FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
TUESDAY, DEC. 8, 2009

North Carolina State Fair wins international awards
for advertising and agricultural programs

RALEIGH — The North Carolina State Fair recently won six awards from the International Association of Fairs and Expositions at the association’s annual meeting in Las Vegas.

The State Fair, which competes against other fairs with an attendance of 500,001 to 1 million, took home a first-place communications award for its Web site. The fair also won second-place honors for television commercial, third place for best use of social media and third place for black-and-white newspaper advertisement.

In the agricultural competition, the State Fair received second place in the new green program category for its Green NC exhibit. The Got to Be NC Festival, which takes place on the State Fairgrounds in May, won second-place honors in the category for non-fair agricultural event or program.

“It takes tremendous effort to put on a successful event the size of the State Fair, and being recognized is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our staff and supporters,” said Agriculture Commissioner Steve Troxler.

All entries were evaluated and judged by a team of fair-industry leaders selected from the membership of the IAFE. Programs were judged on theme and goal, promotion, scope and acceptance, coverage by the media and overall achievement of the program.

The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services’ composition office created the award-winning Web site and newspaper ad, and the Public Affairs Division managed the social media campaign. The Green NC exhibit was coordinated by fair staff, and the Got to Be NC Festival is a collaborative effort of many NCDA&CS divisions. The State Fair’s marketing agency, Morrisville-based MSA, produced the TV commercial.

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