IT Sligo is in the running for two major accolades for its high quality social media activity.
It has been shortlisted with the best in Ireland, including RTE, the Defence Forces, National Gallery and Irish Rail, in two categories of the 2013 Bord Gáis Energy Social Media Awards.
The nominations are for best “Use of Social Media by a State Body” and best “Facebook Page for a Non-Profit Organisation”. IT Sligo is one of only three higher education institutions shortlisted. It was also nominated in the national competition in 2011.
The awards, in 20 categories, recognise talent in online interaction, engagement and innovation, and highlight best practice and the importance of social media. This year the competition, which has its finale at a ceremony in Dublin on May 30th, has attracted more than 400 entries from over 200 companies and institutions.
IT Sligo’s success in receiving two nominations is the result of a concentrated drive by it to embrace social media as a platform for providing easily accessible and updated information to audiences and stakeholders, locally and nationally, about academic initiatives, organisational developments, online learning, research and scholarship opportunities, student successes and community outreach activities.
Niall McEvoy, Head of Innovation at IT Sligo, said: ‘Our peripheral location encouraged IT Sligo to deploy new technologies for programme delivery. We are now the largest provider of online programmes in Ireland. We are especially delighted that our innovative use of social media has been recognised in our reaching the finals of this prestigious competition.’
The other nominees in the ‘Best Use of Social Media by a State Body’ category are Irish Rail, the Defence Forces, University College Cork, Road Safety Authority of Ireland, National Gallery of Ireland, RTÉ Morning Ireland, LookWest.ie and RTÉ Bród Club.
For the Facebook accolade, the others shortlisted are the Irish Wildlife Trust, Look West, Irish Autism Action, Dublin Zoo, Dublin Marathon, IT Blanchardstown, Focus Ireland, and Waterford Gathering
IT Sligo has more than 10,000 likes on its Facebook page, over 2,300 followers on Twitter, and over 1,000 followers on its LinkedIn company page and groups.
Aoife Porter, of Bua Marketing, who has been providing Digital Media Support to IT Sligo during its success surge, says: ‘IT Sligo has one of the most popular higher education Facebook pages in Ireland and uses its Facebook page primarily to engage with prospective students and showcase the great courses and campus life on offer at the Institute.’
‘The ‘social’ side is enormously important because staff, students and public use it to check out all sorts of things such as exhibitions, sports news, and add their views, about what’s happening.’
Caption for photo above: Ann Higgins, Head of Department of Marketing, Tourism and Sport with students from a range of courses, as they show their preparation for the last (2013) St Patricks Day Parade, including the Facebook promotion.