The Princeton Area Alumni Association won the Alumni Council's ACE Award for Excellence in Communication!

Pictured below are Henry Von Kohorn '66, President of the Alumni Association, Sara Hastings '09, PA3's secretary, and Daniel Hayes-Patterson '09, PA3's technology chair.


The full write up of the award is as follows:


To the Princeton Area Alumni Association

It was 2008. The Princeton Area Alumni Association (PA3) had lain dormant for ten years. General consensus was that with the University and its manifold attractions in the backyard, Princeton-area alumni didn’t need an active organization to bring them together. And trying to persuade them otherwise involved a mass communication plan that was unsustainable. The PA3 was doomed.

Not so, believed a hardy band who were undaunted. Yes, a solid communications plan was essential to inform and engage area alumni. And now it was doable, with new technologies at hand. A simple blog-style website was created; a monthly broadcast e-newsletter was initiated; Facebook, and later Twitter, were added to the arsenal.

Communication was re-established, was effective, and yet somehow lacked energy. Enter the dynamic duo of Dan Hayes-Patterson ’09 and fiancee Sara Hastings ’09. In 2011, Dan was elected PA3’s Technology Chair and Sara its Secretary. The communications “dream team” was born.

Computer programmer Dan created a dynamic website so easy to use that even “non-techies” could post content with ease and with automatic prompts to post on Facebook and Twitter. Each page has a “Share” button. A multi-pronged communications approach came alive.

Sara oversees the content of communications, and the new website’s homepage reveals the wealth of material now generated. Information about community service, social activities, and careers. News and networking. Photos and fun. E-newsletters link to the site and the site in turn archives the e-newsletters. With PayPal, registering for events or ordering a PA3 t-shirt is just a click away. No surprise that website visits increased over 100% in a same-period comparison between 2011 and 2012, and dues paying membership has grown.

Through its revitalized communications, anchored by a dynamic website, and with its many opportunities for fellowship, the PA3 serves as a welcome companion not competitor to the best old place of all. The University benefits right along with the PA3’s membership of undergraduate and graduate alumni, parents of current and former students, and surviving partners of alumni. We are delighted to award the Princeton Area Alumni Association with the Alumni Council’s ACE Award for excellence in communications.

Alumni Council Alumni Relations & Communications Committee
Presented on 23 April 2013