District captures prestigious USACE journalism awards

Posted March 3, 2010
By Norfolk District Public Affairs

03/03/2010 - NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk District public affairs specialists captured three first-place awards and a second-place award in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 2009 Herbert A. Kassner Journalism Competition.

For the second consecutive year, district specialists earned first-place recognition for their efforts using social media tools such as Facebook, Twitter, Flickr and YouTube to advance employee and public communication efforts.

The district also earned a first-place unit award for "Outstanding Command Blog" and employee Patrick Bloodgood captured an individual award in the television news report category. The second-place award recognized the district's Web-based Weekly Update.

In a message to Corps employees Feb. 24, Lt. Gen. Robert L. "Van" Van Antwerp, U.S. Army chief of engineers and commanding general of the U.S Army Corps of Engineers, announced the contest results and praised public affairs professionals for "raising the bar as we go from 'good to great' in communication."

During the annual contest, judges scored 212 entries in 30 categories, including print journalism, photography and broadcast products, for technical quality and value to Corps and U.S. Army communications.

"I'm thrilled with the contest results and am very proud of the team," said Mark Haviland, the district's public affairs chief. "Not only did the team work hard to establish a reputation as skilled communicators, but they also made a concerted effort to share their knowledge throughout the Corps and with other government agencies."

The Norfolk District's first-place entries, along with other Kassner contest winners, will now compete alongside first-place winners of other major Army commands in the Department of the Army's 2009 Major Gen. Keith L. Ware Public Affairs Communication Competition.