My friend Linsey Daman (https://linseydaman.blogspot.com/) was there as my guest. We and the other attendees ordered lunch off the menu, and we had some nice conversations. Linsey had to leave to take care of some personal matters, but I did cover her lunch bill and I also gave her money in return for an airplane model kit she wanted me to build for her.
After the luncheon, MPC's Janice Denham presented the awards certificates, with judges' notes on what they were for and what the contest judges thought about these submissions. Yours truly received four awards for my work: A First Place and three Second Place honors. The First Place was for a press release I wrote and distributed on behalf of IPMS Gateway (https://sites.google.com/view/ipmsgatewaychapter/home) about its $371 donation last December to Toys for Tots (https://bridgeton-mo.toysfortots.org/local-coordinator-sites/lco-sites/default.aspx). The judges noted that this release was well-written and organized, and there was nice coverage. The judges also liked how the release detailed how the money was raised and the history of the club's Toys for Tots drive. This First Place honor made my release eligible for consideration in the annual Communications Contest run by the MPC's affiliate, the National Federation of Press Women (https://nfpw.org/).
Another IPMS/Gateway press release--one announcing the club's annual model contest and swap meet in September--took second in the same category as the Toys for Tots release. Judges mentioned in their notes that this release was nice written and organized.
Another Second Place award was for The Arch Scaler News, IPMS/Gateway's monthly member newsletter. The judges praised it for being very nice and packed with information for its intended audience, and for the great deal of work that went into the publication. Additionally, judges liked the live links for websites and emails in The Arch Scaler News, and the nice photos in each issue.
Finally, this blog took second place in the category of personal blogs. This is a fun blog, according to the judges, who especially liked the entry from last October on the Spirit of St. Louis Air Show, with all the photographs in that post. They also thought the slideshow of photos as a nice idea. Judges told me to keep up the good work, and thought this blog looks like a lot of fun. (I agree!)
After the awards presentation, the event broke up. Denham took my picture with the certificates, then I headed to Starbucks (https://www.starbucks.com/) on Kirkwood Road to celebrate with a hot beverage. While there, I chatted with my acquaintance, Glenna Gossett (https://www.linkedin.com/in/ggossett/), who happened to come by. She was very happy to hear of my honors from MPC, and we got caught up on things. I stopped by the nearby Smallcakes Cupcakery and Creamery (https://www.smallcakescupcakery.com/) to get a cupcake to take home.
Later.
