The Association of Cable Communicators (ACC) at a dinner ceremony last night (June 4) announced the winners of the 2015 Golden Beacon and Beacon Awards, honoring excellence in cable communications and public affairs. The Golden Beacon, the association’s highest honor, went to Univision Contigo's Semana de la Salud 2014, a Latino-focused health and wellness campaign by Univision Communications Inc.

The campaign also won a Community Relations Beacon, while Univision's Contigo's Pequeños y Valiosos - Accioìn por los Niños campaign won a Beacon for Integrated Communications. Stephen Keppel, Univision's enior director, empowerment initiatives (pictured), accepted the awards.

ACC also presented 49 Beacon Awards representing work by MSOs, cable systems, programming networks, and cable associations in categories such as community relations, public service announcements and social media communications, the association said in a release. The Beacon Awards Ceremony rounded out Thursday events during ACC’s annual conference FORUM 2015: Innovation and Disruption: Telling Cable’s Story in Times of Change, in Silver Spring, Md.

“This year’s Beacon Award winners have affected change by using cable as a tool to provide access and education, not only empowering the communities they serve, but showcasing the power of cable on a national platform” Chris Albert, 2015 Beacon Awards chair and senior vice president, communications worldwide and talent relations, National Geographic Channels, said in the release. "The Beacon Awards celebrate the significant role cable communicators play in our industry’s success and recognize the best of those efforts."

The 2015 Golden Beacon honors a communications or public affairs initiative that has made an impact within the cable industry and enhanced cable’s image nationwide. 

Here's what ACC had to say about the campaign and other Beacon honorees:

Univision is the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the country, reaching 96% of U.S. Hispanic households. As the heartbeat of Hispanic America, Univision has earned a special trust and unequalled connection with this community. Hispanics today have higher rates of high cholesterol, diabetes and obesity, compared to their Caucasian counterparts. In 2014 for example, one-in-four Hispanics in the U.S. lacked health insurance, the highest rate of any racial or ethnic group in the country. In an effort to reverse these trends, the company held its second annual week-long health and wellness effort “Semana de la Salud 2014” (Health Week 2014), a weeklong multiplatform campaign under the health umbrella of the company's Univision Contigo empowerment initiative. In partnership with The California Endowment, Covered California, and the Ford Foundation, “Semana de la Salud 2014” took place between August 23-30, aimed to inform the U.S. Hispanic community about important health and wellness topics, give access to exclusive health-related online and mobile tools, and empower the community by providing free health screenings and other valuable resources in markets across the nation.

ACC members chose the 2015 Beacon Award winners during an extensive two-round judging process. The high-quality Beacon Award entries submitted this year continue to demonstrate the cable industry's commitment to communications and public affairs and represent company initiatives implemented over the past year in areas such as events and observances, integrated communications and Web sites.

The 2015 Beacon Awards Winners listed by category are:

Best Use of Twitter

Cox Virginia WiFi Scavenger Hunt

Cox Communications – Chesapeake, VA

Cause Marketing

Cox Las Vegas -- Proud To Show Our PRIDE!

Cox Communications – Las Vegas, NV

Community Relations

Studio21 – Music to the Community’s Ears Charter Communications – Newtown, CT

Time Warner Cable "Capital Region Science Festival 2014"

Time Warner Cable – Schenectady, NY

Physics Behind Skateboarding

Time Warner Cable – El Segundo, CA

STEM in Sports with the Anaheim Ducks

Time Warner Cable – El Segundo, CA

Univision Contigo's Samana de la Salud 2014 Univision Communications Inc. – Miami, FL

Say Yes to the Prom

Discovery Communications – Silver Spring, MD

Education Comprehensive Campaigns

Encuentro STEM

Time Warner Cable – El Segundo, CA

MSG Classroom 2014 Fall Semester

MSG Networks – New York, NY

National Geographic Channels Comprehensive Education Campaign National Geographic Channels – Washington, DC

Educational Materials

Developing Impactful Afterschool STEM Programs Time Warner Cable – El Segundo, CA

STEM to Story with 826 National

Time Warner Cable – New York, NY

Remembering the Great War: WWI Centennial Education Outreach

A+E Networks – New York, NY

Events/Observances

Time Warner Cable CAMM Celebration

Time Warner Cable NYC – New York, NY

Bright House Networks Launch Event Announcing Free Wi-Fi for Tampa Riverfront Parks Bright House Networks, Central Florida – Maitland, FL

Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge Discovery Communications – Silver Spring, MD

Time Warner Cable’s Earth Month 2014

Time Warner Cable – New York, NY

Events/Premieres

The 48th Annual NAACP Image Awards VIP Screening Cox Louisiana – Baton Rouge, LA

American War Generals Premiere

National Geographic Channels – Washington, DC

Government Relations

"Fighting for Fort Polk"

Suddenlink Communications – Central Louisiana

Cox Las Vegas 2014 Community Development Report Cox Communications/Las Vegas System – Las Vegas, NV

Internal Communications

Internet Essentials Ambassadors Program

Comcast – Washington, DC

NBCUniversal Corporate Leadership Values Campaign Hispanic Enterprises and Content, NBCUniversal – Hialeah, FL

Integrated Communications

2014 Austin Image Campaign

Time Warner Cable – Austin, TX

Time Warner Cable Places Great Value on Diverse Perspectives and Experiences Time Warner Cable – El Segundo, CA

Univision Contigo's Pequeños y Valiosos - Accioìn por los NinÞos Univision Communications Inc. – Miami, FL

Look Different

MTV – New York, NY

Mobile Apps

DIG Mobile Apps Activations - Snapchat and DIG Decoder USA Network – Universal City, CA

Virginia Cable Show App

Virginia Cable Telecommunications Association – Richmond, VA

Multicultural Public Relations

Suddenlink Celebrates Black History Month with TV One Suddenlink Communications – St. Louis, MO

C-SPAN's Historically Black Colleges & Universities Tour C-SPAN Networks – Washington, DC

Media Relations Programming Publicity

LSU Gameday Live

Cox Louisiana – Baton Rouge, LA

COSMOS: A Spacetime Odyssey Media Relations National Geographic Channels – Washington, DC

Media Relations-Technology/Product

Cox Launches Gigabit Internet in Las Vegas Cox Communications – Las Vegas, NV

Charter's Road to All-Digital: A Spectrum of Success Charter Communications – Stamford, CT

WatchESPN

ESPN, Inc. – New York, NY

Public Service Announcement

Connect2Compete “Local New Orleans PSA Campaign”

Cox Louisiana – Baton Rouge, LA

Cablevision & The Lustgarten Foundation’s curePC Campaign – The curePC Courage Project Cablevision Systems Corporation – Bethpage, NY

Look Different

MTV – New York, NY

Programming Series

Studio21

Charter Communications – Newtown, CT

LSU Gameday Live

Cox Louisiana – Baton Rouge, LA

ESPN Films "30 for 30"

ESPN, Inc. – Bristol, CT

Programming Special or Miniseries Event

History: Sons of Liberty

A+E Networks – New York, NY

Reputation/Brand Management

The Midway/Cox Legacy: From America’s Greatest Generation to Future Generations Cox Communications - California – San Diego, CA

Taking Back the Gigabit Narrative

Cox Communications, Inc. – Atlanta, GA

The Civil Rights Act of 1964: A Long Struggle for Freedom Exhibit

A+E Networks – New York, NY

Social Media Integrated Communications

TLC Loves Canada

Discovery Communications – Silver Spring, MD

Website

Internal - Transformation Hub Website

Cox Communications, Inc. – Atlanta, GA

The Association of Cable Communicators will hold its educational conference, Forum 2015, in Silver Spring, Md., June 3-5 at the global headquarters of Discovery Communications. The co-chairs for the latest version of the annual conference are Chelsye J. Burrows, vice president, public relations, UP and ASPiRE and Pete Abel, senior vice president, corporate communications, Suddenlink Communications (pictured).

The 2015 conference theme is “Innovation and Disruption: Telling Cable’s Story in Times of Change.” Keynotes and panels will illuminate how technical advances in the industry are creating opportunities and new products, but also creating new competitors with OTT video providers, new subscription video options and others entering the home and mobile entertainment market, ACC said in a release.

Forum is ACC's national conference for cable communications and public affairs professionals who have responsibilities in corporate communications, government affairs, public relations, customer communications, social media, publicity and other communications disciplines. Forum also includes ACC’s annual Beacon Awards Gala. Forum attracts cable industry professionals ranging from entry-level communicators to senior executives.

For more information, please go to https://www.cablecommunicators.org/forum.php.