University Relations cleans house during awards season

July 6, 2006

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The University of Florida has won seven awards from professional organizations for its televised public service announcement and other efforts to promote UF.

“We’re excited about the awards because they recognize that the work we’re doing to promote the university and the Gator Nation is among the best in the country,” said Joe Hice, associate vice president for marketing and public relations.

The awards the department won include:

  • A Bronze Anvil Award of Commendation from the Public Relations Society of America, which recognizes creative tactics in a public relations campaign.
  • A gold medal from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) in the Recruitment Features category.
  • Two Telly Awards, which honor outstanding local, regional and cable television commercials and programs.
  • A Golden Image Award from the Florida Public Relations Association, recognizing outstanding public relations programs in Florida.
  • Two ADDY Awards sponsored by the American Advertising Federation, which honor creative excellence in areas of advertising.

These awards, which were received in recent months, recognized, among other things, three filmed projects produced by the University Relations team

Each year UF produces a public service announcement that is broadcast during athletic programming on television. This year UF broke from traditional messaging to produce the emotional 30- and 60-second spot, “Go Gators.” Filmed in high definition, it adds yet another connotation to “Go Gators”—‘Go do something great!’

“The Undergraduate and The Making of The Undergraduate” is a student recruitment video that looks like a trailer for a feature film. This entertaining and informative video is shown on campus 11 times each week, which means every year approximately 25,000 prospective students and parents will see it in the University of Florida Welcome Center Theater. The video was produced almost exclusively with students and staff at UF.

“Boundaries,” a 60-second Web video, stars UF President Bernie Machen. The tongue-in-cheek newsreel-style video was produced by the UF broadcast team to inform the internal campus community of the Gator Nation campaign. The key message is: “The University of Florida is in Gainesville. The Gator Nation is everywhere.”

The Office of University Relations’ goals include:

  • Improving and developing UF’s positioning among peer institutions.
  • Improving the quality of internal and external communications.
  • Implementing a comprehensive public relations and marketing communications campaign.

“Winning national and statewide recognition is an important step toward realizing our goals,” Hice said.

“Go Gators” and “Boundaries” can be viewed at www.urel.ufl.edu/ufcn/gatornation/.