(June 8, 2023) From a fun reality-style competition starring East Tennessee State
University’s mascot to a campaign highlighting the hands-on learning opportunities
available to students, ETSU recently earned accolades for finding innovative ways
to connect with audiences across the state.
At the Tennessee College Public Relations Association’s 2023 Communication Awards held in Gatlinburg last month, ETSU received three gold awards, a silver award and a bronze award for work produced by ETSU’s Office of University Marketing and Communications.
Winning a gold award in the “Overall Promotion Campaign” and nominated for “Best in Show” was ETSU’s Go Beyond the Classroom campaign. This campaign showcases ETSU’s commitment to community-engaged learning through internships, study abroad, service-learning and other experiential learning opportunities. The campaign elevates student stories and has increased awareness of what it looks like to engage in learning beyond the walls of a traditional classroom.
ETSU also took home a gold award in the “Special Event, More than 7 Days” category for “Becoming Bucky: An ETSU Reality Show Competition.” Becoming Bucky consisted of auditions, special events and competitions that were filmed and produced as episodes released on social media throughout the spring 2023 semester. The episodes, which had more than 50,000 views across ETSU’s social media platforms, followed five ETSU students who competed to represent the university as Bucky, ETSU’s beloved mascot.
A complete redesign of the ETSU homepage also earned a gold award for “University Website, Overall.”
ETSU was rewarded for thinking “outside of the box,” earning silver recognition for its “Pizza Boxes: Go Beyond Ordinary” campaign in the “Specialty Item” category. Through this campaign, ETSU created a design highlighting the mountains, landmarks and adventure opportunities in its surrounding region. This design was featured on 50,000 pizza boxes used throughout Nashville.
Finally, ETSU took home a bronze award in the “Podcast” category for “Why I Teach: Conversations with ETSU Faculty,” hosted by Dr. Kimberly D. McCorkle, ETSU provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs. This podcast celebrates ETSU faculty by amplifying their stories and providing a platform for them to discuss why they are passionate about teaching and share what impact they hope their students will make on the world.
“The awards we received are a testament to our team’s passion, creativity and hard work,” said Jess Vodden, ETSU’s chief marketing and communications officer. “And that work is fueled by the fascinating and inspiring stories of our students, faculty, staff and alumni and the beauty and vitality of our region.”