By Jorge Campos |Staff Writer|

CSUSB students in the Coyote Advertisement program won American Advertising Awards (ADDY) in the 2015 American Advertisement Award Competition.

A total of 27 CSUSB students took home 40 prestigious ADDY awards, according to the Fontana Herald News.

The 2015 American Advertising Awards-Inland Empire Gala was hosted at the Mission Inn in Riverside on Friday, March 13.

“We have truly amazing talent here at CSUSB,” stated Jacob Poore, manager of the CSUSB Coyote Advertising program.

Poore, together with Andrew Oakes, a CSUSB assistant professor of art, helped students enter the competition.

The Inland Empire ADDY awards is the first stage of a three-tier national competition, according to The Press-Enterprise.

Local entrants compete for recognition as the very best in their markets all across the country.
The ADDY award competition in the Inland Empire covers all aspects of advertisement and includes over 200 categories.

The number of awards given in each category is determined by the judges and is based on the relative quality of work in that category, according to the American Advertisement Federation.

The ADDY awards is a national advertisement competition, so if students receive either a silver or gold award at the local competition, they are given the opportunity to advance to the district level.

“This year one of CSUSB’s students, Joycie Kim, not only received a silver award at the local competition, but also received silver at the district level and her work will be advancing to the national competition,” said Poore.

“I’m very proud to represent CSUSB at the district ADDYs and I hope it encourages other designers to take chances and put themselves out there because the opportunities are endless. We have such a great set of design professors who really want their students to be successful and the ADDYS are a great place to show those professors how much you’ve learned,” stated Kim.

There are a number of benefits to winning the Inland Empire American Award for marketing and advertising professionals.

“It was an overwhelming experience. I did not expect to win silver at the district level, and was even hesitant to apply to the district level in the first place; but I think after going through the design program at CSUSB, I have come to be more confident in putting myself out there,” stated Kim.

Winning an ADDY award differentiates your resume from other applicants at a job opening, helps open doors to internships and your first job following graduation, according to the American Advertisement Federation.