Minnesota National Guard takes third Emmy

Courtesy Photo | Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, Minnesota National Guard and Pat Harris, Serving Our Troops, accepted the Board of Governor's Emmy Award for a partnership between Hubbard Broadcasting, the National Guard and Serving Our Troops; a Saint Paul based civic organization. They received the award during the Upper Midwest Emmy Gala at the State Theater Sept. 29, 2012 in Minneapolis, Minn.  

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, UNITED STATES

09.29.2012

Courtesy Story

Minnesota National Guard

By Minnesota National Guard Public Affairs

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - During this year's Upper Midwest Emmy Gala at the State Theater, Sept. 29, 2012, members of the Minnesota National Guard received their third Emmy award. This year's shared win of the 'Board of Governor's Emmy Award' was awarded for a partnership with Hubbard Broadcasting and a Saint Paul based civic organization called Serving Our Troops.

"It's a simple thing, dinner with family," said Pat Harris of Serving Our Troops, explaining the organization's mission.

Since 2004, Serving our Troops, working with Hubbard Broadcasting and the Minnesota Nation Guard, have served up more than 70,000 steak dinners to troops serving in combat zones overseas and simultaneously to their families in Minnesota.

During the dinner, the troops and families were also connected via video teleconference. While video teleconferencing is relatively commonplace during deployment today, in 2004 video over Skype did not exist and data networks could barely handle email, let alone streaming video. Broadcast engineers with Hubbard Broadcasting put their extensive resources to work to bridge the distance. Since the original mission to Kosovo, the team has served families at home and their troops serving in Iraq, Kuwait and other locations on a total of nine missions.

“Serving Our Troops and Hubbard Broadcasting truly made a difference for our families, as did all the broadcast outlets that showcased this effort in your news coverage," said Army Lt. Col. Kevin Olson, Director of Public Affairs for the Minnesota National Guard. "Across the heartland, whether it is stories of deployments, homecomings, or community connections, our audiences connect with our military service members, families, employers and communities. Thank you for continuing to tell the stories of those that serve in uniform."

This is the third Emmy nod for the Minnesota National Guard, which includes wins in 2006 and 2008, as well as nominations in 2011 and 2012.

The Board of Governors Award honors visionary, long-standing relationships that creatively and effectively use corporate, nonprofit and broadcast resources to showcase the power of broadcasting to advance a mission or message. The award is presented to a broadcaster, advertiser or company, as well as a nonprofit organization, each of whom has contributed to forward a cause.

The relationship between the Minnesota National Guard and the local Emmy chapter extends beyond just the awards and nominations. After hearing about the record numbers of unemployed soldiers coming back from a deployment this year, the chapter and local Government Access Television channel 12 also produced three public service announcements to spread awareness throughout the region. Country music artist Rockie Lynn lent his time and talent to the cause and stations throughout the region aired the PSAs hundreds of times.

"It's truly a privilege to be involved in these two great organizations," said Staff Sgt. Ben Houtkooper, a broadcaster with the Minnesota National Guard who volunteers on the chapter's Board of Governors. "There are so many talented military broadcasters that could benefit from participating in their local chapter. This is one of those partnerships that I hope will be replicated thought the nation."

• Date Taken: 09.29.2012
• Date Posted: 10.05.2012 17:46
• Story ID: 95784
• Location: MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA, US