Published: 12/17/2019
The school was awarded in the categories of Advertising/Marketing and Integrated Communications in recognition of its Schuster Gallery art show, “ExpErience the Best of Erie’s Past Ads.”
Gannon University’s School of Communication and the Arts received two gold awards at the Northwestern Pennsylvania Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America’s sixth Annual Niagara Award ceremony.
The school was awarded in the categories of Advertising/Marketing and Integrated Communications in recognition of its Schuster Gallery art show, “ExpErience the Best of Erie’s Past Ads.”
“ExpErience the Best of Erie’s Past Ads” featured historic Erie advertisements and promotional pieces in the form of print, audio, visual and memorabilia during the three-month show from December 2018 to February 2019.
The show was conceptualized by Anne O’Neill, associate professor in the school and director of the advertising communication and public relations academic programs. The show was produced by students of Every Last Detail, an event planning agency that is part of the school’s event planning class.
The PRSA/NWPA Niagara Awards are awarded annually to public relations practitioners who have successfully addressed a contemporary issue with exemplary professional skill, creativity and resourcefulness. The awards recognize complete public relations programs and projects incorporating sound research, planning, execution and evaluation.
This year’s contest received a record number of entries with more than 70 overall. All entries were judged by 13 public relations professionals outside of the Erie region. Among the 2019 winners are the Diocese of Erie, Erie Regional Chamber & Growth Partnership, Erie Insurance, Erie SeaWolves, and UPMC Hamot.
Three of O’Neill’s students who were involved in the production of the show attended the award ceremony.
“Students had the unique opportunity to see what is done in the public relations world and the quality of work that is recognized by peers in that industry,” O’Neill said. “It was gratifying to see that our efforts were recognized from professionals outside the Erie area as work that is of high caliber, and that the students’ work was presented to professionals in the industry and worthy of recognition.”