Oklahoma community achievers: Tourism awards, grant recipients, professor honor

Staff reports
·5 min read

Oklahoma tourism entities win awards

The Oklahoma Travel Industry Association recently held its annual RedBud Awards ceremony, recognizing numerous tourism groups throughout the state.

The awards recognize Oklahoma's top tourism attractions, events, programs and organizations for outstanding efforts to serve and promote Oklahoma’s tourism industry.

“This year’s RedBud Award submissions were highly competitive,” said Debra Bailey, Oklahoma Travel Industry Association president and CEO. “With travel picking back up, each submission is an example of why Oklahoma is a perfect travel destination and we are thrilled to be honoring these entries.”

Competition entries must have been produced, published, broadcast or held between Jan. 1, 2021, and Dec. 31, 2021. All entries were evaluated by a slate of tourism professionals on specific criteria, including customer service and experience, marketing effectiveness, media relations, variety of audiences reached, value and overall creativity.

Winners included:

Outstanding Agritourism Attraction

• RedBud: Simply Country Ranch.

Best Social Media Campaign

• Merit: Visit Norman — 2021 Visit Norman Digital Social Media Campaign.

• RedBud: Visit Ponca City — What’s Happening in Ponca City.

• RedBud: Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism — Visit Cherokee National Virtual Video Series.

Best Brochure or Publication ($10,000 or less budget)

• Merit: Visit Shawnee — Shawnee Twin Lakes Brochure.

• RedBud: Oh18 — Oh18 Magazine May through June 2021.

Best Brochure or Publication ($10,000 or more budget)

• Merit: Visit Stillwater — Stillwater Guide to the Local Scene.

• RedBud: Chickasaw Country — Chickasaw Country 2021 Travel Guide.

Best Overall Marketing Campaign (Small budget organization)

• Merit: Visit Claremore — Visit Claremore FY 21 – 22 Strategic Marketing Plan.

• RedBud: Tour Tahlequah — Tour Tahlequah Marketing Campaign.

Best Overall Marketing Campaign (Large budget organization)

• Merit: Visit Norman — 2021 Visit Norman Marketing Campaign.

• RedBud: Visit Stillwater — Visit Stillwater Marketing Campaign.

Best Website

• Merit: Heart of Route 66 Auto Museum.

• RedBud: Visit Shawnee.

Best Partnership

• Merit: Visit Claremore & the Board of County Commissioners of Rogers County.

• RedBud: Edmond Fine Arts Institute & Visit Edmond.

Outstanding Media Coverage

• Merit: Visit OKC.

• Merit: Chickasaw Country.

• RedBud: First Americans Museum.

Outstanding Attraction

• Merit: Visit Claremore — Claremore Mountain Bike Trails.

• RedBud: Shangri-La Resort — The Anchor at Shangri-La Resort.

Outstanding New Attraction

• Merit: Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism – Cherokee Nation History Museum.

• RedBud: First Americans Museum.

Outstanding Temporary Exhibit

• Merit: General Tommy Franks Leadership Institute and Museum — 9/11 Never Forget: 20th Year Memorial.

• RedBud: Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism — Sequoyah: An American Icon.

Outstanding Event

• Merit: Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma — Annual Choctaw Nation Pow Wow.

• RedBud: Citizen Potawatomi Nation — FireLake Firelight Balloon Festival.

Outstanding New Event

• Merit: Dancing Rabbit Music Association — Dancing Rabbit Music Festival.

• RedBud: Cherokee Nation Cultural Tourism — Cherokee Syllabary Bicentennial.

Best Pandemic Related Campaign

• Merit: Visit Muskogee — Depot Green District: Summer Fun 2021.

• RedBud: Visit Claremore — Visit Claremore “Wish You Were Here” Campaign.

Tourism Organization of the Year (Small budget organization)

• RedBud: Visit Shawnee.

Tourism Organization of the Year (Large budget organization)

• RedBud: Visit Norman.

OU students get grant for invention

Four biomedical engineering students at the University of Oklahoma hope their invention will help those diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease or a tremor disorder.

Their invention is called SteadiSpoon, a self-stabilizing eating utensil that helps Parkinson’s and essential tremor patients to feed themselves despite hand tremors, said Jacob Nichols, of Ardmore.

“Our team designed SteadiSpoon to empower people with tremors to regain the agency, autonomy and dignity that comes from feeding oneself. Unlike other devices, the SteadiSpoon is self-stabilizing and does not require batteries,” Nichols said.

In April, Nichols, Andrew Daniel, Jiahui Mao and Ethan Trotter were awarded a $5,000 VentureWell E-Team Grant for SteadiSpoon. Raleigh Dewan, of Austin, Texas, is the entrepreneur behind the invention. The prototype was created by the four students in the Stephenson School of Biomedical Engineering in the Gallogly College of Engineering.

Yo Shih serves as director of the Center for Human Performance at the OU Health Sciences Center.

“The students were persistent during the process to execute their ideas and seeking out the best way to test their hypothesis. It was a pleasure to work with these young creative minds who devote themselves to solving real-world problems,” she said.

OU professor wins Catalysis Award

The 2022 Robert B. Anderson Catalysis Award from the Chemical Institute of Canada’s Catalysis Division was presented to University of Oklahoma engineering professor Daniel Resasco for his research that deepens the understanding of chemical reactions in the production of sustainable energy.

The award, named after a prominent Canadian catalysis researcher, is given to an internationally recognized leader in the field of catalysis.

Resasco was distinguished for advancing solutions for a lower-carbon future, including catalytic conversion of biomass feedstocks to carbon-neutral fuels and chemicals, a news release stated. Among the various fundamental aspects of the reactions investigated by Resasco and his group is the molecular interactions occurring at the solid-liquid interfaces that determine the performance of the catalyst and govern the type of products that are obtained. Resasco, a professor in the School of Chemical, Biological and Materials Engineering, joined the OU faculty in 1993 and holds the inaugural Gallogly Chair of Engineering.

He specializes in the study of catalysts and nanomaterials for commercial and industrial applications. He is the author of more than 300 publications, holds more than 40 industrial patents and has received about 30,000 citations in scientific literature.

He recently received the Excellence in Catalysis Award by the Catalysis Society of Metropolitan New York.

To be considered for this column, please email achievement announcements and photos to LLynn@Oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Community achievers: Tourism awards, grant recipients, professor honor