Signature March/April 2015 - 6

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NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF COLLEGE
STORES WINS RECOGNITION FOR COVERAGE
OF COMMUNITY COLLEGE SHOOTINGS
The college store industry's leading
sources for news and information earned
national recognition from the AssociationTrends All-Media Contest. Campus Marketplace and The College Store magazine
were among nearly 400 entries in the
association publications contest, which
features 22 categories.
Campus Marketplace earned the 2015
Gold Award in the daily and weekly
communication category. The competition judges said, "Strong content is
what brings the National Association of
College Stores' weekly Campus Marketplace back into the top spot. A 2013 Gold
winner, the e-letter offers original news
stories with multiple-source interviews
in a well-designed, colorful layout. Polls
encourage reader involvement, while internal links drive readers to the association's website and allow access to a sister
blog. Of special note: gripping coverage
of the shootings at Oregon's Umpqua
Community College and the effect and
implications for the campus bookstore."
"It was hard news, not a story about a
new display or product placement," News
Editor Dan Pender says of that October
2015 feature article. "When I reached out
to the store manager, Micque Shoemaker,
I honestly didn't think I'd get a reply to
my interview request. Shoemaker not
only granted the interview, she revealed
she had actually talked to the shooter
just days before he killed an instructor
and eight students and wounded nine
more. The store became a safe haven for
students during his rampage."
In her conversation with Pender, Shoemaker detailed how she and her staff
handled the situation from their first
awareness of the shootings to when they
returned to the store in the aftermath,
including how they helped one another
to cope with the tragedy.
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MARCH/APRIL 2016

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Strong content is what
brings the National
Association of College
Stores' weekly Campus
Marketplace back into
the top spot.

"If she doesn't talk to me, I'm not sure
Campus Marketplace wins this award,"
Pender says. "Yet that's what's so awesome
about this industry: Our members are
willing to share their experiences in the
hope others can learn from them. Our
readers also showed their interest, as this
story garnered more than 3,000 page
views, about three times more than any
other story last year."
The College Store magazine earned a
Silver Award in the monthly trade asso-

ciation magazine category for the March/
April 2015 "Money Issue." The judges
commented, "The Money Issue gives
the association member anything and
everything they need to know about this
important topic. The graphics and typography grab your attention the minute
you open the issue and continue throughout this well-written and topical issue.
The columns and departments are full of
useful association information and keep
the reader engaged with interesting infographics, typography, and use of color.
Each feature is fun to look at and well
organized with breakout quotes, sidebars,
and interesting graphics. This very topical
issue keeps your attention with on-point
articles. This is service journalism at its
best." n

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Signature March/April 2015