Award season is officially open and that means one thing – it’s time for the ADDYs. “The American Advertising Awards, to give them their official title, are the Advertising industry’s equivalent of the Oscars,” says John Delacruz, Assistant Professor, Advertising. Opening a varied award season every year, the best professional and student work is rewarded and celebrated at an event that showcases homegrown talent.

“For students, this is the first step on the ladder of advertising award shows and is one where their creativity is rewarded alongside the best our industry has to offer. They are judged alongside their professional counterparts – and that’s a big deal,” says Delacruz.

This year’s event was held at Deluxe Eatery and Drinkery, San José, a hip watering hole at the heart of San José’s creative district. Student members of the American Advertising Federation’s Silicon Valley Ad Club volunteered and reaped the rewards. Since 2013, SJSU’s Advertising Program’s participation in this competition has increased. This year, there were 21 student entries across a number of categories that included Art Direction to Copywriting to Cinematography. In all, SJSU students received 16 Awards in the Gold, Silver and Bronze categories, plus a coveted ADDY and a Judges’ Pick.

The Gold Award, and subsequent ADDY went to Arabela Espinoza and Talia Nakhjiri for a Social Media and Print based campaign for the 2017 ADDYs Call For Entries. The campaign, “Make Mama Proud,” was a call to action for advertising creatives to enter the competition so their mothers could be proud of them once more.

A Silver Award and Judges’ Pick went to Noel Shiu and Cullan McChesney for Burger King. This campaign, edgy and racy, showcased their creativity in terms of Copywriting, Art Direction and Strategy.

Brocoli’s Agency – a team consisting of Michael Brown, Hieu Tran, Aurelia Faudot, Peter Babakhan and Antina Chen won three Silver Awards for a rebranding and communications campaign for the Pacific Grove Museum of Natural History. The campaign, “Dive Deeper,” revealed the breadth of craft skills the students learn in the advertising program. They designed a new brand identity and created an app as well as a social media and print campaign to announce the refreshed new look. “They also created a range of merchandising products too,” says Delacruz.

Brandon Torres, a talented advertising photographer, won two Silvers for a photography exhibition he also promoted via a website and a series of short videos. “De Mi Tierra” celebrated his Colombian heritage and showcased his photographic talent.

Jesse Santos won two Silvers and a Bronze award. One of the Silver awards was received in collaboration with Alyssa Sotelo for an awareness campaign for Patagonia’s Long Root Ale – a beer produced using sustainable agricultural methods. He also won a Silver in Cinematography for a series of bumper videos promoting Peace One Day. The Bronze was also in Cinematography for a commercial promoting HydroFlask as the perfect container for cold beer.

Eva Germer received a Silver award for an environmental sticker campaigns promoting sustainability on campus. These stickers decorate the rims of all the trash cans on campus, reminding users of their environmental responsibilities.

Adrianna Benyat swept the floor with an Awards haul winning two Silvers for Peace One Day and a Bronze for Home Depot, “Toys to Tools.” Adrianna Benyat, together with Saul Manriquez, also won a Silver Award for PetChatz, an ingenious product helping owners maintain video contact with their pets throughout the day, and a Bronze Award or a rebrand of Totally Awesome cleaning products.

Finally, a Bronze went home to Annie Coleman, Lexi Kruger and Dani Ogier for their Burger King, Because Fire is Better campaign. The work they entered was copy-driven and evocative, as well as reflecting Burger King’s edgy tone-of-voice.

“This was a fantastic event where students networked with industry professionals, hustling for internships and where previous students returned having been rewarded with jobs in agencies across Silicon Valley and beyond,” says Delacruz. “Let’s see how much better next year’s ADDYs can be!”

When Dr. Sandy Hirsh, Director, School of Information, received an invitation to be a visiting scholar at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, Japan, she was thrilled. “It was an honor to be invited by Rikkyo University to work with Professor Yuriko Nakamura and her colleagues.” Dr. Hirsh first met Professor Nakamura when she attended the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) conference, August 2016. “Dr. Nakamura approached me to apply for their university’s Visiting Scholar program because she thought that people in Japan would be interested in my expertise in e-learning as well as my career path that involved working in the Silicon Valley in R&D and consumer product development and then in academic leadership as the Director of the School of Information,” says Dr. Hirsh.

During Dr. Hirsh’s two-week visit in October 2017, she delivered two large public lectures, “The Global Transformation of Libraries, Library and Informational Science Education, and Library and Informational Science Professionals.” In these presentations, she addressed some of the disruptive and emerging technology trends in the information field, and what these mean for libraries, librarians, and library and information science education. In addition to these formal lectures, she also led two classroom discussions with library and information science students. These discussions focused on career development, time management, balancing career and family life, and career paths. “The students asked great questions! We discussed some of the professional and cultural differences in Japan and the United States,” says Dr. Hirsh. She also visited libraries in Tokyo and met with university officials and researchers.

Rikkyo University host Dr. Nakamura (left) with Dr. Hirsh (right).

“I tried to prepare myself for this trip,” says Dr. Hirsh. “The month before I left, my Japanese neighbor tutored me in some common Japanese words and phrases and prepared a script for me to say at the beginning of my large formal talks and at the end of my talks. While I didn’t have good pronunciation, my audiences were very appreciative of my effort to do a formal introduction and conclusion in Japanese. My neighbor also helped me prepare my business cards in Japanese and this was well received too.”

In addition to her commitments at the university, Dr. Hirsh also explored different parts of Japan, including Kanazawa, Kamakura, Kurashiki, Hiroshima, and Nara. When asked what some of her most memorable experiences were, Dr. Hirsh said: “I enjoyed experiencing a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, trying on a kimono, visiting many shrines, biking through the rice fields, tasting different types of Japanese cuisine, and riding the bullet trains.”

Dr. Hirsh visiting the Great Buddha of Kamakura.

It was a very powerful day on campus Thursday, February 8, when students and faculty members from New York City’s Satellite Academy, an alternative high school in Manhattan, came to SJSU for the Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) Library opening reception of Dr. Michael Cheer’s Harlem Reimagined Exhibit, a new exhibition in celebration of Black History Month.

The students were awestruck to see their photos collected together with historical items on the second-floor of the Jennifer and Philip DiNapoli Gallery.

A century after photographer James Van Der Zee began capturing images of the Harlem Renaissance, a group of SJSU photojournalism students, along with high school students from New York, set out last fall to take a fresh look at the historic neighborhood. Some of the results of their digital storytelling project, which included video interviews with Harlem shopkeepers, is on display.

“I wanted them to walk the same avenues that he did,” said Dr. Cheers, Professor, School of Journalism and Mass Communications (JMC). Dr. Cheers organized the trip with Principal Steve Zbaida, Satellite Academy.

SJSU President Mary Papazian joined the exhibit celebration and praised the efforts by Dr. Cheers, the SJSU photojournalism students, and the faculty and students from Satellite Academy.

The SJSU photojournalism students include Payje Redmond, Savannah Harding, Lovetta Jackson and Franchesca Natividad. They were joined by SJSU alum, Jennifer Gonzalez; Larry Jackson, Boynton High School, San José; and students from both Satellite Academy and James Baldwin High School in New York.

Principle Steve Zbaida and Dr. Michael Cheers discussing the Harlem Reimagined Exhibit with Satellite Academy and SJSU Photojournalism students.

Their photos in the Harlem Reimagined Exhibit depict the changing face of Harlem, where African-American culture holds on in the face of growing gentrification.

“It’s come full circle from last October to see them installed here,” said Jelani Dixon, one of the Satellite Academy students. The photos are shown without credits, but Dixon said, “That makes it better because it shows that it was a collective effort.”

Don’t miss the Harlem Reimagined Exhibit, MLK Library 2nd floor, SJSU campus, through March 31, 2018.

Satellite Academy students experiencing the JMC TV Productions studio.

Satellite Academy faculty and students interviewed in the JMC TV Production Studio.