2024 Communications Honors from Missouri Professional Communicators

Yesterday (24 May) was a great day for me. After picking up Julie from her place, we went to Fitz's South County for the Missouri Professional Communicators (MPC) Communications Contest Celebration. 

I was among ten MPC members who entered this contest, which honored communications work done in 2024. A team of judges evaluated each entry and awarded a place (First, Second, Third, or Honorable Mention), along with making constructive comments about each entry.

After soft drinks and hors d'oeuves, MPC co-president Janice Denham announced the contest results. She recognized each contestant, going in order of number of entries per person (least to most). For each contestant, Denham told of their entries, where they placed, and briefly what the judges thought of those entries.

Denham came to me announced that all six of my entries earned an award. I knew in advance that two of them took First Place, and now I knew which ones. One was the press release announcing last year's Gateway Chapter International Plastic Modelers' Society (IPMS) Invitational. The judges lauded it for presenting information in a clear and concise manner. My other First Place went to the IPMS Gateway Facebook page, which I manage. The judges' comments praised the good quality of photos, the ease of navigating the site, the organization of the galleries, and the impressive page engagement figures.

These and the other First Place winning entries from MPC are eligible for the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) Communications Contest. Those results will be announced at the NFPW's Conference this September in Golden, Colorado.

My Editor's Notebook column in the IPMS Gateway newsletter, The Arch Scaler News, earned Second Place. The judges really liked the conversational tone and its positive call to action for members, along with information about upcoming activities. The newsletter itself received Third Place, the judges liking the plentiful good information in it. They did suggest I economize where I can, using fewer but larger photos and keeping out unnecessary words.

I also took Third for my second blog post about last year's IPMS/USA National Convention. The judges thought my writing held up well but wanted more details on the sessions I attended there. Finally, my account of last year's NFPW Conference in St. Louis, which appeared in the newsletter NFPW Agenda, earned an Honorable Mention. The judges liked my "play by play" of the conference.

After the awards were presented and the last congratulations shared, our celebration ended. I asked Julie to take photos of me with the certificates I earned, and she did.

Julie enjoyed being at the celebration and chatting with the other attendees. She was my guest two years ago at this event. After we left Fitz's, I drove Julie home and we parted with a hug and kiss.

After dropping Julie off, I ran off some IPMS Gateway Regional Contest flyers and dropped them off at three hobby shops--Mark Twain Hobby Center, Schaefer's Hobby Shop, and Checkered Flag Hobby Country--before coming home.

Later.

Websites of Entities Mentioned in This Post:

Missouri Professional Communicators: Missouri NFPW affiliate | Missouri Professional Communicators | Clayton

Fitz's South County: South County | Fitz's Root Beer

IPMS Gateway Chapter:  IPMS Gateway Chapter

IPMS/USA: IPMS/USA | IPMS/USA Home Page

National Federation of Press Women: Home

Getting Out the IPMS Gateway Newsletter

Yesterday morning (16 January), I completed work editing this month's issue of The Arch Scaler News, the member newsletter of the Gateway Chapter of the International Plastic Modelers' Society (IPMS Gateway Chapter (google.com)). I usually get this out on a Thursday but delays in getting some content set it back until yesterday. Not having had a meeting last month, due to pandemic-related public gathering restrictions, and not much else in content meant this month's newsletter would be a thin one. Still, I was able to make it work.

After proofreading the copy, I took it to Office Max (Office Depot OfficeMax | Official Online Store) in Mehlville to run off three copies for those members without email access. After printing up the newsletters, and adding mailing address labels, I took the copies over to the United States Postal Service (Welcome | USPS) store at South County Center (South County Center | St. Louis MO (shopsouthcountycenter.com)). There, I bought stamps, which I affixed to the newsletters before putting them in the mail collection slot.

That afternoon, I emailed the newsletter to the rest of the membership, as well as some other parties. The latter include area hobby shops, IPMS/USA (IPMS/USA | By Modelers... For Modelers), and chapters in IPMS/USA Region 14, which includes IPMS/Gateway and for whom I serve as its Region Coordinator.

IPMS/Gateway holds its next meeting this Tuesday night at Affton Elks Lodge 2635 (Elks.org :: Lodge #2635 Home) . They will hold nominations and voting for this year's officers, the final 2020 Modeler of the Year Contest, and a presentation on pre-dreadnought battleships.

Later.