Bob Delaney At Large: A Good Saturday: MPC Awards and a CITY Win

12 May 2024

A Good Saturday: MPC Awards and a CITY Win

Yesterday morning (11 May), I drove to Helen Fitzgerald's Irish Grill & Pub in Sunset Hills for the Missouri Professional Communicators (MPC) celebration luncheon. The organization was inviting those who won awards in their annual Communications Contest to receive their awards as well as enjoy appetizers and drinks.

There were about nine of us there for the event. Helen Fitzgerald's served us several appetizers, including potato skins, toasted ravioli, onion rings, and nachos using potato chips made on the premises. They were most satisfying for my colleagues and me.

The awards were presented in the entrant's alphabetical order. I entered three items from 2023 in the contest and earned two First Place and one Second Place awards. One of the Firsts was for editing The Arch Scaler News, the monthly member newsletter of the Gateway Chapter of the International Plastic Modelers' Society (IPMS). The judges cited this entry saying, "There's a lot of work put into this newsletter and the writing is clear and understandable."

My other First Place honor went to the press release I wrote and distributed to promote last September's IPMS Gateway Invitational model contest. The judges' comments for it said, "This is nice! Your statement is brief but to the point, and it shows you had a realistic understanding of your goals and achievements. Even though your event had a limited draw (kind of at the opposite end of a Super Bowl crowd), your work shows champion-level professionalism. The release, like your statement, is properly clear and concise. Calendar editors like submissions like yours because you make their job easy."

The judges awarded Second Place to the IPMS Gateway Facebook page, saying "This growing page is very informative and well-organized. There is good interaction with the page as well, which means members are relying on it." These judges' comments also include suggestions for improvement. In the case of the Facebook page, it suggested going to a less-text heavy banner photo, more frequent posting (daily or almost daily), and looking into posting video content. I will take these comments to heart.

The First-Place winners in the MPC Contest are eligible for awards from the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW), to which MPC is an affiliate. The NFPW Contest awards will be presented at the closing of their National Conference, which will be held in Frontenac, Missouri on 20-22 June. I was informed by one of the MPC organizers that one of those two First Place entries has won a NFPW award. I am very much looking forward to that event next month. All of us there had a good time and left Helen Fitzgerald's happy.

After this event, I ran off some IPMS Gateway Invitational flyers at Office Depot, which I then took to Schaefer's Hobby Shop. After that, I came home to change clothes and relax.

Later that afternoon, I went to Downtown West in St. Louis for St. Louis CITY SC's match against Chicago Fire. Before the match, I went to the St. Louligans' Street Party near Schlafly Tap Room. I got a Schlafly Raspberry Hefeweizen beer and a Buffalo chicken pizza from the Doughboys food truck. I enjoyed this dinner before milling around the area. Around 6:30 p.m., many of us gathered to chant for about 15 minutes before beginning the march around CITYPARK. We entered the stadium after about 20 minutes of marching.

It was yet another sellout crowd as CITY and Fire met in this regional rivalry match. Just before kickoff, a giant tifo was displayed in the North End over the Supporters Section, spelling out CITY's aspirations in the rivalry.

CITY took charge from the kickoff and was rewarded by a goal by Rasmus Alm just 84 seconds into the match--the fastest goal in club history. Chicago leveled the match in the second half's opening minute, but CITY kept pressing. Joao Klauss put the home side back ahead with a 56th minute tally, then put it away with his second of the night in the 67th minute. CITY ran out 3-1 winners.

I joined hundreds of other CITY supporters to stay after the final whistle as the players and coaches walked around the pitch to acknowledge their supporters. They finished in front of the Supporter Section and jumped as one to thank us for their support.