Potomac State College of West Virginia University’s radio advertising series won gold honors this past March at the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations (NCMPR) Paragon Awards Program in Savannah, GA.
This year more than 80 judges from across the country reviewed more than 2,050 entries in 40 different categories in this annual competition that recognizes excellence in communications, exclusively among two-year colleges.
In each category, gold, silver and bronze awards were announced.
According to Rene Trezise, director of Marketing and Communications for PSC, making this honor even more significant is that a former PSC student, Jesse Hedrick, from Petersburg, W.Va., was involved with the creative brainstorming and writing of the ads.
Hedrick worked as a work-study student in the department at the time. He is currently a student at WVU pursuing a degree in broadcast journalism.
The ads were produced by John DeVincent, with Metro-News, in Charleston, W.Va.
“Our goal was for our radio ads to be off the wall just enough to catch our listeners’ attention and according to the judges’ comments, we were successful,” said Trezise.
This is the first time the department has submitted its work for award consideration.
The ads are currently airing on WQZK 94 FM, Radio Disney/WDZN 100 FM, and MAGIC 100.5 FM.
In the past year, the ads have aired throughout West Virginia and in the Frederick County, Virginia area.