University Communications nationally recognized for snake story and videos

Georgia College & State University’s Office of University Communications won two honorable mentions in Regan PR Daily’s 2024 Nonprofit Communications award competition. Both honorable mentions were for coverage on “Students use technology to delve into the secret lives of snakes.” 

The story, written by media relations specialist Cindy O’Donnell, won honorable mention in Ragan’s Digital Content category. Two videos from the package, filmed and edited by director of Video Communications Stacey Lumley and video specialist Chris Brown, also won honorable mention in the Video category. 

Joshua Smith, interim director of Web Communications, handled social media for the package, which included stunning pictures by photography manager Anna Leavitt. Other office members helped proofread.

“We’re all thankful to have gifted communicators on our team,” said Alan Weston, interim associate vice president for Strategic Communications and director of Marketing and Publications.

“For Georgia College & State University to be mentioned in the same breath as large organizations with national recognition is incredibly valuable,” Weston said. “Our team’s efforts are constantly laser focused on solidifying the brand of our great university in the best way possible. While our work is typically carried out behind-the-scenes, it’s nice to have our staff to the forefront through their talent.”

In 2023, University Communications also won two Best of CASE District III awards in writing and video for its story: "Where bison roamed: Paleontological dig shows a different Georgia."

These are the first awards received from Ragan PR Daily for GCSU’s communications office. The team was up against much larger institutions for both awards: Children’s Health of Dallas, Texas, won for digital content and Orphans Feeding Foundation for video.

University Communications writes news features promoting the accomplishments of Georgia College faculty, staff and students. These appear on the university’s news website, Front Page, along with pictures to help illustrate stories. 

Occasionally, a special topic comes along that begs for more.

The snake story was one.

It was a unique opportunity to celebrate the human element—reflecting well on our biology faculty and students. But it also delved into a subject most people find fascinating. 

The story posted to Front Page in April 2023 and featured exciting research by Dr. Dominic DeSantis, assistant professor of biology. He developed original technology that allows students to track rattlesnakes in their natural habitat and record their unseen behaviors.

This subject was approached in multiple, attention-grabbing ways: extensive interviews, lively writing, engaging pictures and two outstanding videos. One video was more polished, summarizing the university’s snake research; the other highlighted student contributions.

To give readers and viewers a sense of “being there,” the communications team spent time in the snake lab at Herty Hall and on location—trudging miles in the heat through tick-infested forests in Putnam County. The extra effort helped produce show-not-tell details.

“It was a difficult story to organize, write and shoot,” O’Donnell said. “It carried multiple angles and required complex science to be broken down into simple explanations. It also weaved together information on many people—the faculty member and eight students who conducted research with him.”

The package included social media posts, a statewide press release and national newswire, bringing the story beyond campus to a wide and varied audience.

This had an immediate impact for Georgia College. 

Nearly a thousand people read the Front Page story. It was also shared on Facebook and Instagram, generating 8,421 views and 7,421 impressions. 

By March 2024, when the award application was submitted, the first video had 531 views on Vimeo and more than 13,103 on YouTube with more than 173 hours of watch time. The second video had 582 views on Vimeo and more than 8,000 on YouTube with more than 84 hours of watch time.

“Students use technology to delve into the secret lives of snakes” was also University Communications’ biggest media hit of 2023.

It was picked up in the local weekly newspaper, Baldwin Bulletin, as well as 13WMAZ and 41NBC in Macon. It also hit the state market with this exceptional coverage by WSB-TV Atlanta.

The newswire had 249 pickups with a potential audience of nearly 116 million. Some outlets that used the story were All On Georgia, Pet News 2Day, KHON 2 Honolulu, Morningstar, Benzinga, WFLA 8 Tampa, Fox 8 Cleveland, KTLA 5 Los Angeles, Seeking Alpha and Yahoo!Finace.

“Pulling together so many elements into one cohesive, easy-to-read story was well worth the effort,” O’Donnell said. “Our goal was to keep the story and videos punchy, eye-catching and moving along. We think we accomplished that.”

“Ultimately,” she added, “this package makes ‘the secret lives of snakes’ real for readers and viewers, enabling them to get an up-close look at a creature most people fear. It also brought to life the exciting new research being done on snakes at Georgia College—spotlighting our professor and applauding student work.”