Contest Yields a Record 143

The Mate E. Palmer Communications Contest continues to grow, reports Cecilia Green, contest director. "We had 143 entries this year, compared with 109 entries in 1998 and only 88 in 1997." Included were 87 entries in print media, 9 in photography, 34 in public relations/advertising, and 13 in research and books categories. The most-entered categories were personality profiles, with 28 entries in one category, and features, with 29 entries in 5 categories.

The nonmember fee included one year’s free membership. Green said six people took advantage of the offer:

• Katherine (Kit) Bernardi is the president of Kit Bernardi and Associates, an event-planning and marketing services firm in Chicago. She also is a photographer and writes on travel and golf for newspapers and magazines. Before starting her own business, she was with Frankel & Company and the Hilton Hotels. She has received many awards for her work and speaks at professional meetings on marketing and public relations.
• Barbara Glanz, president of Barbara Glanz Communications in Western Springs, rejoins IWPA after a year’s hiatus. She is an internationally known professional speaker and consultant. She is the author of many articles and five books, including her most recent, Care Packages for the Home, and a frequent guest on television and radio shows (see story on page 5). If you want to find out what Barbara’s up to, visit her Web site: www.barbaraglanz.com.
• Norma Green, PhD, directs the graduate program in journalism at Chicago’s Columbia College. She decided to enter the contest after talking to Cecilia Green while researching her entry on IWPA in the Historical Dictionary of Women’s Press Organizations to be published in 1999. She had been an National Federation of Press Women (NFPW) scholarship winner in graduate school.
• Ahdee Meitus is executive producer at Astropolitan Pictures in Chicago, a creative film and TV production company she formed with a coworker in 1997. At age 28, she and her partner had 12 Emmys to their credit during the two years they worked together at Channel 27. Some clients she has produced promotional videos for are Coca-Cola, Sony, Motorola and the Chicago Public Schools. Visit www.astropolitan.com to see samples of her work.
• Ann Rittenhouse Martin is an education and feature writer for Sun Publications/Copley Newspapers in the Plainfield office and lives in Frankfort. Previous reporter/editor jobs include work for the Chicago Tribune and its Digital City Web site, The Star, and the New York Times. Her journalism degree is from Pennsylvania State University and she also studied at Manchester University in the United Kingdom, with an internship at BBC-TV in London.
• Heather Shadur is senior account executive at Jasculca/Terman & Associates, a public relations firm in Chicago. Her degree is from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Among her marketing projects has been one for the Governor’s Commission on the status of women in Illinois.

All entries are now in the hands of judges. First-place winners will be forwarded to the National Federation of Press Women contest. This year’s judges are:

• Parker Lusk of Glen Ellyn. Lusk, now retired, is still active in the communications field as a writing coach. His career spans many years and several positions, including editor of the Chicago Sun-Times magazine, agency and corporate public relations, and teaching public relations and English at Loyola and Triton. He is judging the book and journalism research categories.
• Laura Lane, senior reporter since 1984 at the Herald Times in Bloomington, Ind. Her beats have covered police, court, and regional community news, and she has also been a copy editor. She was previously with the Franklin (Ind.) Daily Journal as a reporter and photographer. Her numerous awards include honors from such organizations as NFPW, Society of Professional Journalists, Associated Press, Hoosier State Press Association, and Women’s Press Club of Indiana. She will judge print media and photography.
• Betsy Spethmann is senior editor of Promo magazine, a national trade magazine focusing on promotional marketing. She previously worked for Brand Week and Advertising Age. If you want to look at Promo, the Web version can be accessed through www.mediacentral.com.

ABS Graphics in Addison donated the printing of the call-for-entries brochure again this year. Green said state and national winners will be notified in time to make plans to be at the Awards Luncheon on May 15 at the Marriott Courtyard in Chicago.


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