MARANA - Town of Marana received national recognition on Thursday, September 6 with an Award of Excellence from the City-County Communications & Marketing Association for the category Photography Single-Image Use.
The submission, labeled “Abaaa-ndon Sheep!” featured a photograph of a young competitor at the Marana Cotton Festival Mutton Busting competition holding on tightly as their sheep raced through the rodeo arena. The photograph was captured by J.D. Fitzgerald.
The intended goal of the photograph and ensuing advertising outreach was to grow the Marana Farm Festival, promote the event as a way to celebrate the Town of Marana rodeo and agrarian roots, and to demonstrate how rodeo is not only a key component of farm life but part of the very fabric of Marana’s rich tapestry.
The Town not only saw the size of the event grow over time, but saw a huge increase in social media interaction in posts using striking, professional images.
“Outstanding entry presentation and image,” the judges wrote.
“We made an effort to use dynamic images in our event marketing and outreach and the community really responded,” said Communications Manager Vic Hathaway. “We saw more comments and shares on our social media posts about the event, and had over 2,000 more views on our on-line photo galleries.”
Mutton busting is one of the most popular features at Marana Farm Festival, with the next event scheduled September 29, 2018. Visit www.MaranaEvents.com for more information.
The Town of Marana also won a Savvy Award for Special Events: One-Time Events from the City-County Communications & Market Association.
JD Fitzgerald is an award-winning photographer and cinematographer based out of Tucson, AZ. For over seven years JD served as a staff photojournalist winning several awards from the Arizona Newspaper Association and the Arizona Press Club. He has also produced many films local artists and advertising for small/medium sized businesses.
His clients include: Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, Congressman Ron Barber, Town of Marana, Marana Unified School District, Marana Police Department, and Northwest Fire District.
The City-County Communications & Marketing Association announced the 2018 winners of its national Savvy Awards Competition during a ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Milwaukee in Wisconsin.
The Savvy Awards, held in conjunction with 3CMA’s Annual Conference, recognize outstanding local government achievements in communications, public-sector marketing and citizen-government relationships. The Savvies salute skilled and effective city, county, agency or district professionals who have creatively planned and carried out successful innovations in communications and marketing. 3CMA accommodates local government organizations of all sizes and budget classes by judging entries in several different population groups.
