Excellence
– to excel; to do extremely well; possessing outstanding quality or superior
merit – all definitions which describe our 2016 Excellence Award
Recipients. They are committed to their
own success and the success of Independent NewsMedia Inc. USA. They achieve results; work as a team; explore
and use new avenues of media and continue to learn and teach others.
The
recipients of the 2016 Excellence Awards are listed below in alphabetical order
by region.
Arizona
Katie (Erickson) Facer
Office Coordinator
Sun City
Commitment
Katie
is the first person someone sees when they come into the West Valley
office. She handles herself with
professionalism and makes everyone feel welcomed and important. She quickly triage's their needs and directs
them to the correct team member. This is especially appreciated because it
gives team members a chance to prepare for the visit.
Katie
is easy going and gets along with everyone and she goes out of her way to make
sure every job gets done properly and efficiently no matter if she is working
with sales, editorial, administration or circulation.
Melissa Fittro
News Services
Editor
North Valley
Purposeful
Newspapers
Melissa
has embraced our mission to aggressively recruit news and submissions from
residents and community organizations with a goal of dramatically growing the
number of local events and activities that appear in print and online each
week. Her constant outreach has
introduced our products to more and more people in the community and expanded
our audience.
Melissa’s
mission earlier this year was to create a Scottsdale calendar of events that is
the best, most comprehensive and useful print & online calendar for the
Scottsdale area. We’ve come a long way and she continues to build it. The
contacts she’s made along the way have greatly enhanced our print and online
content in many other areas. Our
Neighbors, Entertainment, Business and
Education sections are always 100 percent local; filled with local names
and faces, and our reputation as a serious community newspaper has benefitted
from her efforts.
Melissa’s
efforts to bring in strong neighborhood news and local faces (including a
weekly “Scottsdale Salutes” column
that recognizes the efforts of a local volunteer) has helped us create a niche
that is hard to find anywhere else in this community.
Kelly Mitchell
Third Shift Team
Leader/Press
Valley Newspapers
Leadership/Shared
Leadership
Kelly
always has a can-do and positive attitude which is infectious and resonates to
the others on his shift. Kelly has a
keen eye for detail and sound leadership ability which has caused management to
position some of the more demanding jobs to run on his
shift.
Delmarva
Greg Bassett
General
Manager/Editor
Salisbury
Independent
Purposeful
Newspapers
Starting
a newspaper in today's environment is not an easy undertaking and building a
loyal and growing audience of readers is even more difficult. It takes a deep well-spring of knowledge
about the community, bulldog tenacity, self-confidence and a very deft hand to
know what will interest, attract and convert readers into raving fans and Greg
Bassett has these characteristics in spades. We can also add ethical,
committed, experienced, sterling reputation, intelligent and a personal gift
for the news.
Week
after week, he produces a newspaper that is engaging, entertaining and
encourages and supports meaningful community involvement by providing readers
with knowledge they need, to make important decisions about public issues. His
recent coverage of the Salisbury elections was a model of purposeful
neutrality, employing well-written, perfectly balanced candidate profiles. And
his treatment of the flood of opiate addiction among city residents is still
being cited by policy makers and citizens alike.
Matt Bittle
Reporter
Delaware State
News
Purposeful
Newspapers
Since
joining the Delaware State News in July 2014, Matt has consistently written
excellent state government and political stories. His straight-forward style
has earned him the respect of both lawmakers and readers. He does a nice job of
balancing scheduled news coverage with enterprise, and often finds ways to
bring a national issue down to the local level. The key to Matt's success, in addition to his skill
at reporting and writing, is his organization. He studies issues before diving
in, does background work, and asks good questions. Additionally, he is always
working multiple stories.
In
2015, one of his most interesting stories was on the Syrian refugee issue in which
he pressed Gov. Jack Markell on whether he would welcome refugees to the state.
Last
year, Matt was a finalist for the MDDC Press Association's first Rookie of the
Year award.
Marcus Bolden
Press Assistant
Delaware Printing
Company
Learning
Marcus
started at an entry level position and has moved to press assistant quickly. He
has started running the press and we anticipate he will be ready to move to a
press operator level in the near future.
Marcus is always eager to learn anything new to make his jobs run better
and look their best.
Marcus
has jumped in and taken over when we lost personnel and we expect he will be the
future of Delaware Printing Company.
Richard Crumbacker
General Manager
Crisfield Somerset
County Times
Purposeful
Newspapers
Against
overwhelming schedules of events to cover, Richard finds the time and energy to
cover news that is happening now. He strives for excellence in his news
coverage, he never settles for less. He
has gained the trust of both business and political men and women in the
community.
While
out and about, Richard is constantly looking for advertising opportunities he
can pass on to the advertising manager. He is never 'off the job'; frequenting
community events and taking pictures. If our sports writer is writing about a
specific subject, Richard is there snapping pictures to go with it.
Yvonne Kirksey
Customer Service Representative
Delaware State
News
Courtesy
Ethical Standards
Yvonne,
affectionately nicknamed the Lobby Lady,
is being recognized for her exemplary behavior with regards to courtesy and
ethical standards that are beyond reproach.
She handles the daily cash drawer and maintains accountability for its
accuracy. She ensures the proper
delivery of legal affidavits and makes sure our customer’s needs are met appropriately.
An
even more important asset to our team is Yvonne's courteous attitude. She has the
ever important role of being the face of Independent NewsMedia. Whether it is her infectious smile, her
bubbly personality, or her patience with customers, she makes everyone that enters
our doors feel welcomed and important. In a time when customer service is lacking
in many businesses, Yvonne exemplifies what Customer Service should be.
Cathy Koyanagi
Advertising
Manager
Salisbury
Independent
Commitment
Though
a veteran to the newspaper business, Cathy is a relative newcomer to INI. Since
the start of the Salisbury Independent more than a year ago she has relentlessly
worked to build a loyal and growing advertising base. She is now the leading
sales manager on the Delmarva Weeklies' team. She believes in and accomplishes continuous
improvement. Cathy is dedicated to Independent’s mission.
Through
Cathy's enterprising efforts, the Independent now dominates the real estate advertising
market in Salisbury. In February 2016, she sold and we published our first
20-page real estate section which contained more than 13 pages of ads. Last
year at this time we didn't have a real estate section, now we have regular
weekly ads from the three largest brokers in the city. She has built a loyal
and growing list of satisfied customers.
Cathy
can be described as relentlessly dedicated, a willing learner, determined but
easy to coach, and consistently seeks opinions of others, a consensus builder
and someone committed to finding original solutions to marketing small
businesses.
Krystal Norris
Inserter
Delaware Printing
Company
Learning
Krystal
has excelled at learning to run the mailing machine in the finishing department
and her ability on the toughest jobs has set a new standard within the
department. We have continuously made deadlines and improved our run times on
all mail jobs.
She
not only successfully completes all mail jobs, she has also taken part in the
training of others to set up and operate the video jet mailing machine.
She
has recently taken on the paperwork aspects of her job that requires important
details to be listed properly, she has performed this task with ease, simplifying
the tracking of runs in production. She has expressed an interest in learning
the other machines we operate within the department.
Darin Powell
News Media Systems
Manager
Corporate/Tech
Purposeful
Content
Darin
is an employee and leader who embraces and helps lead change. He succeeds in
getting his message through by understanding what editors are up against and
helping them navigate through the assorted workflows to drive change. His
respect for the products and the purpose they serve in their communities is
absolutely awe inspiring. Darin's input on content direction comes from an
inevitable understanding of community journalism. His attention to detail, eye
for opportunities and commitment to top-rank work are an inspiration to all around
him.
Darin
not only shows great commitment to our print products, he has a keen
understanding of the digital platforms and the transitions that face us. He is helping
drive the culture change that needs to occur, but he is doing it in a way that
enhances what's happening on the print side, while also respecting the platforms
from which we first formed.
Matt Trently
Mail Center
Specialist
Delaware Printing
Company
Teamwork
Matt
makes an effort to assist in all areas; when he sees another employee handling
a job on their own, he will step in and help without complaint. He brings a
positive attitude to work on a daily basis. He is willing to teach others to
perform any task that he knows well, and will attempt to make sure the person
can handle the workflow.
Matt's
overall performance within the finishing department has contributed to our
ability to double out runs; he is capable of running the stacker end of our production
line by himself, this frees up other employees and enables the department to
run just as effectively when we are shorthanded.
Matt
has gained knowledge in other departments as well and can perform the tasks of
cleaning the processors and loading the plates in prepress as well as assisting
the janitorial staff by coming in on the weekends to wax and strip the floors.
Karen White
Copy Editor
Delaware State
News
Purposeful
Newspapers
Karen
constantly monitors ongoing issues and concerns and when she identifies a
newsworthy topic, she quickly communicates with staff editors, photographers
and reporters to develop a coverage plan thereby increasing the daily story
count. When needed, Karen will take the lead in producing content herself
without hesitation. When immediate
coverage is required, she facilitates quick production of online content and
promotion through social media.
Karen
is a true team member who takes into account the work load of each staffer when
assigning work and is quick to delegate or move work to make sure each story is
given the needed time and effort. She
remains approachable and open to other points of view and personal concerns of
staff, and remains professional in her approach at all times. She is also a
morale booster with her positive, upbeat manner, and acknowledges her
appreciation of good work and effort from staffers.
Florida
Tamara Kelly
Community News Coordinator
Okeechobee News
Purposeful
Newspapers
Tammi’s
responsibility at the newspaper is community coordination and the intake of all
community events. She interacts with the
community and in many instances is the only face or voice that a person knows
from the Okeechobee News.
Tammi
lives in the community, it is her home, and she puts a lot of energy into her
mission of community event coordination.
Yes, mission it is not just a job to Tammi.
She
doesn’t just write about community events; she participates in or spearheads many
community efforts. For example, she collects prom dresses from the community to
be distributed to area teens in April in time for prom. She is on the board and
involved in a local youth club called Building Relationships Among Teens (or
B.R.A.T.) that offers activities to teens to keep them busy and out of trouble.
This is only two of the many local charitable organizations in which she is
active and representing the Okeechobee News.
Kristina Schwartz
Graphics Designer
Okeechobee News
Learning
Kristina, an advertising graphic artist, has taken an interest in all areas of the newspaper and strives to learn new skills to help the Okeechobee News staff be more successful. Her initiative has helped add depth to the editorial staff, while making herself more productive. She embraces new challenges and opportunities with enthusiasm.
Kristina, who also
writes fiction, recently volunteered to train as a news reporter in order to
serve as backup for the cops/crime beat. She has gone through the fingerprinting
and screening required by the sheriff's office for access to the records, and
has started picking up that extra work when needed.
By putting her writing
talents to good use as a backup reporter, Kristina helps the Okeechobee News
meet deadlines and helps to serve the community with timely reporting on crime
stories.
Keli Trimnal
Advertising
Consultant
Okeechobee News
Results
Keli
moved into an advertising managers position which can be challenging but she
always has a smile and a cheery disposition.
She has successfully tapped into places that have not advertised in the
Okeechobee News in years!
She
is very quick to follow up and "pounce" on opportunities. Keli is
always fun to work with and she is certainly up for any adventure.
By
the editors of Media Life