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UM students win national SPJ journalism awards

Posted on: May 13th, 2016 by

Katrina Team 2Students covering the 10th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina on the Mississippi Gulf Coast won the top national award for best use of multimedia in the Society of Professional Journalists annual Mark of Excellence contest, which honored the best work by college student journalists in 2015.

The MSKatrina project team included Meek School of Journalism and New Media students Brittany Clark, Payton Green, Sereena Henderson, Ji Hoon Heo, Maggie McDaniel and Quinton Oliver Smith. The project’s advisers were professors Nancy Dupont and Deb Wenger, who led the team on the trip to the Gulf Coast.

Here is a link to some of the work they produced: http://thedmonline.com/mskatrina10/

In addition, UM students were named national finalists in three other SPJ categories.

The Daily Mississippian, for the second year in a row, was honored as a finalist for best all-around daily student newspaper, which means it ranked as one of the top three campus publications in the country. Judges consider all editorial aspects, including editing, writing, photography, design, opinion, columns, illustrations and cartoons in all sections. The DM staff was led by Editor in Chief Logan Kirkland and Managing Editor Clara Turnage, with a staff of about a dozen editors and numerous reporters, photographers, columnists. Patricia Thompson, director of student media, is DM faculty adviser. Professors Darren Sanefski, Mikki Harris, Cynthia Joyce and other faculty regularly work with students on design, photography, writing, online and other areas of their work.

Deja Samuel, a photographer for The Daily Missisippian, was named a national finalist for her photograph taken during the “take down the state flag” rally and protest on campus in October.

Land of Broken Promises, the depth report published in early 2015 examining 50 years of voting rights legislation in the Delta, was a finalist in the best college magazine category. More than two dozen students contributed to the depth report. The project was led by instructor Bill Rose, with Mikki Harris as photo and multimedia editor and Darren Sanefski as presentation editor.

School of Journalism and New Media wins third Kennedy Award

Posted on: May 12th, 2016 by

Depth reporting class exposé on 50th anniversary of Voting Rights Act winner in college category

Mollie Mansfield interviews civil rights activist and business owner Vernice Sanders with Professor Bill Rose at Vernice's Upholstery in Leland, Miss., Tuesday, March 11, 2014. (Photo/Thomas Graning)

Mollie Mansfield interviews civil rights activist and business owner Vernice Sanders with Professor Bill Rose at Vernice’s Upholstery in Leland, Miss., Tuesday, March 11, 2014. (Photo/Thomas Graning)

For the third time in seven years, the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi has won an annual Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Journalism Award.

UM’s depth reporting class won in the college category for “Land of Broken Promises.” The exposé examines the impact of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the Mississippi Delta 50 years later.

The winning project was led by Willard “Bill” Rose, visiting professor and a fellow of the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics; Mikki Harris, assistant professor; and Darren Sanefski, assistant professor of multiple platform journalism.

“Winning the Kennedy Award for college journalism is a testament to the quality of teaching by Mikki Harris, Bill Rose and Darren Sanefski,” said Will Norton Jr., professor and dean of the journalism school. “These three individuals have demonstrated repeatedly that they are uncommonly effective, student-oriented teachers. We are grateful to have professionals of their caliber on our faculty in the Meek School.”

Twenty-seven students spent spring break 2014 conducting interviews and photographing images for the 132-page, four-color magazine. It was published and distributed in January 2015.

Students who worked on the project included Eliza McClure, Debra Whitley, Erin Scott, Jason Burleson, Logan Kirkland, Thomas Graning, Clancy Smith, Katie Adcock, Karson Brandenburg, Phil McCausland, Cady Herring, Phillip Waller, Mary Marge Locker, Kayleigh Skinner, Alex Edwards, Allison Moore, Mollie Mansfield, Christina Cain, Taylor Davenport, Kristen Ellis, Conner Hegwood, Jessica Hotakainen, Lauren Keossian, Ignacio Murillo, Savannah Pounds, Kimberly Sanner, Madisen Theobald and Ellen Whitaker.

Advertising executive Allan Hammons speaks during an interview with University of Mississippi reporters Clancy Smith, middle, and Karson Bradenburg, right, in Greenwood, Miss., Tuesday, March 11, 2014. (Photo/Thomas Graning)

Advertising executive Allan Hammons speaks during an interview with University of Mississippi reporters Clancy Smith, middle, and Karson Bradenburg, right, in Greenwood, Miss., Tuesday, March 11, 2014. (Photo/Thomas Graning)

Three reporters both wrote and captured photographs. One worked on the design and captured photographs, and four were dedicated to photojournalism for the project.

“This was a wonderful and unique opportunity for our journalism students to work as multimedia journalists in a very diverse setting,” Rose said. “It’s one of the things I love about working here. Students who are driven to be the best can get opportunities here they won’t get at other journalism schools.”

The project focused primarily on documenting the work of activists in the civil rights movement and their struggles to help people in impoverished areas register and vote in local, state and national elections.

“These students tracked down civil rights legends Andrew Young and John Lewis and lesser known, but influential, civil rights workers to capture what happened here after the Voting Rights Act was passed,” Rose said. “They tackled the tough conversations on race and did it impressively.”

The result was a print depth report produced to raise awareness of this community.

The award is nice, but the experience with the students is the best reward, Harris and Sanefski agreed.

“We used a significant number of archival photos to tell a visual story of major events that happened in the past,” said Harris, who edited the photos to fit the written stories. “The process of spending hours looking at the AP’s archive of images was eye-opening and emotional.”

Archival images selected for inclusion in the project showed activist Fanny Lou Hamer speaking to delegates attending the Democratic National Convention in 1964, civil rights leader Lawrence Guyot as a young man in 1963, covered with marks from a police beating, and Martin Luther King, Floyd McKissick and Stokely Carmichael marching together for equality.

“The images from the 1960s provide a visual of the blood, sweat and strength that laid a foundation for today,” Harris said.

Sanefski’s digital design students spent more than a semester designing the award-winning publication.

“We were not able to accomplish it in one semester, so me and three other students from that class wrapped it up early the next semester,” Sanefski said. “Design is always about making content easier to understand. I’m very proud of my students and all the students who have pooled their talents together to create a great product.”

The journalism school has won previous RFK Awards for magazines on poverty in the Delta and attempts to help residents of an island off the coast of Belize.

“Throughout his life, my father held a deep commitment to freedom of expression and freedom of the press,” said Kerry Kennedy, president of Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights. “He would invite reporters and news crews to join him in the most impoverished city neighborhoods, to Indian reservations and communities in Appalachia, California’s Central Valley or rural Indiana – places that often lacked electricity and plumbing – and he would ask the press corps why it wasn’t covering those issues and these places.

“The journalists who followed his ’68 campaign created the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards in his name, to honor those who covered the issues most important to him.”

This year’s Book and Journalism Award winners were chosen from more than 300 submissions. Historian Michael Beschloss chaired the judges’ panel for the 2016 Robert F. Kennedy Book Award.

The journalism awards ceremony, in its 48th year, will be presented May 25 by Mrs. Robert F. Kennedy at the Newseum in Washington, D.C. All honorees will receive a bust of Robert F. Kennedy in recognition of their award. — Edwin Smith

Read Land of Broken Promises at issuu.com.

Joel Kotkin talks urban development at the Pavilion at Ole Miss May 6 Appearance

Posted on: April 29th, 2016 by

Joel Kotkin FlyerA respected professional in urban development is the guest speaker for a public forum Friday (May 6) at the University of Mississippi.

Joel Kotkin will address UM students and the local community in the Pavilion at Ole Miss beginning at 11:30 a.m. Chancellor Jeffery S. Vitter will deliver opening remarks. The author’s appearance is being co-sponsored by the UM Real Estate Advisory Board, Ole Miss Athletics, the School of Business Administration and the Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time in 36 years that academics and athletics at the University of Mississippi have joined together to sponsor an event such as this,” said Blake Tartt III, a UM marketing alum and owner of New Regional Planning in Dallas, Texas. “Joel Kotkin is an internationally recognized author and professional in the global, economic, political and social trends of urban development. He studies patterns, why people are moving and where they are moving.”

One of the ongoing conversations in Oxford has been expansion and economic development with the growing student and local populations. For example, Tartt noted that more than 50 percent of UM students are millenials from out-of-state. Also, more and more adults age 50-plus are moving away from urban areas and into non-urban/rural areas, similar to Oxford.

“All the members of the advisory board feel that it is extremely important to bring professionals like Joel Kotkin to the University of Mississippi,” Tartt said. “As urban development rapidly continues, it is essential that the Oxford’s infrastructure expand to accommodate its growth. That also helps create much need job opportunities in the state of Mississippi.”

Representatives of the other sponsors of the event echoed Tartt’s opinions.

“We believe this type of event, which students from throughout the campus may attend, enables students to be exposed to practical ideas which they may never have considered,” said Will Norton, dean of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media. “Despite the depth of his knowledge, the topics he addresses are so practical that students need to hear him so that they can be preparing themselves for internships and jobs.”

The Ole Miss Real Estate program partnered to provide an opportunity for students to engage in discussions and hear from industry leaders to put some perspective to the academic information and how it relates to the real world.

“We definitely realize the value of bringing speakers of the quality of Joel Kotkin to further prepare our students as they transition into the global workforce,” said Chip Wade, assistant professor of Finance. “Joel Kotkin is a forward thinker with great insight into topics ranging from the future of class in global cities to the places with the best opportunities for minorities. These are extremely pertinent topics in today’s economic landscape. Moreover, these are challenges that the Millennium generation is going to have to address head on.”

Ole Miss Athletics is proud to be able to help host Kotkin as he shares his views on the future growth of Oxford, said Stephen Ponder, senior executive associate athletics director.

“It is an exciting time to be at Ole Miss and I think campus and our community will find the remarks beneficial as our leaders continue to work on plans for campus and Oxford,” he said. “We want to be an integral part of our campus and community beyond athletics.”

Kotkin is the Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange, California and Executive Director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism (opportunityurbanism.org). He is executive editor of the widely-read website www.newgeography.com and writes the weekly “New Geographer” column for Forbes.com. Kotkin serves on the editorial board of the Orange County Register and writes a weekly column for that paper. He is also a regular contributor to the Daily Beast and Real Clear Politics.

His new book, “The Human City: Urbanism for the Rest of Us” was published by Agate in April. Other books by Kotkin include the critically-acclaimed “The New Class Conflict” (Telos Press), “The Next Hundred Million: America in 2050” (Penguin Press), “The City: A Global History” and “Tribes: How Race, Religion and Identity Are Reshaping the Global Economy.”

Kotkin has published reports on topics ranging from the future of class in global cities to the places with the best opportunities for minorities. His 2013 report, “Post-familialism: Humanity’s Future,” an examination of the world’s future demography, was published by the Civil Service College of Singapore and Chapman University and has been widely commented on not only in the United States, but in Israel, Brazil, Canada and other countries.

Over the past decade, the speaker has completed studies focusing on several major cities, including a worldwide study focusing on the future of London, Mumbai and Mexico City, and studies of New York, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Houston, San Bernardino and St. Louis, among others. In 2010, he completed an international study on “the new world order” for the Legatum Institute in London, United Kingdom that traced trans-national ethnic networks, particularly in East Asia.

Kotkin also has worked in smaller communities, including a report -working with Praxis Strategy Group – on the rise of the Great Plains for Texas Tech University. Currently, he is coordinating major studies on Texas urbanism, the future of localism and the re-industrialization of the American heartland for the Center for Opportunity Urbanism. As director of the Center for Demographics and Policy at Chapman, he was the lead author of a major study on housing, and is currently involved in a project about the future of Orange County, California.

For more information about the UM School of Business Administration, visit http://business.olemiss.edu.

By Edwin Smith

Alumni Update: Lauren Portice (’15)

Posted on: April 26th, 2016 by

Lauren PorticeAfter graduation, I accepted a job as a copywriter at Intermedix, a healthcare technology company, in its Fort Lauderdale office. Shortly after I was hired, the company moved its headquarters to Nashville. During this transition, the company asked if I would like to move, and I was very reluctant and honored to say yes.

Since my move to Nashville in early December, I started focusing on external content and digital platforms. Because of my shift of attention, the company named me as digital content specialist. In this role, my duties range from delegating all Intermedix social media outlets, writing daily content across all digital platforms (including press releases, internal blog, external blog and social media). I send out six monthly divisional newsletters from the daily external blogs I oversee and write, increasing traffic to sites from social media campaigns and online strategies, creating relationships with local councils and applying for awards and speaker engagements.

In mid-March, I learned that I had been selected to lead our marketing initiative in the United Kingdom. I am on a three-month assignment in our London office, working specifically with our crisis management and EMS teams to promote high quality marketing for a global audience. Essentially, my role is focused on creating a marketing plan and implementing it so Intermedix has a larger presence in the U.K. Additionally, I will be traveling to various conferences around the world to promote our global footprint.

The past year has been a whirlwind of change for me. Although sometimes it seemed unmanageable, the skills I learned through the Meek School gave me confidence that I would be able to do my job innovatively and effectively. I also credit my early career success to my professors. The Meek School is filled with teachers who sincerely care about their students and push to see their best potential. Having that type of motivation and confidence instilled in you during college, sets you up for utmost success in the future. The IMC program properly prepared me for my career, and I am able to implement what I learned in the classroom for my job every day. This would not be possible without all of the amazing people in the Meek School at Ole Miss.

Students take top awards from Public Relations Association of Mississippi

Posted on: April 13th, 2016 by
University of Mississippi public relations students and their instructor won top awards in the Public Relations Association of Mississippi Prism competition, taking 12 of 13 student awards presented. Pictured from left to right, are seven of those student winners: (front row) Victoria Lanza, a Journalism major from Dallas, Texas; Meaghan Snell, a Journalism major from Roswell, Georgia; Tori Olker, a Journalism major from Spring Grove, Illinois; (back row) Randall Haley, a Journalism graduate from Clarksdale; Katherine Stephens, an Integrated Marketing Communications major from Monroe, Louisiana; Robin Street, senior lecturer in journalism and public relations; Sydney Nutt, a Journalism major from Wichita Falls, Texas; and Lindsay Andrews, an IMC major from Collinsville, Illinois. Not pictured is IMC major Christina Figg from Santa Rosa, California. Four students who have graduated also won, but are not pictured: IMC graduates Ivey Swan from Hattiesburg and Miller Hollingsworth from Brandon; Journalism graduate Sarah Douglass from Corpus Christi, Texas; and marketing and corporate relations graduate Caitlin Vaughn from Huntsville, Alabama. Photo credit: Stan O’Dell

University of Mississippi public relations students and their instructor won top awards in the Public Relations Association of Mississippi Prism competition, taking 12 of 13 student awards. From left to right, are seven of those student winners: (front row) Victoria Lanza, a Journalism major from Dallas, Texas; Meaghan Snell, a Journalism major from Roswell, Georgia; Tori Olker, a Journalism major from Spring Grove, Illinois; (back row) Randall Haley, a Journalism graduate from Clarksdale; Katherine Stephens, an Integrated Marketing Communications major from Monroe, Louisiana; Robin Street, senior lecturer in journalism and public relations; Sydney Nutt, a Journalism major from Wichita Falls, Texas; and Lindsay Andrews, an IMC major from Collinsville, Illinois. Not pictured is IMC major Christina Figg from Santa Rosa, California. Four students who have graduated also won, but are not in the photo: IMC graduates Ivey Swan from Hattiesburg and Miller Hollingsworth from Brandon; Journalism graduate Sarah Douglass from Corpus Christi, Texas; and marketing and corporate relations graduate Caitlin Vaughn from Huntsville, Alabama. Photo credit: Stan O’Dell

University of Mississippi students swept the top awards in the Public Relations Association of Mississippi student competition, winning 12 out of the 13 awards presented for student work.

Christina Figg, an integrated marketing communications major from Santa Rosa, California, won Student Best of Show for the best entry in the entire competition, as well as the top award in her category.

“The judges were so impressed with the work submitted by this year’s student entrants,” said Jennie Bradford Curlee, public relations director at the Tupelo Convention & Visitors Bureau who serves as PRAM’s vice president for awards. “They were thorough, engaging, and presented a true understanding of the public relations process. The judges specifically cited Christina Figg’s research in naming her entry Best of Show and touted her immense creativity.”

Journalism major Tori Olker from Spring Grove, Illinois, was named Outstanding PR Student, competing with nominees from four other universities in the state.

“The judges commented that Tori really set herself apart from the other candidates and demonstrated that she had great drive,” said Laura Beth Strickland, Visit Vicksburg communications manager who serves as PRAM vice president of student services.

Ten other students and their instructor, Robin Street, also won awards, which were presented at the PRAM state conference in Jackson on April 8. Awards were at three levels, based on the number of points judges award each entry. The top award is the Prism, followed by the Excellence and Merit awards. Multiple students can win in the same category if they earn the required number of points.

The students, all from the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, entered public relations campaigns they produced in Street’s advanced public relations class during 2015. Each campaign required multi-media journalism skills including writing news and feature articles, shooting video and photos, creating online and social media posts and planning creative attention-getting events.

“It was overwhelming that of the 13 student awards presented statewide, 12 of those went to our students,” said Street, senior lecturer in journalism and public relations. “Our students demonstrated that they excel in the diverse set of skills needed in PR such as producing quality journalism, planning strategy and tactics, and conducting research. That is a real tribute to the preparation they received from all the faculty members at the Meek School.”

Prism winners were Figg; Lindsay Andrews, an IMC major from Collinsville, Illinois; Meaghan Snell, a journalism major from Roswell, Georgia; Katherine Stephens, an IMC major from Monroe, Louisiana; and Ivey Swan, an IMC graduate from Hattiesburg.

Excellence winners were Olker; Miller Hollingsworth, an IMC graduate from Brandon; Victoria Lanza, a journalism major from Dallas, Texas; and Caitlin Vaughn, a marketing and corporate relations graduate from Huntsville, Alabama. Street won two excellence awards in the professional division.

Awards of Merit were presented to journalism major Sydney Nutt from Wichita Falls, Texas; journalism graduates Sarah Douglass from Corpus Christi, Texas; and Randall Haley from Clarksdale.

Alumni Update: Norman Seawright III (’13)

Posted on: March 30th, 2016 by

Norman Seawright IIIAfter leaving Ole Miss and the Meek School, I never took my eyes off of my career goals. I earned a master’s degree at Syracuse University in broadcast journalism with an emphasis on sports communication. The educational foundation at both schools gave me everything I needed to be successful in my first job.

I started in December 2014 as the weekend sports anchor at KBJR/KDLH in Duluth, Minnesota — a good challenge to begin my career. It tested my creativity, flexibility and ability to meet deadlines. Working in small-market television develops each of these (especially when dealing with shared services agreements), and it is a necessary first step when it comes to becoming an excellent communicator. Finding a mentor figure is a near-critical part of professional growth.

I have just accepted a weekend sports anchor job at WOWK in Charleston, West Virginia, where I will be helping to bolster local sports coverage. The most exciting part about that to me is working in a newsroom full of sports fans to build relationships in the community, and navigating that process alongside experienced, excellence-driven journalists.

As it was for me (and plenty of Rebels), you know when a place feels right, and when a person is earnest. When you know where you belong, it takes the pressure off and you’re able to perform at your best.

Hotty Toddy!

Panel to discuss journalism and social change

Posted on: March 30th, 2016 by

On Friday, April 8, Fred Anklam, Hank Klibanoff and Leslie McLemore will participate in the panel discussion “Journalism and Social Change,” moderated by Charles Overby. The event will be at noon in the Gertrude C. Ford Academic Complex at Millsaps College. The panel is taking place in partnership with the Mississippi Humanities Council and the Overby Center at the University of Mississippi. It is one of three discussions at different locations in the state, each of which will examine journalism’s role in public life, while including different panelists and themes.

The all-star panel:

  • Fred Anklam, a longtime editor at USA Today, who recently returned to Mississippi to serve as inaugural co-editor of the Mississippi News and Information Corporation, a new digital-only nonprofit, nonpartisan news service covering Mississippi government;
  • Les McLemore, the founding director of the Fannie Lou Hamer National Institute on Citizenship and Democracy, who has worked in Mississippi for many years as an educator, activist and higher education administrator;
  • Hank Klibanoff, former reporter and managing editor of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and deputy managing editor for The Philadelphia Inquirer. He also was a reporter for six years in Mississippi and three years at The Boston Globe. Klibanoff is the director of the journalism program at Emory University.
  • Charles Overby will moderate the panel discussion. Overby is the former chairman and CEO of the Freedom Forum, Newseum and Diversity Institute. He serves as chairman of the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics. Overby supervised the news and editorial coverage that led to The Clarion-Ledger winning the Pulitzer Prize Gold Medal for Distinguished Public Service in 1983.

Ole Miss professor speaks at Sorbonne and Rennes, two universities

Posted on: March 21st, 2016 by
Dr. Kathleen Wickham, Larry Wells and Alain Guihard field questions at Rennes University lecture.

Dr. Kathleen Wickham, Larry Wells and Alain Guihard field questions at Rennes University lecture.

Dr. Kathleen Wickham, associate professor at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, and Larry Wells, director of Yoknapatawpha Press, lectured at Rennes University in Rennes, France, and the Sorbonne University of Paris on March 15 and 17.

At the Guihard family plot in the St. Malo Cemetery, Kathleen Wickham places a memorial stone on the grave of Paul Guihard, in whose honor she arranged for a memorial bench at Farley Hall on the University of Mississippi campus in 2009.

Wickham’s lecture about reporters who covered the 1962 integration crisis over the admission of James Meredith focused on Agence France-Presse reporter Paul Guihard, a native of Brittany, France, killed during the riot. His unsolved murder forged an enduring link between Brittany and Mississippi.

Wells presented slides from Ed Meek’s photo-history, Riot: Witness to Anger and Change, co-published last fall by Yoknapatawpha Press and the Meek School of Journalism and New Media at the University of Mississippi.

Alain Guihard, the brother of Paul Guihard, spoke to Rennes University students and faculty. Hosting the Rennes event was Professor Nicole Moulinoux, founder of the William Faulkner Foundation, and Professor Gildas Levoguer of the English Department.

At Nouvelle Sorbonne University, Wickham and Wells addressed students of African American Studies under Professors Hélène Le Dantec-Lowry and James Cohen.

At Rennes University, the distinction of Honorary Fellow of the William Faulkner Foundation was presented to Larry Wells with U.S. Consul Sara Harriger attending.

The Magazine Innovation Center presents “An Evening with Sid Evans,” editor in chief of Southern Living magazine

Posted on: March 10th, 2016 by

Sid Evans.Southern Living2Join the Magazine Innovation Center Wednesday, April 20, 2016, for the opening event of the ACT 6 Experience, “An Evening with Sid Evans.” Evans is editor in chief of Southern Living magazine and will take guests on a journey through 50 years of Southern Living as the magazine celebrates its Golden Anniversary.

The event will begin with a cash bar at 6 p.m., with dinner following at 7 p.m. in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom at The Inn at Ole Miss. Seating is limited to the first 100 people who reserve tickets. Tickets are $50 a person and all proceeds from the event will go to the Magazine Innovation Center at the Meek School of Journalism and New Media.

To reserve tickets, send a check payable and mailed to: Magazine Innovation Center, Meek School of Journalism and New Media, 114 Farley Hall, University, MS. 38677.  The reservation deadline is April 8, 2016.

Award-winning communications professional Allison Buchanan named CEO of New Media Lab/HottyToddy.com

Posted on: February 24th, 2016 by

Allison BuchananNew Media Lab LLC of Oxford, parent company of HottyToddy.com and Experience Oxford Magazine, announced today that Allison Buchanan has joined the company as its chief executive officer.

“We are delighted to have this extraordinarily talented professional accept appointment as CEO. Allison is an Ole Miss alumna who has a demonstrated record of achievement and leadership in business communication and innovation. She is the perfect person to lead and direct the future envisioned for New Media Lab LLC,” said Dr. Ed Meek, chairman.

Allison comes to New Media Lab from The Focus Group in Gulfport, Mississippi, where she served five years as the company’s leader. During her tenure, the company grew more than ten-fold despite an ongoing recession, to become one of the largest and most innovative advertising/PR/digital agencies in Mississippi. Before The Focus Group, she was president of Buchanan Group, a marketing communications firm based in Biloxi.

New Media Lab has grown significantly during a time in which communications companies have been challenged. New Media Lab LLC has created a profitable digital product in HottyToddy.com, which has garnered an audience of 1.8 million unique readers and 9.8 million page views in the past year. With related social media, the company is experiencing explosive growth on social media at a pace of over an annual reach of 15.6 million people per year on Facebook and 13.2 million impressions annually on Twitter. Instagram and Snapchat are experiencing record growth as well.

“New Media Lab LLC’s core mission is to provide financial support to the Meek School of Journalism and New Media while providing enriching experiences for students and support for faculty. All profits will support the school,” Meek said.

“The company will expand rapidly to include a wide range of new digital products, business services, events and tradeshows,” he added.

“This is such an exciting time as the digital world shapes a new future for business in all sectors of society. New Media Lab LLC is going to be at the forefront of innovation in creating new products and services that are responsive to the challenge of the rapidly changing world of communication,” Buchanan said.

Under Buchanan’s leadership, The Focus Group won over 40 Addy Awards and 14 Public Relations (PRAM and SPRF) awards in 2015. As product line manager at Ecolab, Inc., a Fortune 500 company, she is credited with conceiving and developing the company’s high successful Oasis product line which is sold around the world.

Prior to Buchanan Group, Allison’s career path after college took her to both Dallas and Houston, Texas, where she served in sales and management roles with Pillsbury Corporation. She then joined Berkshire Corporation in Denver, Colorado, where she progressed to become national director of sales and marketing in the company’s home offices in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Following Berkshire, she joined Ecolab, Inc. in St. Paul, Minnesota as a product line manager with P & L responsibilities.

Allison graduated cum laude with a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Mississippi with Minors in Art and University Scholars. She was in the Ole Miss Hall of Fame, was ODK “Leader of the Year,” and served as president of the Ole Miss Association for Women Students and as national president of the Intercollegiate Association for Women Students. She was editor-in-chief of the Ole Miss Magazine, graphics editor of the Daily Mississippian, PRSA “Most Outstanding Public Relations Student in Mississippi” and was named “Most Outstanding Journalism Student” her senior year. Allison also served as president of Delta Gamma sorority.

“Her unmatched professional experience combined with her involvement, dedication and love for Ole Miss will no doubt help us achieve our goals,” Meek said.

Allison was involved in the community on the Coast, recently completing eight-years of service on the Biloxi School Board where she served as president and secretary. She and her husband, Pat, have two children – Hawtin, who is a 2015 Broadcast Journalism graduate of the Meek School of Journalism and New Media, who played on the Ole Miss baseball team and is now playing in the Seattle Mariners organization. Their daughter, Frances, is an honors college junior at Ole Miss majoring in Integrated Marketing Communications in the Meek School.