Date Posted: 6/11/2008

DALLAS, Texas - The National Association of Collegiate Marketing Administrators (NACMA) selected its 2007-08 award winners earlier this week, and three Atlantic Sun institutions received honors from the organization.

Belmont earned the gold medal in the category of 'Best Student Promotion' for its conception and integration of Ned - the alter ego of team mascot Bruiser - into basketball gameday promotions. The voting panel cited how the mystery and intrigue of Ned’s existence spread around the Belmont campus via Facebook and MySpace social networks.

The department also earned the bronze medal in the category of ‘Best Single-Day Attendance Promotion - Olympic Sports' for an overwhelmingly successful fan turnout at the 2007 Atlantic Sun Conference Cross Country Championships. Blanketing the Vaughn's Creek Cross Country course in red, white, and blue, hundreds within the Belmont community cheered on as the men's and women's cross country teams again won team conference championships.

Bari Watson, Director of Athletic Marketing and External Affairs, and her team of Debbie Chenoweth, Sean Sawyer, Gerard McMahon, Liz Kazeck and Joel Gray were presented their awards at the annual NACMA Convention in Dallas, Texas.

ETSU received the silver award for the women's basketball single-day attendance promotion. Earlier in the year, the ETSU marketing department and Mountain States Health Alliance teamed up to create the slogan "02-02 at 2: Two Teams, One Fight...Women against Heart Disease," which aligned with the Lady Buccaneer/Kennesaw State contest on Feb. 2 at 2 p.m. inside Memorial Center.

The special day was filled with several activities as a "Go Red Dress Event" jump started the festivities, followed by a 2 p.m. tip between the Lady Bucs and Kennesaw State where the ETSU players, staff and fans all wore red to show their support for heart disease. Then, after the game, the ETSU women's basketball team hosted a free basketball clinic for children in attendance.

This promotion was a joint effort with the NCAA "Pack the House" marketing effort, which was designed to have each school come up with a creative marketing plan and sellout or increase their previous year’s single-game record attendance. The "Red Dress Event" was very successful as 1,236 Lady Buccaneer fans filled the seats inside Memorial Center to watch ETSU defeat Kennesaw State, 81-77; breaking the all-time single-game attendance mark of 1,117.

Florida Gulf Coast received a gold medal in the Single Newspaper Display Ad category and a bronze medal in the Best Basketball Promotional/Schedule Poster category.

Initiated in 2003, the NACMA Awards program honors outstanding achievement in marketing and promotions. Awards are presented in 18 categories, with each category divided into three groups based upon school size and conference affiliations to promote fairness. A total of 1300 entries were received for the 2007-08 year.

The winners were presented their awards during NACMA's 17th Annual Convention, June 9-12 in Dallas, Texas. The awards ceremony occurred Tuesday, June 10.

About NACMA: NACMA is the first organization of its kind to provide educational and networking opportunities; enhancement of acceptable operating standards and ethics; and establishment of the overall prestige and understanding of the profession of athletics marketing administrators. For more information about NACMA, please visit www.nacma.com. NACMA is administered by NACDA. In its 42nd year, NACDA is the professional and educational association for more than 6,100 college athletics administrators at more than 1,600 institutions throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. More than 2,000 athletics administrators annually attend the NACDA Convention. Additionally, NACDA administers 10 professional associations for the separate business units that report directly to the athletics director. See the following pages for the top-three place finishers in all 16 categories.

The Atlantic Sun Conference is a 12-member league committed to Building Winners for Life, with a focus on academic and athletic integrity and a balance between the two for the student-athlete, and maintaining a high level of sportsmanship. Headquartered in Macon, Ga., the A-Sun encompasses six of the top eight media markets in the Southeast. The A-Sun consists of some of the most dynamic private and public institutions in the region: Belmont University, Campbell University, East Tennessee State University, Florida Gulf Coast University, Gardner-Webb University, Jacksonville University, Kennesaw State University, Lipscomb University, Mercer University, University of North Florida, University of South Carolina Upstate and Stetson University.

Related Links:
 • Belmont Athletics
 • ETSU Athletics
 • Florida Gulf Coast Athletics