At this year’s American Advertising Awards Gala, the Pulse magazine staff was pleasantly surprised with the announcement that the 2018 issue of the magazine had won seven ADDYs (three Gold, and four Silver).
On Feb. 21, the pop art-themed ceremony was held at the Grand Banquet and Conference Center in McAllen to honor and recognize individuals for their work in advertising by the American Advertising Federation-RGV.
The AAF is one of the “oldest federations of its kind” and contributes to the community in a variety of ways, including scholarships and programs for students. The federation, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has over 200 chapters throughout the U.S. representing thousands of advertising professionals.
Kimberly Selber, an associate professor for the UTRGV Department of Communication and one of the directors for the AAF-RGV chapter, served as chair for the ADDY awards this year. She was tasked with organizing the competition and the American Advertising Awards Gala.
“Dr. Selber and her team, they really put a lot of work into it and a lot of thought and when you went there, whether you went as a student team or as an individual or as a professional team,” said Erik Webster, editor-in-chief of Pulse. “I mean, it felt kind of like the Oscars.”
With about 108 entries in the student category, 12 Gold and 22 Silver Student Awards were presented. The Pulse winners are as follows:
–Gold ADDY- Publication Design Magazine Overall, 2018 Pulse Magazine Staff
–Gold ADDY-Publication Design Cover, Alexandria Canchola, Artist; Arael Meza, Graphic Designer
–Gold ADDY-Illustration Single (“SnapSex”), Celeste Stange, Artist; Erik Webster, Writer
–Silver ADDY-Still Photography Color (“Pandemonium Doll”), Erik Webster, Photographer/Writer
–Silver ADDY-Illustration Campaign (“Attack of the Imperishables”), Cecilia Sierra, Artist; Ashley Mathew, Writer
–Silver ADDY-Online Interactive Website (utrgvpulse.com), Erik Webster, Designer; Arael Meza, Designer; Jehudi Meza, Contributing Designer; Steven Hughes, Online Editor
–Silver ADDY-Social Media Campaign (Pulse 2018 Launch Event), Arael Meza, Designer
“It was really nice to attend the ADDYS this year and we had no idea that we were going to walk out with seven awards when we first went in,” Webster said.
He said this was the first time the magazine had attended the ADDY’s since the university became UTRGV in 2015.
“I don’t know exactly the last time that a UTRGV magazine entered, but as far as I can tell, just from the certificates, 2008 was the last time,” Webster said.
He said attending the event was “a blast” and being able to meet other people interested in the same style of media was wonderful.
At the event, attendees walked around the room and viewed every entrant’s artwork displayed, giving the experience a “special” and personal touch.
A majority of the Pulse staff attended the “Oscars”-like event, including former Pulse Editor-in-Chief, Sage Bazan.
“I think it was really important that [Bazan] was there, since she was such a big piece of that magazine,” Webster said.
Bazan said she was surprised but thrilled by the fact that Pulse magazine won seven awards for its 2018 issue.
Asked what the awards mean to her, Bazan replied, “It meant that all the hard work that we did was validated. All the nights that we stayed at the office until midnight, or on the weekend when we would go in and work, it really showed.”
The 2018 issue had undergone “drastic changes,” going down to a smaller size and using an entirely different kind of paper for the cover.
Webster said the reduction in size was to better suit the students and to save space, while the paper gave the magazine a “much more substantial” and cleaner look.
“We went with the National Geographic size for the reason that college students, you know students, they’ve got Chick-fil-A in one hand, they’ve got books and other stuff in the other,” he said. “We didn’t want people lugging around something that was large, so we wanted to give them something that was a little bit more compact.”
Bazan was proud and pleased with the final result for the issue, mentioning her love for the stories and the new “modern” look it now bears.
“We spent many hours outside of class talking and she brought me the blue lines when they came out, before they went to press, or right when it was going to press, and she was very proud,” Selber said. “ We sat on the floor of my office going through it.”
Webster said one of the biggest hurdles was putting out a 144-page publication, and updating their weekly website with a small staff. Another complication they overcame was with the website, due to the staff’s lack of an individual with experience in that field. Despite this complication, Pulse was given the Silver award for its website.
He encourages people to “check it out” at https://utrgvpulse.com/.
“I think it’s fantastic,” Selber said about the awards Pulse received. “I was so excited when they entered! I was really, really happy that Pulse entered and was recognized for the great work that they did and have done.”
She said two other students, J. Edward Moreno and Silver Salas, who work for the university’s marketing office, won a professional silver award, and a MOSAIC image award for their video, “The UTRGV Student’s Journey,” which can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7rlbbqJ6Rk&feature=youtu.be.
In the Professional Category 11 Gold Awards and 21 Silver Awards were awarded.
