University of Delaware Athletics
University of Delaware Garners Two Gold NACMA Best of Awards
6/23/2016 3:33:00 PM | Football, Delaware Athletics
DALLAS, Texas – The University of Delaware Athletics Department recently earned two gold honors from the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) as part of its 2015-16 Best of Awards.
The goal of the video was to honor those seniors on the UD football team who gave so much to the program, while providing an opportunity to connect all Blue Hen fans to the student-athletes in a more personal approach.
“This is a huge honor for Hens All-Access,” said Jimmy Smith, Delaware Assistant Athletics Director for Multimedia. “Being recognized by the leading organization in our business is something you strive for and really shows the talents of our department. A lot of hard work went into this and the chance to use the poetry talents of Josh Plummer on the project was fun for our staff."
The Blue Hens Marketing group also picked up its first-ever gold “Best of Award” for Single Game Attendance Promotion for the “Be A Hero” program, which focused on anti-bullying and positive reinforcement.
In conjunction with National Bullying Prevention Month, the Blue Hens teamed up with local elementary schools to encourage their students to take the pledge to 'Be A HERO' – (H)ens (E)ncouraging (R)espect to (O)thers – and be positive throughout the day by filling their own Blue Hens buckets with acts of kindness towards others during the month of October.
"We are really proud of this recognition because the messaging being delivered with this program was very important to all of us," said UD Senior Associate Athletics Director for External Relations Stacey Bunting-Thompson. "And the opportunity to not only engage our student-athletes in promoting the importance of kindness to others in elementary schools throughout the community, but to also recognize the youth who participated in front of the crowd on gameday, made it that much more impactful."
Inspired by the book Have You Filled a Bucket Today? A Guide to Daily Happiness for Kids by Carol McCloud, each student was encouraged to fill others' buckets and in turn fill their own, creating a positive and accepting environment.
Students that completed a minimum of six acts of kindness over a three-week challenge period each received a Be A HERO program certificate, two complimentary tickets to the Nov. 14 football game and were eligible to receive an official HERO cape and on-field recognition with fellow participants.
Teachers that successfully encouraged at least 75% of their class to fill their buckets with a minimum of six acts of kindness received four tickets to the same home game.
In its pilot year nearly 1,300 students completed their tasks and became HEROes. The program received overwhelming positive feedback and appreciation from parents, teachers and Blue Hen fans during its inaugural year.
Initiated in 2003, the NACMA Best of Awards program recognizes outstanding achievement in marketing and promotions. Awards are presented in 13 categories, with each category divided into three groups based upon school size and conference affiliations to promote fairness. Nearly 900 entries were received for the 2015-16 academic year.
The winners were revealed during NACMA's 25th Annual Convention during the awards ceremony on June 14 at the Hilton Anatole in Dallas.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Please contact Maggie Hayon | mhayon@udel.edu | O: 302-831-6389 | C: 920-912-6635
