Once again, Durham College’s (DC) Communications and Marketing department is recognized for their hard work and innovation at the National Council for Marketing & Public Relations (NCMPR) Paragon Awards. This year, the team received gold in the Video Shorts and Electronic College Annual Report categories, as well as bronze in Special Events Promotion.

The prestigious awards are the only national competition of its kind showcasing outstanding achievement in communications at community and technical colleges for the past 15 years. The 2015 national conference was held in Portland, Oregon. Graphic designers Beth Chapleau and Melanie Vincent, travelled to Portland to represent DC at this year’s conference.

“It was awesome to connect with so many people who work in communications and marketing,” said Chapleau. “To see all of the submissions from a wide range of community colleges was really interesting. DC is producing work we can definitely be proud of.”

On July 30, DC announced the official launch of its marketing campaign, Experience DC. The purpose of this multiplatform campaign is to bring the college experience to prospective and current students, parents, teachers and the community through a unique group of students representing a wide cross-section of programs, personal interests and personalities. From August 11 to 25, DC gave viewers a sneak peek at each student individually through a series of short videos on the Experience DC website. This series of videos, including the campaign launch video, were awarded gold at this year’s Paragon Awards. Since its launch, the Experience DC campaign has garnered more than 84,400 page views.

Another gold Paragon Award winner was the college’s 2013-2014 electronic annual report.

In addition to the two gold awards, the college received bronze for DC’s staff appreciation ceremony. On October 4, the college celebrated staff’s employment at the annual event. Service awards were distributed in five-year intervals, up to the 35-year mark, with nearly 170 staff members receiving recognition. For the first time, awards of excellence were given to nominated support, administrative and accessibility advocate staff. With more than 400 guests in attendance, DC President Don Lovisa, presented winners with their awards. Faculty excellence award winners were also given a $1,500 credit for a professional development course through the Centre for Academic and Faculty Enrichment. The annual ceremony allows faculty and staff to be recognized for their hard-work and dedication.

“I am beyond proud of the creativity, commitment, dedication and professionalism the DC Communications and Marketing department puts into their work every day,” said Carol Beam, executive director, Communications and Marketing. “To be recognized at NCMPR’s Paragon Awards is a great honour.”

This year’s NCMPR Paragon Awards received a total of 1,780 submissions in 53 categories. Winners represented a variety of colleges, all with a wide range of budgets, staff and resources. What made the award recipients similar was their dedication for producing creative and unique approaches to college communications and marketing.