Best of CASE District III Award
 

Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology

Title of entry: A Taste of Nostalgia

About this entry: What started as an editorial profile in the Alumni Magazine about Tommy Klemis who was the owner of Junior’s Grill, which was a beloved campus restaurant for 36 years, turned into a multi-month engagement with alumni. As we promoted the editorial piece, we hosted a fierce debate on which was better – the chicken tenders or French toast. The catalyst for the continued conversation was a fan letter from alumnus Will Turner asking if there was any chance that Tommy would share his French toast recipe. So we asked Tommy!

Not only did Tommy share the written recipe, which we printed in the magazine, he came to campus and cooked the recipe while his tutorial was filmed. Alumni then followed Tommy’s advice and cooked it and shared the results back. Alumni still couldn’t get enough, so French toast was served at our Buzz Bash event during Homecoming 2022.

The purpose of the original content was to spark nostalgia for our alumni. Throughout the content campaign, we received comments and notes back from alumni expressing gratitude not just the food at the restaurant, but how they were treated when they went. This memory sharing transported alumni back to their student years – reminding them of the taste of the food and the experience as a student. The push about Juniors spanned the timeframe when alumni were registering for Homecoming to inspire our community to relish in their campus memories.