USDAA OVERview and WCRL Rally News Receive National Recognition

Honored by Dog Writers Association of America

Mar 11, 2024

By: News Editor

USDAA’s OVERview publication and WCRL Rally News have been recognized by the Dog Writers Association of America (DWAA) in their annual writing competition, taking top honors in two categories and placing as a finalist in a third category. 

YP_DWAA Writing Competition Awards Post 500The June 2023 issue of OVERview digital magazine (Rescue Issue) took first place in the Online Magazine category. The May 2023 issue of OVERview e-news took first place in the Online Newsletter category. 

USDAA publishes the OVERview digital magazine every other month, while the e-newsletter is distributed in the months in between. More than 18,000 agility competitors and fans receive the publications.

An article by writer Cheyenne Lord, “I Love Lucy: A Senior Shih Tzu in Service,” published in the quarterly WCRL Rally News, was a finalist in the category National Dog Show Presented by Purina Excellence in Writing/Producing Award. WCRL Rally News has more than 2,000 subscribers.

“Congratulations to our public relations team at Yopko Penhallurick (YP), LLC, Marketing and Public Relations for producing such excellent communications for our USDAA and WCRL members and supporters. These awards are recognition of the outstanding work they are doing,” Ken Tatsch, USDAA president, said. 

Team members include Betty Weibel, APR, principal, with Betsie Bolger, Flo Cunningham, Karly Kiersey, Cheyenne Lord and Becky Vranesevic.

DWAA, founded in 1935, is the nation’s oldest professional organization dedicated to those involved in promoting the interest of dogs — writers, photographers, editors and publishers, with no distinction between amateurs and professionals. This year’s competitors submitted close to 500 entries in 47 regular and 17 sponsored categories from every state in the U.S., Canada, Hong Kong and New Zealand. An independent panel of volunteers judges the DWAA competition, evaluating each entry on technical merit and creative style. For more information on the awards, visit https://dogwriters.org/winners/.