By Grey Winn, student writerA group of Campbell University mass communication students have been selected to receive an ADDY award, one of the ad industry’s highest awards for excellence, from The American Advertising Federation’s (AAF) RDU chapter.Students in the university’s Capstone class were selected to receive the award on behalf of their work for the Me Fine Foundation, a non-profit group which raises funds for local children’s hospitals. The class worked more than five months to prepare a series of ad-campaigns for the foundation, including billboard displays, television commercials and radio public service announcements.”I’m excited at receiving this award because it really means our hard work has been noticed and those long hours have paid off,” said Julie Wahl, a journalism major. “It’s very rewarding to work with people for a good cause.”Winning an ADDY Award is perhaps the ultimate success for any student in a Capstone class. Dr. Ed Johnson, the class instructor, calls it “the academy award” of advertising.”I don’t know of any other schools in the area who can say their students won such an award,” he said.For some students, an ADDY means more than just being appreciated for hard work, it means having better chances in the workforce.”This will be tremendously helpful for those of us looking for jobs after graduation,” said Capstone student Erica Strother. “To be able to say, as a student, that I have won an ADDY is a huge accomplishment. Many professionals who have been in the business for years can’t even say that.”The class’s work was one of 550 considered for various awards by the AAF’s RDU chapter, the Raleigh Ad Club. Johnson said that depending on the level of the award–gold, silver or bronze–the Me Fine ads could be considered for even higher awards at the district or national levels. The students will learn whether they are eligible to advance at an awards presentation later this month. This is the second year that the Capstone class has been selected for an ADDY. Last year’s class received a bronze award for work done on behalf of a similar non-profit group.”It’s really inspiring for us as professionals to see students participate; and there’s some real talent out there,” said Raleigh Ad Club President Sue Toth.Johnson said he’s proud of the Capstone class, and winning the ADDY awards demonstrates the success of Capstone’s hands-on approach.”The difference between Campbell and big-name schools like UNC-Chapel Hill or Duke University is that they’re primarily research institutions, and we’re a teaching school,” he said. “We focus on preparing them for the real world. As a friend of mine at Ft. Liberty once said, ‘You learn more in three minutes of combat than you learn in three years of training'”.Capstone students will be officially presented with their award at the 2008 RDU ADDY Awards event on Feb. 29 in Durham.
Campbell Capstone students receive ADDY Award