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The �鶹ӰԺ School of Media and Journalism (MDJ) and the Akron Area Chapter of Public Relations Society of America (PRSA) received a joint Diamond Award from the PRSA East Central District’s 43rd annual Diamond Awards program for public relations campaigns and tactics.

The Diamond (first place) Award was given for the school and chapter’s annual YouToo Social Media Conference, a pioneering one-day conference for communication professionals, students and educators focused on best practices, case studies, strategies and tactics to make the most of these revolutionary communication technologies.

“The goals were to host a conference providing accessible and affordable professional development focused on digital media, to raise funds for Akron Area PRSA and the �鶹ӰԺ State Chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) and to position the PRSA and PRSSA Chapters and the School of Media and Journalism as educational resources for digital media communication,” said Jennifer Kramer, APR, past president, Akron Area PRSA. “We did that! And to be honored with a prestigious Diamond Award on top of that proves we put together an effective program.”

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic requiring a state-wide shutdown three days before the event, this year’s conference transitioned to a virtual format. Registration for the virtual event, rescheduled for April 24, 2020, was higher than that of the original in-person event, attracting student attendees from �鶹ӰԺ State, Slippery Rock, Mount Union, Baldwin Wallace and the University of Akron and public relations professionals and faculty representing State and Federal Communications, �鶹ӰԺ State, FedEx Custom Critical, Sherwin Williams, and many small to medium-sized businesses.

“This conference is a signature event at MDJ,” said Luke Armour, associate professor of public relations at MDJ and chair of YouToo 2020, “bringing experts from around the country to �鶹ӰԺ State to share their experiences and knowledge with our local professionals and students. And the PRSSA �鶹ӰԺ student obtain valuable experience planning and executing an event. I’m so proud of the committee, sponsors, speaker and attendees for working with us to transition this event online. It was a great day. We are honored by this award, and it belongs to everyone.”

The conference was anchored by keynotes from the team leading the Wendy’s Twitter account and Robert Rose, chief strategy officer of The Content Advisory who helped found the local Content Marketing Institute. Additional speakers and topics included “Brands and Social Media in the COVID Crisis” with Cleveland Clinic, PR Newswire and Content Marketing Institute and “Social Video Best Practices,” “Social Accessibility,” “Social Measurement,” “Reaching Gen Z via Social,” “The Power of Facebook Groups” and “Using Social with Employees.”

“We are honored to congratulate the �鶹ӰԺ School of Media and Journalism and the Akron Area Chapter Public Relations Society of America for their achievement in public relations excellence,” said John Palmer, chair, PRSA East Central District. “This year’s honorees have risen to the challenge with skill and creativity to effectively communicate with their audiences.”

The Diamond Awards are presented to public relations practitioners who have successfully addressed a communication challenge with exemplary skill, creativity and resourcefulness.

The Diamond Awards are open to any public relations professional who is a member of the 17 chapters of PRSA-East Central District, or any nonmember whose place of business is within the District’s boundaries. The East Central District covers the states of Indiana, �鶹ӰԺucky, Michigan, Ohio, western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.