2020 Honors from Missouri Professional Communicators

Yesterday afternoon (18 May), I checked my mail at home and found a large vanilla envelope addressed to me. After noting the return address label was from Missouri Professional Communicators (MPC) (https://www.facebook.com/MissouriProfessionalCommunicators), I carefully opened the envelope to remove its contents. Clipped together were a cover sheet and four awards certificates from this year's MPC Communications Contest.

Earlier this year, I submitted four entries to the contest, which was open to MPC members. All entries were reviewed by a panel of judges, who then evaluated the entries and gave them awards in their respective categories. I have participated in this contest for three years now, and it has been most helpful for me, not just for the honor of the awards and how they would look for my career in this field, but also for the judges' constructive comments about each entry. I have sought to take these comments to heart in my subsequent work, and the chief judge noted this in her cover sheet.

All four of my entries this year (for work done in 2019) were honored. I earned a First Place in Writing: Publication regularly written by entrant--newsletter or other non-newspaper for The Arch Scaler News, the member newsletter I edit for the Gateway Chapter of the International Plastic Modelers' Society (IPMS) (https://sites.google.com/view/ipmsgatewaychapter/home). The judges noted "The newsletter is well organized and looks clean. For an organization that must be small, it is well-done and easy to read. The writing is very accessible. The minutes are a bit dull, but seem like standard minutes. But the other writing is much more lively." With this First Place award, The Arch Scaler News is eligible for an award from the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) (https://nfpw.org/) 2020 Communications Contest. Those awards are normally presented at its annual Conference; however, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the NFPW will present the awards virtually early next month. That organization contacted me yesterday for my photograph, which I sent.

Two press releases I wrote last year for IPMS/Gateway earned awards in Information for the Media: News or feature release--single release. the release announcing our club's $500 donation to Toys for Tots (https://www.toysfortots.org/) in Metro St. Louis earned Second Place. The judges noted "It's always wonderful to write a press release about an effort that brightens the lives of children! Again, this release was well-written and thorough. I liked how the release included information about the history of donations from the club and the mission and purpose of the club."

Taking Third Place was my release announcing IPMS/Gateway's Invitational model contest and swap meet held last September. This was praised for being "well-written and thorough."

Finally, a post to this blog from last 22 May earned Second Place in Web and Social Media: Personal blogs. The entry was "Scale Modeling and Soccer: One Saturday in Louisville," and talked about my visit to Louisville on 18 May. That day, I attended the Military Modelers Club of Louisville (http://www.mmcl.org/) model contest, a brief visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory (https://www.sluggermuseum.com/), and joining the St. Louligans (https://stlouligans.com/) in supporting Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/) against Louisville City FC at Louisville Slugger Field. The judges noted "Easy, conversational tone/readability. Detailed, informative chronicle of journey, events, and points of interest with enlightening facts and abundance of photographs. 'I chatted with...' leaves the reading wanting more."

http://bobbyd0702.blogspot.com/2019/05/scale-modeling-and-soccer-one-saturday.html

Needless to say, I am honored and most happy to be recognized by my peers for this work. It gives me greater confidence in my abilities, and encouragement to improve my skills in this field.

Later.

Scale Modeling and Soccer: One Saturday in Louisville

Before dawn last Saturday (18 May), I left St. Louis by car to drive to Louisville, Kentucky. Arriving there around 10:15 am Eastern Time (9:15 am Central Time) after over a four-hour long trip, I came to KYANA Classic Car Club (https://kyanaregionaaca.org/), venue of the Military Modelers Club of Louisville (MMCL) (http://www.mmcl.org/) Invitational model contest and swap meet. I entered three models in the contest, which was located in the lower level of the venue, while the vendor room was on the upper level.

I brought flyers for the IPMS/Gateway (https://sites.google.com/view/ipmsgatewaychapter/home) show this September, which I left on the registration and admission tables. Additionally, I donated a stock car model kit to the raffle. It was very nice to see the quality models in the contest, and shopping among the vendors. I chatted with a few attendees about IPMS/Gateway's show, and they were looking forward to coming to St. Louis for that event.

After getting lunch at a food tent set up just outside the club house, I helped to judge Figure models in the contest. One of the MMCL members, Lee Fogel, joined me in judging the figures. There were some very good items in this category, and it took quite some time to evaluate the entries before determining the top three places in each of the figure categories. My Turbulent took Third Place in Submarines.

After the show ended, I drove to Scale Reproductions Hobby Shop (https://www.srihobbies.com/), where--taking advantage of a discount flyer from the show--I bought an aircraft model kit. It's a very nice shop, and I can definitely recommend it.

Next, I headed for downtown Louisville, where I paid a brief visit to the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory (https://www.sluggermuseum.com/). I didn't have time to take the museum tour, but I did shop in the gift shop, buying a St. Louis Cardinals (https://www.mlb.com/cardinals) mini bat and some postcards. I also looked over the names of Major League Baseball players who used Louisville Slugger bats over the year, including quite a few members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

After that, I made my way a few blocks east to Louisville Slugger Field (https://www.milb.com/louisville/) for the USL Championship (https://www.uslchampionship.com/) match between Louisville City FC (https://www.louisvillecityfc.com/) and Saint Louis FC (https://www.saintlouisfc.com/). This derby is known as the King's Cup, as Louisville and St. Louis are named for French kings named Louis. I joined with some fellow St. Louligans (http://stlouligans.com/)--many of whom arrived on two chartered buses--in the tailgate with our counterparts, the Coopers (https://louisvillecoopers.com/). Louisville City and the Coopers are our "frenemies;" rivals, but ones we can have fun with at the same time.

Some minutes before kick off, we St. Louligans marched into the stadium for the match. Our section was in what is normally the left field bleachers for baseball games. (The Coopers were situated in the left field boxes.) Although Louisville City had the fun of play, Saint Louis' defense was up the the task and the match ended in a scoreless draw.

After the match, I waited in the parking lot for traffic to let up before going home. I chatted with several Coopers for about 25 minutes and we looked forward to meeting up in St. Louis for the return fixture in October.

I then got in my car and started the long drive home. I finally arrived in St. Louis just past 1:00 am, Central Time. After bringing my items in from the car, I finally got some sleep.

Later.