City of Morganton wins two Excellence in Communications Awards

The City of Morganton was recently recognized for its communications and marketing efforts during the annual North Carolina City & County Communicators’ (NC3C) 2021 conference. The City of Morganton won two awards in the Excellence in Communications Awards contest.

The awards were announced April 29, 2021, in conjunction with NC3C’s virtual 2021 annual conference. All 168 award program entries were judged by professional communications peers from the Minnesota Association of Government Communicators.

“Congratulations to all the winners. You deserve your award, and you deserve to be recognized for your hard work,” said NC3C President Joshua Harris, City of Lenoir, NC. “Communications is an important part of local government operations, and one goal of NC3C is to recognize those communicators across the state who create great content and help keep our citizens informed. Keep up the good work. You make me proud to be part of NC3C.”

A press release written by Public Information Officer Ethan Smith announcing long-time Public Works Director Scott Lookadoo’s retirement earned second place in the Writing awards category. Judges commended how the press release highlighted Lookadoo’s lifelong commitment to Morganton in various roles, and made readers feel as though they knew Lookadoo even if they had never met him. Feedback from the judges called the narrative of the press release “crisp,” and judges said they had no doubt Lookadoo had left Morganton a better place after serving the City for nearly 35 years.

Marketing materials for Main Street’s Halloween Huntacular in 2020, designed by Public Information Officer Ethan Smith, won second place in the Graphic Design awards category. Judges commended the retro, family-friendly feel of the graphics created for the event. The judges also said that the marketing materials showed an “excellent effort” to create something eye-catching with no budget.

“Ethan has served as Morganton’s Public Information Officer for just over three years now, and has earned the City four awards from the NC3C Excellence in Communications contest during his time here,” said City Manager Sally Sandy. “We are thrilled his commitment to serving the citizens of his hometown by going above and beyond in his communications efforts continues to be recognized.”

During the virtual conference, the membership of NC3C also elected Smith to serve as Secretary of the Executive Board for the organization.

The purpose of North Carolina City & County Communicators is to encourage professional development and networking among local governmental communications professionals. The organization was formed in March 2007 and consists of professional government communicators from around the state. For more information about NC3C, visit www.nc3c.com.