UH swept the 2011 Houston ADDY Awards, the only university in the city to take home awards.
“The ADDY Awards are an award ceremony that was started by the American Advertising Federation, a national organization of advertising professionals,” said Scott Gilbert, AFFUH’s president. “It’s the pinnacle of an American advertising firm to get a gold ADDY [on the national level].”
Three students brought home a total of six awards.
Mariam Guessous, a former advertising student and the spring 2010 AAFUH president, won a gold and two silver awards; Laura Martinez, a former advertising student and the fall 2010 AAFUH president, won a silver award and a citation of excellence, and Katie Hartshorn, a current advertising senior, won a citation of excellence, according to Gilbert.
“The ADDY Awards are the largest and one of the most prestigious advertising awards in the nation, and as [a] past president of AAFUH, I always encouraged members to submit their work,” Guessous said. “For the past two years, UH students [have] dominated the student ADDYs. I’m very proud to say that we put UH Advertising among the top.”
Guessous, now an advertising professional in New York City, credits the AAF and ADDY awards for helping her get where she is today.
“Participating and winning an ADDY was an exciting and delightful experience. I have participated for the last two years of college, and winning is definitely motivating,” Martinez said. “I definitely think being able to put all my extracurricular activities on my resume had a positive impact. One of the main reasons I was hired where I currently work was because I was able to speak [of] my past networking experiences, awards and recognitions. I would encourage every single student to submit entries.”
AAFUH tries to get students out of the classroom by taking them on agency tours to see how they operate and get real world experience, said Gilbert.
“University of Houston provides a strong support system for success,” Hartshorn said. “Professor Kelley’s portfolio class is where I constructed my ADDY winning piece and gained rare insight to the advertising field by being able to work with top notch professionals that are active in the industry.”
Guessous and Martinez will move on to the district ADDY awards for their gold and silver winning pieces, according to Gilbert.
“I was proud of the students,” said Larry Kelley, instructional professor of advertising. “It’s a really big deal.”
