Ithaca College’s Division of College Communications has been recognized by several marketing and communications organizations for its work over the past year. The division won seven CUPPIE Awards from College and University Public Relations and Associated Professionals, or CUPRAP; four W3 Awards from the Academy of Interactive and Visual Arts; and an Accolade Award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, or CASE.
The CUPPIE Awards honor creative excellence in marketing communications. Ithaca College won awards in a variety of categories, representing the work of staff across the Division of College Communications and beyond:
- Gold in the online advertising category for the “Bring Your __” brand awareness ad campaign
- Gold in the electronic media, interactive media category for the IC125 360 alumni video and viewers
- Gold in the electronic media, web feature package category for “Life at IC”
- Silver in the electronic media, social media standalone post category for “Cortaca Carousel”
- Bronze in the electronic media, social media campaign category for #ICFacultyFriday
- Honorable mention in the electronic media, social media campaign category for #IC125
- Honorable mention in the print magazine category for “This is Ithaca”
Multimedia director Adam Baker contributed to several of the award-winning projects, including the 360 video created for the college’s 125th anniversary celebration. The video was featured at regional IC125 events, where alumni and guests could watch the video through Gear VR viewers. Alumni were also mailed cardboard goggles that they could use to watch the video on their smartphones.
“We wanted to create a 360 immersive experience to bring campus to people who couldn’t come to campus,” Baker said. “And once we discovered that we were going to do the 125th [anniversary celebration], we thought that this would be a great opportunity to go with that project.”
The production involved shooting video and audio on an Omni — a device with eight Go Pro cameras — and a directional microphone before editing on a computer. Baker and his colleagues started working on the 360 video a year before it was released. He said it feels gratifying to get recognition for a project that pushed boundaries.
“It was a risk going into it too, but we started a year out because we were going to have to learn how to do it and teach ourselves how to correctly shoot with this technology… so there was definitely a learning curve, but it paid off,” Baker said.
Senior social media strategist Natalie Jenereski ’09 worked on the CUPPIE-winning social media posts and campaigns. When Jenereski began in her role at the college in January 2017, she was asked to prepare a social media plan for the 125th anniversary. She said creating the #IC125 campaign was a good challenge.
“To have that work be recognized is really fulfilling and reassuring that I did the 125th anniversary justice,” Jenereski said.
Jenereski is also proud of #ICFacultyFriday winning the bronze award. She created the Instagram series to highlight faculty because of how big a role they played in her undergraduate experience. Each week, Jenereski features a different faculty member, focusing on their lives outside of the classroom. Recent posts have featured faculty members cooking and running through snowstorms.
“It has turned out to be really rewarding, both personally and professionally,” Jenereski said.