California State University, Fresno’s nationally recognized IAMFRESNOSTATE project won two prestigious awards from the Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) at its District VII conference in Las Vegas.

The project involved a competition in which students submitted short videos incorporating the theme “I Am Fresno State” utilizing a Web portal with two free platforms – the social networking site MySpace.com and the video-sharing site YouTube. Peter Robertson, the university’s director of annual giving, developed the campaign last spring.

During the CASE regional convention, IAMFRESNOSTATE was presented a gold (first place) award in the Public Relations/Communication category and a silver (second place) award for Best Logo/Brand/Image. Universities in California, Hawaii, Utah, Arizona, Guam and Nevada are included in CASE District VII.

“The IAMFRESNOSTATE project is cutting edge,” said Peter N. Smits, Fresno State’s vice president for advancement. “It’s a first for all academic circles from coast-to-coast.”

The MySpace site has more than 2,400 “friends” and the top four videos on YouTube have been viewed more than 12,600 times. It also has attracted news coverage from Fresno to an article in the New York Times Web site.

“What makes this project so special is that it has provided Fresno State students the opportunity to share their sincere feelings of loyalty, pride and spirit toward their alma mater with others,” said Robertson.

For more information contained in this release, please go to the following Web site(s):

I Am Fresno State

CASE