International Organization Honors FVSU's Agricultural Communicators

Published By: Jeff Brothers July 3, 2012

Fort Valley State University's agricultural communications staff members pose in Annapolis, Maryland

Fort Valley State University’s agricultural communications staff members pose in Annapolis, Md., where the Association for Communication Excellence organization honored them with awards June.

Hard work often reaps benefits, as Fort Valley State University's Department of Agricultural Communications recently learned. The Association for Communication Excellence awarded the team several honors at its annual conference in Annapolis, Md. held June 11-14.

ACE is an international association of communicators, educators and information technologists. It offers professional development and networking for individuals who extend knowledge about agriculture, natural resources, and life and human sciences.

"We are thrilled to represent Fort Valley State well with these honors," said Marquinta Gonzalez, interim director of the agricultural communications department. "Over 270 entries from 1862 and 1890 land-grant schools across the country were submitted, and for FVSU to walk away with five awards is quite gratifying. This would not be possible without the support of the administration and the hard work of the ag communications staff."

Gonzalez said events like ACE provide professional enrichment and networking opportunities with peers from various institutions. The conference held a range of workshops with topics such as social media practices, dealing with change in the workplace and writing techniques.

Fort Valley State finished with three silver and two bronze awards in the categories listed below:

GRAPHIC DESIGN:

Class 11a & 11b-Print One to Three or Four or More Colors Publication
Silver - Russell Boone, Jeff Brothers, ChaNae Bradley, Marquinta Gonzalez, Ayanna McPhail - 2011 Fall/Winter FOCUS magazine

Bronze - Jeff Brothers, Ayanna McPhail - Eight Steps to Successful Organic Gardening brochure

Class 16-Cover
Silver - Marquinta Gonzalez - 2011 FVSU Research Report

PUBLISHING:

Class 22-Technical Publications
Silver - Ayanna McPhail, Marquinta Gonzalez - 2011 FVSU Research Report

Class 24-Promotional Publications
Bronze - Ayanna McPhail, Jeff Brothers - Life on the Farm brochure