The David Eccles School of Business Marketing + Communications team won six awards at the 31^st Annual Golden Spike Awards, held by the Public Relations Society of America Greater Salt Lake and Utah County Chapters on Thursday, Nov. 15 at the Loveland Living Planet Aquarium.

The competition recognizes excellence and best practices in public relations and business communications in Utah. Judges select winning entries and award Golden Spikes or Awards of Merit based on scores in the categories of research, planning, execution and evaluation. Entries were judged by impartial judges who practice public relations in Pittsburgh and used a 100-point scale. Entries that earned at least 70 points were given a finalist award, and the top qualifying score in each category received a Golden Spike Award first-place trophy.

The Eccles School earned two first-place Golden Spike awards, three finalist awards and an individual award.

“These awards are a testament to the efforts of a hard-working, collaborative, and fun M+C team,” said Ruchi Watson, assistant dean, Strategic Initiatives: Marketing, Communications, and Analytics. “Not only is the work that they do first-rate, but they also do it in a way that builds community. Sheena McFarland has done an incredible job of building a culture that is enjoyable while driving real results. It is my great honor to work with this team every day.”

First-place awards

Social Media

One Week. One Million. campaign — A joint effort between Alumni Relations & Development and the M+C team, the One Week. One Million. campaign raised more than $1 million to top off the Robert H. and Katharine B. Garff Building. The campaign was conducted largely over social media.

Institutional Programs

Specialized Master’s Success — The digital marketing campaign for several of the Eccles School’s Specialized Master’s Programs brought strong return on investment and reached previously untapped prospective students.

Finalist awards

Special Events

100 Years of Impact campaign — The Eccles School celebrated its 100-year anniversary, and the internal and external marketing campaigns included building wraps, a robust timeline, billboards, flagpole banners on campus and in Salt Lake City, and more.

News Writing

Driving Success — an article in the Eccles Experience magazine featuring the Garff family and their contributions to the Eccles School and larger Utah community.

Public Service or Advocacy

Girls Business Bootcamp — The inaugural one-day event, which was supported by several individuals and teams at the Eccles School, brought high school girls from diverse backgrounds to the Eccles School to hear from faculty, students, career coaches, advisors and more to educate girls about the opportunities that await them with a business education.

Individual Award

Young Professional of the Year

Sheena McFarland, who leads the M+C team, earned the award, which is given to a PRSA member who has worked in public relations for less than five years and demonstrates exceptional knowledge, skill and ability in their public relations career. Individual awards were nominated by an online call for nominees, with no self-nominations allowed, and the boards of the two Utah chapters then voted to decide the winner.