C.W. Post Students Win Top Prize at 31st Annual BOLI Awards

July 23, 2004 -- Digital art students from the C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University took the top spot in the student division of the Long Island Advertising Club’s Annual BOLI (Best of Long Island) Awards. This marks the third straight year that students in the Digital Arts and Design program at the Brookville Campus have won the BOLI awards.

Students entering this year’s competition had to create an ad campaign for Angela’s House – Association for Technology Dependent Children. The Hauppauge, Long Island-based not-for-profit organization coordinates the many home-based services available to medically frail children at home. In 2000, ATDC opened Angela’s House in East Moriches to provide 24-hour nursing care for medically frail children. A second home is scheduled to open in Smithtown later this year.

The campaign students designed included a logo, a four-color descriptive brochure for the organization, a four-color poster describing ATDC’s services, a four-color fundraising brochure, and a black-and-white print ad. Working on an actual campaign gave the students the benefit of interacting with a client and creating work that may actually be used.

“This campaign really got to the students,” admits Patrick Aievoli, C.W. Post Assistant Professor of Art and advisor to the students. “They were so touched by the love of the families, the dedication of the staff, and the spirit of the children that they really put their hearts into these campaigns. Knowing that their work may help these families was incredibly rewarding for our students.”

Each year, LIAC awards BOLI Awards to advertising agencies, advertisers, firms that serve the industry and students. Judges from across the country assess the excellence of submitted ad campaigns. Entrants can submit work in a number of categories, including Campaigns, Media, Radio Commercials, A/V presentations, Online, Multimedia & Interactive, Public Service, Political, Direct Mail, Collateral Materials, Visual Displays, Merchandising, Sales Promotion, Trade Shows, and Illustrations and Photography.

Student categories are open to students who attend universities and colleges on Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn, and who have never held a paying job in the industry (excluding internships).

The student entries were not labeled by school, so the judges did not know they were picking C.W. Post students for the top award for the third year in a row. The Best On Long Island award went to Benita George, Jolanta Bak, Christopher Vega and Melissa Rosen, all juniors in the Digital Arts and Design program. Their campaign featured the slogan “Embrace,” focusing on ways to embrace medically frail children from the first stages of their lives. Each student received a check for $500.