NWC News Desk

Northwest College Web site and other projects win praise from National Council for Marketing and Public Relations

Posted January 4, 2010
By

POWELL, Wyo. - For the third consecutive year, Northwest College won a gold medallion of excellence from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR).

The NCMPR, one of the fastest-growing affiliates of the American Association of Community Colleges, is the only organization of its kind that exclusively represents marketing and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges.

The NCMPR District 4, to which Northwest belongs, is comprised of six states: Arkansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming. The district held its annual convention in San Antonio, Texas, in October and announced award winners.

"These are impressive awards, especially when one considers that Northwest College bested some large colleges from metro areas like Houston, Dallas, Denver and others in the district," said Mark Kitchen, vice president for college relations. "In the last decade, we've only entered this competition three times-the last three years-and won gold every time. These award-winning materials are but a few examples of high quality Web design, writing, photography, graphic design and printing that set our visual materials apart from others. My hat's off to the NWC staff members who created them."

In the Division B category for colleges with three or more full-time equivalent professionals working in marketing and public relations, Northwest claimed the Gold Medallion of Excellence for its Web site, along with a bronze medallion of achievement for its viewbook.

NWC submitted its Web site for the first time this year after launching a fully redesigned site in August 2008.  It sports improved navigation, new online calendar, new online admissions application, better search tool, plus a more comprehensive Athletics section including the latest news articles, full schedules including results and statistics and full rosters including photos.

The viewbook is a 19-page full-color brochure designed to introduce Northwest College to prospective students. It's produced completely in-house at NWC, from the initial design and writing, all the way to the final printing.

Northwest's entire creative team earned credit for the awards. Team members are Webmaster Carey Miller, retired Publications Manager Laurel Vredenburg, Public Relations Photography Specialist David Vaughan and Printing Services staff Rob Schuller, George Laughlin and Nancy Schuller. Admissions Manager West Hernandez also contributed to the viewbook.

All entries for the 2009 awards had to be published, broadcast, displayed or used between September 2008 and June 30, 2009.