Los Medanos College was presented with eight Medallion Awards from the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations District 6. These awards recognize outstanding achievement in print and online communications and publications as well as media and campaign success stories at community and technical colleges in District 6, which serves two-year colleges in the southwest United States.

Awarded in levels of gold, silver and bronze, the NCMPR District 6 Medallion Awards are the only regional competition of its kind that honors and rewards excellence exclusively among public relations and marketing professionals at two-year colleges. Judged by peers from other community colleges, industry professionals and other journalism students, the awards were presented following a NCMPR District Conference in Santa Barbara, California on Friday Sept. 28.

“The NCMPR District 6 Medallions recognize excellence in community and junior college marketing,” said Amber Chiang, Director of Marketing and Public Relations for District 6.

“Winning a Medallion award shows that Los Medanos College’s marketing department exhibits hard work, perseverance, creativity and innovation in community college marketing. The rewards are intangible.”

Competing with more than 200 entries received from colleges in NCMPR District 6, LMC was recognized for:

• Gold Medallion in the category of Banner or Outdoor Media
• Gold Medallion in the category of Website
• Silver Medallion in the category of Poster
• Silver Medallion in the category of Banner or Outdoor Media
• Silver Medallion in the category of Original Photo
• Silver Medallion in the category of Logo Design
• Bronze Medallion in the category of Brochure/Flyer
• Bronze Medallion in the category of Original Photo

The awards were contributed by the Marketing and Media Design team, which includes Senior Web Administrator Eloine Chapman, Media Design Specialist John Schall and Director of Marketing and Media Design Barbara Cella. Cella spoke about the significance of winning these awards and what it means for the students of LMC.
“In the past several years, we have been awarded a total of one national award (a bronze or third place) and two regional awards (two silvers or second place),” said Cella. “This year, we won more awards than any other college in the competition. For us, this was amazing and extremely validating of the long hours we spend ensuring that we communicate well, with clear, concise, and inspiring content.”
Cella also goes into depth about the awards in which LMC received gold medals in, the LMC website, and the ‘Planning to Transfer’ graphic.

“Our website used to be a snarled mess—a beautiful mess, but a snarled one,” admitted Cella. “Eloine ChapRALLYman, our Senior Web Administrator, and I spent two years researching and studying websites and upcoming trends in website development. High on our list was an emphasis on student success, including success stories and other inspiring content.

Many colleges hire outside firms for more than $100,000 to redo their sites, and we accomplished all of this work ourselves. We have been acknowledged by the LMC community and feel we succeeded in this lengthy, painstaking, but extremely gratifying project while being fiscally responsible in our effort.”

Cella deemed the gold medal winning ‘Planning to Transfer’ graphic and the silver award winning ‘Be a Major Success’ graphic a fulfillment of a dream come true.

“We chose to design banners highlighting and inspiring transfer success,” said Cella. “I came up with the concept and John Schall, our Media Design Specialist, pulled together a beautiful, creative design. Rosa Armendariz (Director of LMC’s Hispanic-Serving Institutions grant) was enthusiastic and supportive of this concept and agreed to pay for the graphics, including painting, frames, banners and installation. Many LMC students and employees walk by these graphics every day, and find them uplifting, inspiring not only success but also pride in being a part of LMC.”

With more than 1,550 members from over 650 colleges across the United States, Canada, and other countries, the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations is the only organization of its kind that represents marketing and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges.

Along with community colleges in California, District 6 also includes community colleges in Arizona, Hawaii, Nevada, Utah, and Pacific Islands, including the Northern Mariana Islands, Micronesia, Palau, the Marshall Islands, and Guam.