Congratulations, Beth!

From the Tennessean:

The Nashville Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators recently presented Gold Pen Awards to communication industry professionals for work produced or implemented Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2007.

Seigenthaler Public Relations took top honors receiving 13 awards, including 10 Gold, two Silver and one Bronze award. Other award winners included Lovell Communications with seven awards, High Fidelity with four awards, The Affinion Group with four awards, NAMI Communications with four awards, IBIS Communications with two awards, Caterpillar Financial with one award and World Christian Broadcasting with one award.

Also during the awards presentation, the IABC 2008 EXCEL Award, the chapter’s premier honor for a non-member, was presented to local communications expert Beth Fortune, interim vice chancellor for public affairs at Vanderbilt University. Sue Atkinson, founder of Atkinson PR and a board member of several community organizations, received IABC Nashville’s Career Lifetime Achievement Award.

OwenBloggers featured on Palestra

Student journalists from Palestra.net visited the Owen Graduate School of Management recently and produced two great videos, one about OwenBloggers and another about the b-school’s take on the nation’s financial crisis. Highly recommend checking them both out.

Palestra is an online news site launched in 2006 staffed by paid student reporters. It is a content partner of Fox News and its student reporters sometimes appear on Fox programs.

Ed. note: Being from Philly, when I first heard of Palestra I thought of The Palestra, the ‘Cathedral of College Basketball’ and where I saw my first big college game at the age of 10. Loud, crazy, crowded and fun. But this is something else.

4-0!!

The Commodores just defeated Ole Miss 23-17 on the road. What a game! 24 points scored between the two teams in the first 54 seconds (so I was told by the radio people). Hopefully this win means we’ll definitely be watching the next game live on the tube instead of via live stats on the Web. Not that I’m complaining – the live stats are super cool. Get post-game coverage on www.vucommodores.com. Way to go Dores!!!

Update: Thanks to this win and our 4-0 record, Vanderbilt is now ranked No. 21 nationally by the Associated Press. First time we’ve cracked the top 25 since 1984. Woo hoo!

Wright to join webcast today at 4 p.m. on Wall Street mess

Vice Chancellor for Investments Matthew Wright will be participating in a live webcast hosted by The Tennessean today at 4 p.m. CT on the week’s Wall Street chaos. Tune in here. E-mail any questions you’d like to hear answered to Ryan Underwood or Randy McClain before or during the webcast.

Video of Google @ Vanderbilt

InsideVandy produced a very nice video of Google’s visit yesterday. Watch it on BlipTV.

See Google Apps’ chief Jeff Keltner’s demo on VUCast.

And, check out more photos and Happy Web Diva’s coverage here, in which she calls me a geek.

Google Bus is here

Google sure lucked out – it’s a gorgeous day here in Nashville for their visit. If you’re on campus, walk on over to the Commons Center to check it out. Lots of neat demos and giveaways.

Event organizer Princine Lewis, Joe Hills, Michael Martin & Anna Belle Leiserson

Michael Martin, Joe Hills & yours truly

Why we do what we do

Why do we devote so much time and energy to this public affairs work? We do it to raise awareness about Vanderbilt, wherever and whenever we can, so that when prospective students, faculty, friends and neighbors hear ‘Vanderbilt’ they associate it with excellent academic programs, innovative research, worldclass health care, the best students, a gorgeous campus, a dynamic hometown, rockin’ athletics and more. And, by one measure at least, we’re succeeding.

Trend Topper Media Buzz has posted its first ranking of U.S. colleges according to their presence in the media, both traditional and electronic. Vanderbilt tops the list of the schools with the greatest media momentum. See the full rankings here or read the UPI story.

Seven years later

A sampling of Vanderbilt experts in today’s headlines, discussing the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon seven years later.

McClatchy News Service: McCain, Obama call a truce for 9/11 anniversary
In a departure from the increasingly nasty environment of the presidential campaign, Barack Obama and John McCain will make a joint appearance on Thursday in New York to honor the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. John Geer, Distinguished Professor of Political Science, is quoted.

Dallas Morning News: Candidates should extend 9/11 truce
This editorial about how the presidential candidates should comport themselves on the anniversary of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, quotes John Geer, Distinguished Professor of Political Science.

The Tennessean: 2 Nashville men still ache from losses on 9/11
Two Nashville residents remember loved ones and former students lost in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. Ted Adderley Jr. and Davis Sezna Jr., both Vanderbilt alumni, died. Their professor, Peter Rousseau, vice chair of economics, is quoted.

The Tennessean: U.S. resolve has put terrorists on the run
Mike Newton, professor of the practice of law, wrote this opinion piece evaluating U.S. efforts to address global terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001.

mentalhealthedu

The university has launched a new online information and training program to help all members of the community learn about what they can do if they are concerned that a student, colleague or friend may be having mental health issues and be in need of help. Provost McCarthy has encouraged all faculty and staff to take the online training, which can be found at http://www.mentalhealthedu.com. Details about login can be obtained by contacting the Office of Student Health and Wellness at healthydores@vanderbilt.edu.

Food and fun on Library Lawn today

Employee Celebration Month officially kicks off today with all kinds of food, fun, and yes, festivities on Library Lawn. I’ll be there from 10-1 with my colleagues from Environmental Health and Safety and the Vanderbilt Police Department helping people sign up for AlertVU, our emergency alert system, promoting Emergency Preparedness Month and most importantly, giving away candy. Live music and giveaways galore, including the ever-popular Employee Celebration Month free t-shirt. (I was there at 7 a.m. to set up the computers and people were already lining up for the t-shirts).

See you there!