U of T Communications recognized by CASE for innovative communications during the pandemic

Christopher.Sorensen — Wed, 15 Sep 2021 16:00:35 +0000

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Christopher.Sorensen Wed, 09/15/2021 - 12:00

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��Ƶ Communications (UTC) has been awarded gold in the Council for Advancement and Support of Education’s (CASE) Circle of Excellence Awards for its UTogether communications strategy during the pandemic.

UTogether2020: building U of T’s “caring community” was recognized in the newly created “pivot” category, which invited institutions to showcase how they pivoted to address challenges and opportunities related to the pandemic.

“When the pandemic struck, the university recognized that we needed to engage with our community more than ever before,” said David Estok, U of T’s vice-president of communications. “We needed to go beyond keeping them informed about the rapidly evolving situation. We needed to help them feel more connected – even as they were told to stay apart – and showcase their compassion and resilience.

“I’m proud of the work of the UTC team. Under challenging circumstances, they developed a comprehensive communications strategy that was creative and highly effective.”

The strategy focused on richer, deeper storytelling, including a new online hub hosting the most up-to-date information, a video series, COVID-focused newsletters, the publication of hundreds of news stories and the creation of two popular podcast series.To emphasize caring and compassion, the branding for UTogether features the letter T hugging the letter U.

“The outcomes of this campaign were very impressive, as uniting campuses and students at large institutions is always quite a challenge,” the CASE judges wrote. “This was a lot of work, but had good results – especially considering the small budget.

“The new logo was very clever and sweet, speaking to the campaign’s desire to unite so many students in the institution, and the video about the efficacy of the campaign was exciting and high-energy.”

The gold is the latest in a record-setting number of awards for UTC this year, including 26 honours from CASE. In June, UTC received two silver Circle of Excellence awards for ��Ƶ Magazine articles. And in January, UTC took home 23 prizes in CASE’s District II competition, including three “grand golds” – the highest level of recognition – seven golds, six silvers, five bronzes, as well as an honourable mention and a finalist position in platinum or “best in” categories.

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Communications staff recognized with higher education awards

lanthierj — Wed, 14 Jul 2021 14:50:09 +0000

Communications staff recognized with higher education awards

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lanthierj Wed, 07/14/2021 - 10:50

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For their excellence in telling the stories of the ��Ƶ community in print, video, podcasts and more, communications staff across the three campuses have received a wide range of honours.

U of T Communications (UTC) staff earned three #HigherEdSocial awards (Best of HESM 20-21), which celebrate the best work in social media and digital marketing and communications, for:

Best TikTok campaign (UTC Scarborough)
The New Normal podcast (UTC St. George)
Battling Burnout: Wellbeing during the ‘COVID Winter’ video series (UTC Mississauga)

The Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE), which recognized a wide array of U of T communicators earlier this year, recently announced its 2021 Circle of Excellence Awards. Two ��Ƶ Magazine articles won silver in the feature writing category: “The Truth Saved My Life” by alumnus Tahmid Khan, as told to Rahul Kalvapalle, in the spring 2020 edition and “Out of Action, Comes Hope” by Raquel Russell in the winter 2020 edition.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Council for Advancement of Education (CCAE) 2021 Prix d’Excellence Awards which acknowledge outstanding achievements in alumni affairs, public affairs, communications, marketing, development, advancement services, stewardship and overall institutional advancement, recognized a number of U of T staff. Among the winners were U of T Engineering, winning two silver awards, including one for their video The Twelve Days of Skule, and ��Ƶ Magazine, winning gold in two categories: best print magazine category and best feature writing category (for “The Truth Saved My Life”).

The National Magazine Awards also recognized communications staff, alongside other members of the U of T community recently for writing, design and photography.

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