Walton Team Wins Bronze in Telly Awards

Photo by David Speer

(left to right) Drew Stephens, Jim Goodlander, Alex Wiench, Paula Lawrence, David Speer (not pictured Lori McLemore)

The Walton College communications and media support services team has been named as a Bronze winner in the 36th annual Telly Awards.

The team won for their piece Walton Social Media, a video depicting how Walton utilizes many social media tools to reach out to students. The storyline follows one undergraduate from her online application until her first job. The competition attracted nearly 12,000 entries from all 50 states and numerous countries.

"This project was truly a collaborative effort between Walton's Media Services Center and the Department of Communication," said Jim Goodlander, associate director of technology at Walton. "From script, storyboard to finished animation, we are very proud of the way Walton uses social media and wanted all students to realize its impact by creating this video."

The Telly Awards was founded in 1979 and is the premier award honoring outstanding local, regional and cable TV commercials and programs, the finest video and film productions, and online commercials, video and films. Winners represent the best work of the most respected advertising agencies, production companies, television stations, cable operators and corporate video departments in the world.

A judging panel of over 500 industry professionals, each a past winner of a Silver Telly, judged the competition.  The council evaluated entries to recognize distinction in creative work - entries do not compete against each other – rather entries are judged against a high standard of merit.  Fewer than 10 percent of entries are chosen as winners of the Silver Telly and about 25 percent of entries are awarded the Bronze Telly. 

"The Telly Awards has a mission to honor the very best in film and video," said Linda Day, executive director of the Telly Awards.  "Walton's accomplishment illustrates their creativity, skill and dedication to their craft and serves as a testament to great film and video production."