UCC Express nominated for international award
The UCC Express was last night nominated for an international award. The Student Publication Association National Conference Awards, also known as the SPANCs, have been awarded to student publications & their staff for the last five years. The majority of their entries come from across the UK and Ireland, with entries from prestigious publications like Oxford's 'The Isis Magazine', which has been in publication since 1892, King's College London's 'The Roar', University of St.Andrews' 'TheSaint' and many more newspapers & magazines whose alumni include the likes of poet & writer Sylvia Plath, former Prime Minister Edward Heath, newspaper magnate Rupert Murdoch, Monty Python member Terry Jones and Nigella Lawson, among others.The Express has been shortlisted for the 'Best Website' award. Speaking after the announcement, UCC Express Editor-in-Chief Robert O'Sullivan was ecstatic:
I'm absolutely delighted, and so so proud of our team for the nomination. A lot of, if not most, of the other papers and magazines employ their staff full-time, whereas the entirety of us are voluntary. Being nominated for 'Best Website' is especially important to me, as last year we didn't have a specific web person: I was stuck doing it, and I know absolutely nothing about web design! Full credit goes to Evan on the amazing, unheralded work he's done all year - this nomination is very much deserved. Now all we have to do is go over there and beat all the Sasanachs!
The awards ceremony is due to take place during the Student Publication Association National Conference in Leeds in early April. There were over 1,000 entries for the prestigious awards, with only two coming from the Republic of Ireland: the UCC Express for Best Website, and Daire O’Driscoll of Trinity News for Best Comment/Opinion Piece. A list of the other nominees for Best Website can be found here.The Express was also nominated for Best Website, among other awards, at the National Student Media Awards, which take place in Dublin on April 6th. For more info on the National Smedias, you can read this article published earlier in the week.