
2. PR Research: Caroline Smith, University of North Carolina
“College Students and the Effectiveness of Mobile Ads”
3. PR Publications: Yelena Radchuk, Oral Robert University
Promotional poster for a Trafficking Awareness Night campaign
4. PR Writing: Joshua Richardson, Oklahoma Christian University
Press release entitled, “Dinner to Honor Inductees”
5. Case Studies: Sarah Pai, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
“The Effect of Twitter on Act of Valor”
6. Electronic Media: Josh Shockley, University of Oklahoma
Promotional video, “This is Our Classroom”
7. Social Media: Liz Sager, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Paper examining the awareness students have of social media for political campaigns
To learn more about the awards or to enter next year’s competition, check out Zenith Awards website or “Like” Zenith Awards on Facebook.
Speaking of awards, the communications program at Oklahoma honored outstanding student efforts at its innovative student-run agency, Lindsey + Asp on Friday night. Lauren Harris received the annual Culpwrit Award, which this year was presented by Jasmine Boaler, account associate at Ketchum New York. Lauren is completing her junior year at Oklahoma where she is the student agency’s account lead for Cleveland County Habitat for Humanity. The Culpwrit Award is given to an aspiring public relations professional who is multi-dimensional and has demonstrated a commitment and desire to teach others. According to faculty and peers who cite her hard work and team spirit, Lauren epitomizes this award.
Congratulations to all, I was very impressed with the professional and creative dedication I saw in L+A students I met while on campus last year.