Centennial group wins awards
By Kelly Conniff, staff writer
Posted on February 22, 2007

The Centennial Celebration staff at JMU is getting ready to celebrate the university’s 100th birthday in style, and their efforts have not gone unnoticed.

The office recently won three MarCom awards, sponsored by the Association of Marketing and Communication Professionals, in recognition of the Web site as part of the marketing campaign. The association considered more than 5,000 entries in 200 different categories before awarding three to JMU for an article on the site, as well as the Web site as a whole.

“The Web site is a key feature in spreading the word about the Centennial Celebration,” Centennial Director Fred Hilton said.
Hilton won first place in the Writing/feature article category for a story he wrote about JMU’s first football game. Hilton and Assistant Director Debbi Long also received Gold in the Web site/overall site category. The site also received an Honorable Mention in the Web site/homepage category.

The site is a major component in the unique strategies that the office is using to promote JMU’s Centennial Celebration.

“[The Web site] is a good store of JMU history, containing all of the information that has developed from our rich past,” Hilton said.

The staff hopes that students, faculty and staff won’t look just at the campaign, but also at the wealth of information on the site.

“The Web site is a mixture of information about JMU, a place to find out more about the Centennial Celebration,” Hilton said. “It’s also turned into more of a collection of JMU history. There are lots of anecdotes as well as the nuts and bolts that have never been compiled in one place before.”

The Web site is part of a comprehensive campaign to help JMU celebrate the Centennial for the entire 2007-08 school year. The campaign will kick off in the fall with the Centennial Gala planned for September.

The Centennial Celebration office hopes to highlight the history of Madison by using presentations such as Madison Moments, which stem from ideas suggested by alumni, faculty, staff, students and the public that will highlight the history, people and local community that have influenced the university over the past one hundred years.

The Web site is a distinct part of the campaign, which focuses on media in order to engage students and other participants in the celebration.

The staff also plans to work with JMU Communications and Marketing and the school of media arts and design to create a book and a video/DVD chronicling JMU’s history.

“It’s a great way to show off some of the exciting history of JMU,” said Hilton. “And a great way to gain positive exposure for the university.”

Hilton said students will be an integral part of the celebration, as many already participate in committees that help plan the celebration.
Although the campaign has not fully started, students graduating next year are excited about what they’ve heard so far and the possibilities for the celebration.

“I don’t know much about the celebration, but I’m excited to be graduating on the Centennial anniversary,” junior Jenn Young said. “I hope they do some really exciting things for it.”