NASHVILLE, Tenn.—The Vanderbilt News Service has won the Society for New Communications Research 2006 Award of Merit in the academic / research category for its news website, VUCast (www.vanderbilt.edu/news).
The society‘s awards program honors innovative organizations and professionals who are pioneering the use of social media (i.e., blogs, wikis, podcasts, collaborative tools and other forms of participatory communications) in the areas of marketing, public relations and advertising, politics, entertainment, academics and community and cultural development. The award winners were announced at the society‘s inaugural awards gala at the Colonnade Hotel in Boston, Mass. on Nov. 1.
“Vanderbilt‘s program exemplifies the mission of this awards program: the successful and innovative use of new communications solutions and social media practices to enhance communications and relationships,” Mike Manuel, SNCR Best Practices Committee chairman, said.
“This is a wonderful affirmation of our strategy and approach to online communications,” Vanderbilt Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Michael Schoenfeld said.
The Vanderbilt News Service launched VUCast in 2005 as a tool for providing in-depth content including videos, audio, photos, expert profiles and daily news stories to interested audiences locally, nationally and globally. Since its launch, page views of sites on the Vanderbilt news domain have grown from approximately 19,600 per month in Sept. 2005 to over 71,000 per month in the fall of 2006.
The Society for New Communications Research is a nonprofit global think tank dedicated to the advanced study of new communications tools, technologies and emerging modes of communication, and their effect on traditional media, professional communications, business and society. For more information, visit www.sncr.org or call (650) 331-0083.
For more Vanderbilt news, visit VUCast at www.vanderbilt.edu/news.
Media contact: Melanie Moran, 615-322-NEWS
Melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edu