Media Day
WashU Media DaY
For the 2019-2020 academic year, Jack Besser (a fellow WashU Scholar-Champion) and I had a wild dream - Let’s bring the traditional DI media day experience to the DIII and to WashU. Building from years of experience in photographing games, documenting behind the scenes of athletes, and building a marketing presence for the Bears, we gained the support of our Associate Director of Athletics for External Operations, Chelsea Petersen, and Director of Athletics, Anthony J. Azama to provide the athletes as well as the sports marketing team with a future vision and strategy. We created visual content through photos in media days and worked to bring our 2019-2020 moto of “United Pursuit” to life.
Our efforts culminated in WashU winning four 2020-21 "Best Of" awards from the National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) and winning Gold in 2020 for the United Pursuit campaign in the Multi-Platform Branding category. Out of nearly 900 submissions across all NCAA divisions, WashU was the only NCAA Division III school to be named a finalist or winner in any category. This also represented the first "Best Of" recognition in the history of WashU Athletics.
WashU's 'The Final Chapter' video earned bronze honors in the Digital Video Segment category. The video served as a tribute to WashU's class of 2020 student-athletes, after their senior seasons were heavily impacted by COVID-19.
"I am extremely proud of the team that worked diligently to make this recognition a reality, with a special thank you to Jack Besser and Marco Quaroni for their contributions," stated Associate Director of Athletics for External Operations, Chelsea Petersen. "It is a tremendous honor to tell the stories of our Scholar-Champions and to collaborate with campus and community partners to enhance our brand and share deeper narratives through multiple mediums."
"We are thrilled that our focus on education and awareness, while simultaneously highlighting both the student-athlete experience and increasing recognition of their athletic achievements through campaigns, features, videos, and other multimedia elements, has received national recognition," stated Director of Athletics, Anthony J. Azama. "It speaks volumes to the ways in which our student-athletes and staff worked collaboratively throughout the year to showcase the WashU experience."
Source: https://bearsports.wustl.edu/general/2020-21/releases/20210618ladq1e
