CASE awards for 2023-24 honor work from UMaine Division of Marketing and Communications

Storytelling and video projects from the University of Maine Division of Marketing and Communications received annual awards from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) recognizing the work as among the best in its first district, which represents New England, Quebec and the Atlantic provinces in Canada. 

The division won three Best of CASE District 1 Awards in the categories of promotional videos, storytelling and written profiles for content created for UMaine News and the university at large. Best in District awards recognize work from those whose institutional impact and passion exemplifies the best of educational advancement in their district. 

Discover your Tomorrow, a video by former photographer/videographer Patrick Wine, promotes the university by showcasing the opportunity UMaine students have to do groundbreaking work in numerous fields while immersing themselves in the natural beauty of Maine. The video was created as part of an admissions campaign and developed for Enrollment Management.

A multimodal story led by assistant director of communications Marcus Wolf titled “With creative cooking, Dumas and community partners help propel Maine’s edible insect industry,” showed how UMaine’s food science innovation coordinator Rob Dumas and local entrepreneurs are bolstering the state’s edible insect industry. It included a video by manager of visual media Ron Lisnet that highlights the flavors and textures of the insects being used, web design by director of digital experience Amanda Lozier and outreach by manager of social media strategy Samantha Perry. 

Also written by Wolf, a profile titled “Lives of Ukrainian soldiers explored in UMaine student’s new documentary,” capitalized on work from Vita Tomakhiv, a master’s student in global policy who graduated in spring. Tomakhiv’s documentary on the lives of Ukrainian soldiers, shot with just a smartphone and tripod in Kyiv, Ukraine, demonstrated how students can use their academic backgrounds and skills to make impacts locally and globally. In addition to highlighting Tomakhiv’s work, the story illustrated the support of her advisor James Settele, executive director of the School of Policy and International Affairs. The story was elevated by web design from Rosemary Lausier, digital content strategist, and social media strategy by Perry.