NFPW announces national communications contest results
VPC members take home nearly 20 awards, including three 1st-place awards
By Sunni Brown
Communicators from throughout the United States were honored June 22 when the National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) announced the winners of its 2024 Professional Communications Contest as the final event of the organization’s 2024 National Conference in St. Louis, Mo. Nearly 2,000 entries were submitted in this year’s contest.
“The NFPW professional communications contest puts a spotlight on outstanding entries from throughout the United States,” says Helen S. Plotkin, NFPW professional contest director. “Our judges continue to comment about the high quality of entries they judge in the contest. The entries showcase high quality and exceptional efforts.”
Eleven VPC members honored with 19 national awards, including three 1st-place awards! Congrats to Martha Steger, Alex Veatch, and Julian Walker for bringing home those top honors.
Julie Campbell, Pam Stallsmith, Cathy Petrini, Cynthia Price and Valerie Ormond of Maryland, a member of the VPW Foundation Board, celebrate after the Saturday awards banquet.
National contest results include:
Audrey T. Hingley
- Honorable Mention — Feature Story — Magazine, newsletter/other publication for “Pirate Ships in the Northern Neck”
- Honorable Mention — Photography — Photographer-writer for “Memories of Yesteryear (cover); Keeping History Alive (inside)”
Gail Kent
- Honorable Mention — Specialty Articles — Personal essay for “The Hands of Time”
Patty Kruszewski
- 2nd Place — Columns — Personal opinion for “A Night with Chef Paul”
Ann Oppenhimer
- 3rd Place — Publication Regularly Edited by Entrant — Newsletter/other publication – non-profit, government, or educational for “Folk Art Messenger #110”
- 3rd Place — Brochure — Nonprofit, government or educational for “34th Annual Folk Art Society Conference, Richmond, Va.”
- Honorable Mention — Website Edited or Managed by Entrant — Nonprofit, government or educational for “Website: Folk Art Society of America, URL= http://www.folkart.org”
Karen Schwartzkopf
- 2nd Place — Publications Regularly Written by Entrant — Newspaper/Magazine/Magapaper for “Richmond Family Magazine – Sept/Oct 2023”
Sande Snead
- 2nd Place — Advertising Campaign for “”Every Day” campaign”
Pamela Stallsmith
- Honorable Mention — Feature Story — Online publication for “From Campus to Congress”
Martha Steger
- 1st Place — Specialty Articles — Physical health for “Medically Speaking”
- 3rd Place — Specialty Articles — Green/environmental for “Back to the Future”
- Honorable Mention — Specialty Articles — Travel for “Sea to Table in a Small Colombian Town”
Joan Tupponce
- 2nd Place — Specialty Articles — Education for “UR Here! Get to Know President Kevin Hallock”
- 3rd Place — Specialty Articles — Sports for “Mo Alie-Cox recalls his days at VCU and prepares to motivate graduates at commencement”
- Honorable Mention — Personality Profile — More than 750 words for “For a look behind the lens, VCU photographer Kevin Morley shares ‘Photoadventures’ from his decades in the field”
Alex Veatch
- 1st Place — Social Media Presence — Corporate or for-profit for “Green Front Furniture Northern Virginia │Social Media Presence”
Julian Walker
- 1st Place — Video for Web — Special interest video for “Hospital Workplace Violence – Northern Virginia | #HelpUsHelpYou”
- Honorable Mention — Web and Social Media — Podcast for “Patients Come First Podcast – Khalil Watson”
Congrats to all award entrants and winners. View the state-level results, announced at the spring conference earlier this year.
