The annual Illinois Association of Park Districts/Illinois Park and Recreation Association’s (IPRA) Soaring to New Heights Conference is a long-awaited event for thousands of parks and recreation employees. Batavia Park District employees were happy to attend the conference in Chicago in person, January 27-29, and the District scooped up several honors at the Agency Showcase Competition.
This lively and professionally judged competition honors marketing and communication excellence, and highlights the best and brightest ideas from park, recreation, and conservation agencies across the State.
Batavia Park District received first place in the printed brochure series category, first place in the Large format marketing category, third place in the logo design category, and fourth place in the print promotional category. The first award is for the Batavia Park District’s quarterly brochure, or “Fun Guide;” the second two awards capture the stellar rebranding of Hall Quarry Beach, Batavia’s iconic Summer destination; and the fourth award is for a postcard for the Quarry’s reopening after being closed in 2020 due to the pandemic.
“Congratulations to Laura Ferguson on the very well-deserved recognition for her fantastic design work, and to the entire marketing team on a creative collaboration with the brochure series,” Park District executive director Allison Niemela said.
“Our residents can be proud of having a park district that puts Batavia in the spotlight throughout the state of Illinois.”
Ferguson, graphic design and media specialist, attended the conference and accepted the awards on behalf of the Batavia Park District. Ferguson is a member of IPRA’s Communications and marketing section, and served on the Agency Showcase Committee. In this year’s contest, there were 13 categories, more than 190 entries, and more than 570 scorecards from the judges.
“It feels so amazing to have done well in the Agency Showcase Competition this year! These awards truly mean so much to me, especially now because of the many times we’ve had to pivot and adapt to change,” Ferguson said. “Overall, I’m very honored and hope to continue to create great things with the marketing team!”
Contest entries were judged in many categories, including originality, creativity, writing, layout design, cover design, engagement and organization.
—Batavia Park District