Penn College Receives Honors for Magazine, TV Series, Commercial

In a national competition, Pennsylvania College of Technology recently received Gold, Silver and Merit Awards for a magazine it publishes, a television cooking series it produces and a TV commercial it created to promote visitation days for prospective students and their families.

In the 18th Annual Admissions Advertising Awards competition sponsored by "Admissions Marketing Report," the national newspaper of admissions marketing a panel of industry specialists judged entries on their creativity, marketing execution and impact of message.

Winning a Gold Medal in the "Newsletter" category for institutions with 5,000 to 9,999 students was the quarterly magazine published by Penn College, "One College Avenue," edited by Tom Wilson, college editor/assistant director of college information and community relations.

The College's submission included the Winter 2001-02, Spring 2002 and Summer 2002 issues of "One College Avenue," which featured the themes "Helping Students Succeed," "The College Library: A Community of Learners" and "The First 20 Years of Master Teachers" respectively.

"Putting together a magazine is as collaborative as it gets," Wilson said. "This Gold Award reflects the hard work of many talented colleagues, not only the designers and photographers who lend the endeavor such creativity, but the writers particularly Penn College's 'Master Teachers' and librarians whose contributions are at its heart."

The College received a Silver Award in the "Television Advertising/Series" category for institutions with 5,000 to 9,999 students for the "You're the Chef" cooking series, which can be seen nationally on public television. The winning episode is entitled "Wine Country Brunch" and features the creative talents of co-hosts/co-executive producers Tom Speicher, the College's broadcast media specialist, and Chef Paul Mach, an assistant professor of food and hospitality management/culinary arts in the College's School of Hospitality.

In the episode, Mach and Speicher create a memorable family-style brunch. The episode also includes a "Cooking Key" segment in which School of Hospitality student Barbara M. Willett of Johnstown selects French knives for use in the kitchen.

"We are very excited to receive another national honor for 'You're the Chef,''" Speicher said. "We work very hard on 'You're the Chef' in crafting its unique mix of education, entertainment and marketing. Awards like this help validate our efforts."

The College received a Merit Award in the "Television Advertising/Single Spot" category for institutions with 5,000 to 9,999 students for a commercial entitled "degrees that work." The spot features testimonials from Penn College students and extends an invitation for prospective students and their families to visit campus during visitation days, held each fall and spring.

The commercial was developed in-house from concept development and copywriting through actual production by a team from the Office of College Information& Community Relations and Instructional Technology/Distance Learning. It was edited by Christopher J. Leigh, the College's digital media production specialist. The spot aired regionally in Williamsport and Wilkes-Barre, as well as in the Harrisburg and Allentown areas.

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