Ad Team places second

The Drury University Advertising Team placed second in the District 9 National Student Advertising Competition Friday, April 21, in St. Louis.

Webster University placed first, St. Louis University placed third, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln
placed fourth. Also competing were Creighton University, Drake University, Missouri State University and Washington University. The district winner moves on to the finals which will be held in San
Francisco in June.

The National Student Advertising Competition provides undergraduate advertising/PR students a realistic problem that can be solved through team effort, knowledge and creativity. This year's sponsor,
Postal Vault Systems, Inc. manufactures a secure mailbox that helps to prevent identity theft. In this generic category where no company has yet to emerge as industry leader, it was necessary to first establish a consumer need and second product value for the brand. It was a challenging project, and the Drury Team successfully met the challenge.

Drury Ad Team presenters are: Audrey Campbell, Vikki Crawford, Rachel Ellis, Amanda Littlefield, and Sarah Partridge.

Other team members are: Ashley Baureis, Sarah Campbell, Tara Davis, Emily Donnell, James Gough, Mary Mann, Lindsey Marshall, Lori Beeman Monroe, Jill Spence, Sarah Trigg and Christy Wichlinski. Brianne Ott served as grad student advisor; Regina Waters and Ron Schie are faculty advisors.

The judges for the competition were: Jethro Ferguson, Partner, Account Director for OgilvyOne Worldwide, New York; Candy Freund, Creative Director, Tom, Dick & Harry Advertising, Chicago; Matt Goodson, Creative Director, Thunder Factory, San Francisco; and Tami Weitkunat, President/CEO, Mediacomp Inc., Houston.

The Drury University Ad Team will have the opportunity to present their campaign one final time at the Springfield Advertising Club luncheon on May 10, 2006, at the Oasis Hotel and Conference Center in
Springfield.

Live from Wisconsin...it's Curt!

Monday afternoon...

Drury sophomores Brandy Enver and Jeff Davis represented the university well. Enver ranked in the top 24 in the national speech and debate tournament by making it to the quarterfinal bracket of Varsity Poetry Interpretation. Davis ranked in the top 8 in the Lincoln Douglas Debate portion of the national tournament by winning double-octofinal and octofinal rounds over competitors from Creighton University. Davis lost a close 2-1 decision in the quarterfinal round against Annaleigh Curtis from Washburn University. Curtis was a quarterfinalist in the 2005 tournament.

While we are still in Eau Claire for closing ceremonies and more speaker awards, I thought this would make for great reading given the very young team we have developed at Drury University.

With the (secular) blessings of the university, we hope to continue our growth and successes for the coming years.

From Eau Claire, Wisconsin...and eating cheese...

Dr. Curt Gilstrap