Special Events

Individual Special Events (7A)

The winning entries all contained one common thread – transformation. Therefore, each entry was recognized for focusing on creative objectives and transforming them – taking them from simple to extraordinary – sometimes with extreme sensitivity, sometimes with pure grace, sometimes with high-tech sound and lighting – and yet, always, arriving with an outstanding event designed with precise detail for the honored guest.

Gold Medals

University of Virginia, National Campaign Launch

• Involvement, tradition and ingenious printed materials led the judges to recognize the National Campaign Launch as a gold medal winner. The innovative solution to invite guests to 20 different, individual events, each with separate and not always overlapping guest lists was to create a presentation package that evolved with multiple envelopes and cards into a delightful experience for the recipient who unwrapped the components as if they were a gift. The highlight of the weekend’s events was the black-tie event where a newly constructed arena was transformed into the university’s fabled lawn – the heart and soul of the institution. Dinner tables were a mix of round and serpentine, which were appropriate since serpentine walls, designed by Thomas Jefferson, surround the gardens at the heart of UVA. A 50-foot high seamless screen featuring yearbook photos of all participants surrounded the arena. The same screen gradually changed to Thomas Jefferson’s handwritten plan for UVA, reminding guests of its abundant history. The evening concluded with the screen slowly evolving from Jefferson’s handwriting to all the historic buildings of the lawn, creating an atmosphere as if guests were seated in the midst of Jefferson’s Academic Village. All judges were in total agreement, a message cannot be delivered and received without making the audience – each individual guest – feel that they are playing an important role in the success of the goal. The University of Virginia never lost sight of their goal.

University of Pittsburgh, Three Rivers Youth 125th Anniversary Exhibition and Opening Event

• Proved to the judges how an event could evolve with one goal in mind and conclude with an entirely different goal – and yet, maintain its objectivity throughout. Three Rivers Youth, a Pittsburgh nonprofit agency, approached the University of Pittsburgh to publish its 125 - year history as a community service. After discovering a treasure trove of artifacts, documents, and memorabilia worthy of a museum exhibition, the anniversary history project was expanded to include an exhibit complete with opening night invitations and an outstanding publication – all in time to coincide with Black History Month. The judges marveled at how the exhibition was conceived, developed, finished, and refined in record time – five weeks. Staying focused on the projects’ objectives and being mindful of the fragile time limits was a challenge and the judges recognized it as they read through the detailed and well-written abstract.

Silver Medals

Cornell University, Far Above…The Campaign for Cornell Public Launch

• Transformed a campus arena into a high-tech performance space with four forty-foot screens that created a remarkable 3-D translation of the campaign’s case. But what the judges were most impressed with was how the committee orchestrated – with light and sound – a massive arena filled with 1,000 guests to fall silent and dark as a single beam of light shone on a student singing Cornell’s alma materr in the center of the room while the screens featured hundreds and hundreds of yearbook photos emphasizing how each individual plays a role in the success of a campaign.

Tufts University, Beyond Boundaries Campaign Kickoff

• Created an ingenious endeavor – they arranged for thirty-five individual alumni chapters around the world to recite a toast and then incorporate it into the campaign video introduced at the kick-off. The judges applauded Tuft’s emphasis on the global perspective of a capital campaign. The judges also identified and applauded a theme which Tufts recognized throughout all their planning stages: ‘highlight our mission and focus on inspiring Tufts people, be celebratory but non self-congratulatory.’

Bronze Medal

California Polytechnic State University, Mustang Memorial Plaza Dedication

• Highly sensitive campus special event. This bronze medal winner paid tribute to the 1960 Cal Poly Football Team who perished in a tragic plane crash and required the establishment of an External Advisory Committee of university officials, an emeritus administrator and family members to review precise dedication details for an enormous alumni event. The event itself would celebrate the popularity of a football team along with the somber dedication of their likeness in a dignified, symbolic space. Each of the 18 individuals who perished was honored with a biographical plaque on a copper pillar at the physical height of the team member. The judges were especially respectful of how the university realized that having family members serve on the planning committee was crucial to the success of this event. This project required staff/faculty dedication to the dignity and integrity of the goals in all pre-planning, the actual dedication ceremony and post follow-up.

Year-Long Special Events (7B)

Entries in this subcategory were limited to year-long events. For that reason, the judges kept reviewing two outstanding entries, entirely different from one another, mainly because of their ambitious programs.

Grand Gold Medal

The University of Maryland, College Park’s 150th Anniversary Celebration

Humongous undertaking. The university’s Web site said it best: ‘How do you enjoy a yearlong, campus-wide anniversary celebration? One exciting event at a time.’

Beginning during the fall of 2005 and running through fall 2006, the University of Maryland hosted parties, parades, discussions, receptions, symposia, speakers, dedications, and more to highlight why the University of Maryland, College Park, serves as the state’s flagship institution of higher learning. Particularly significant to the judges were:

1. The official Web site, designed in rich Newport beige colors, caught our eye immediately – easy to read menu, online invitations in Spanish, Chinese, and English, University of Maryland Fact Dictionary entitled MAC (Maryland Agricultural College) to Millennium, University of Maryland history/traditions, program information. The font was easy to read and directions were easy to follow.
2. All promotional materials were outstanding: Maryland: Reflections on 150 Years (book- sold on-line and at Barnes and Noble), University of Maryland At A Glance (fold-out), 2005 Fall Calendar, 2006 Spring Calendar, Moving Pictures: Maryland at 150 Years. We all wanted to keep the commemorative poster of the school’s famous mascot, Testudo, a terrapin known to swim the Maryland coastal waters, who has a central perch on campus. The poster features an exquisite sunrise photograph of Maryland’s campus as seen from Testudo’s perch. The poster design crew was savvy enough to include the 150th MD Anniversary website as well as the photographer’s name (John T. Consoli ’86) at the very bottom of this masterpiece
3. Fear the Turtles Sculptures Exhibition and Auction – this portion of Maryland’s yearlong celebration was the highlight of our entire day of judging entries – and probably was exactly what we were looking for to recognize this entry as the Grand Gold Winner! In fact, one of the judges, who is responsible for the 2010 World Equestrian Games in Lexington, wanted to take home every morsel of this portion of Maryland’s entry. Even though the entire entry had outstanding printed materials, this portion had the “Wow” factor. A special event needs to be unique and recognizable for its creativity – letting it stand on its own. We spent an entire day looking for the entry that had those qualities – and the University of Maryland won, easily!

Fear The Turtle Sculptures Auction, anniversary iPODS loaded with anniversary content, iTune Cards – what fantastic ideas: creative, innovative, original, artistic, inspired – and the Fear the Turtle Auction proceeds went directly to scholarships.

The judges were not only impressed with how well the various committees planned, organized and promoted nearly 200 events over a period of 14 months, they also marveled (especially the judge who is a CEO of a lighting firm) at the creative thinking and innovative technology solutions were applied to this mammoth project. Especially significant to the judges was the investment in the creation of a cold fusion database for electronic submission and maintenance of a calendar of activities. The judges all agreed that campus events could be designed on an endless basis but if they were not delivered well on the website, the project was hopeless.

At the end of a long day of judging a mountain of entries, the Fear the Turtle Sculpture Exhibit and Auction was the final reason we decided to award a Grand Gold – what a fun event. We all have bets that it will be re-created across college campuses nationwide! What a clever idea and the proceeds going for scholarships.

Silver Medal

University of California, Davis, My Personal Compass “Deep Listening” Initiative 

This was a year-long event which originated with a comment made by the former Singaporean ambassador to the United Nations, Tommy Kich, when he remarked that he hoped Americans would begin to practice deep listening, a virtue that, in his experience, many Americans lack.

Under the leadership of UC Davis Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef (who was present when Ambassador Kich made the comment) and modeled after NPR’s This I Believe program, My Personal Compass sought to encourage thoughtful and respectful sharing of philosophical, spiritual, political or civic beliefs at a time when respectful dialogue seems particularly lacking. Essays were written by faculty members, staff and students and they were shared throughout the year through podcast, periodicals reprinted in the faculty/staff newsletter, read at convocation, shared at the chancellor’s brown-bag updates for faculty/staff/students and on and on and on.

In fact, the Davis City Council and the Davis School Board participated with forums and presented their own essays on the art of listening.

In an age of yoga, tai chi and deep meditation, this entry stood out to the judges for its simplicity and understated goal – try to get people to start practicing the art of ‘good listening habits.’ The objectives – to promote greater listening and respectful sharing of beliefs among students, faculty and staff and among members of our home community – were met with this outstanding program. In 1990, UCD adopted The Principles, an affirmation that each of the students/faculty/staff has an obligation to the community of which they have chosen to be a part and to strive to build a true community of spirit and purpose based on mutual respect and caring.

All of the judges planned to contact their own colleges to present this concept. We all learned more as a result of judging this entry. Only in California would they master the art of listening and then teach the world how to make it work for everyone!