Spring Fling takes top prize for billboard advertisement

Photo Courtesy Liz Millunchick The 1997 Spring Fling billboard designed by graphic design senior Chris Bohnsack, with input from Liz Millunchick, won a first place award in a statewide marketing competition. Spring Fling beat out an entry by the Fiesta Bowl Parade, which took second pl ace.

Spring Fling was awarded first place in a statewide marketing competition last month for the billboard advertising of its April carnival, beating out the Fiesta Bowl Parade.

"One of my goals was to get more recognition from Spring Fling as a university event and also as an industry event," said Liz Millunchick, the previous marketing director of Spring Fling. "This really caps off my year."

This was the first year Spring Fling, a student-run carnival sponsored by Associated Students, entered its billboard design in the Arizona Festival and Events Association's three-year-old Arizona's Talent in Event Concepts Media Awards. The awards are des igned to recognize outstanding examples of event marketing.

The billboard's artist, graphic design senior Chris Bohnsack, said he and Millunchick worked together on the design of the billboard, which advertised the carnival on 19 billboards throughout Tucson.

Each entry is judged individually and then compared to the other entries, Fink said. She said Spring Fling was the only student-run organization that entered the competition.

"It wasn't a factor that it was a student-run organization," she said. "They were able to produce an item that was better than someone with a bigger budget because it met the objectives it set out to do."

With a $190,000 budget, Spring Fling was required to compete in the category for professional organizations with operating budgets of more than $150,000.

"We were competing with people who have millions of dollars in their budget, like Fiesta Bowl," said Spring Fling director Berry Melfy. The Fiesta Bowl Parade received second place in the outdoor print advertising category, behind Spring Fling.

Melfy received the award on behalf of Spring Fling at the June 5 awards luncheon in Phoenix.

"It puts a nice feather in our hat to accept an award in front of event professionals."