KCC Media Design Manager Cab Rininger wins Communicator of the Year Award from the NCMPR

Cab Rininger

Kellogg Community College is pleased to announce that Media Design Manager Cab Rininger is the sole recipient of the National Council for Marketing and Public Relations District 3 Communicator of the Year award for 2023.

The Communicator of the Year Award is one of the organization’s most prestigious awards, and is presented annually to one recipient in each of the NCMPR’s seven districts who has demonstrated leadership and ability in the area of college communications.

KCC Marketing Director Simon Thalmann, who oversees the College’s Marketing and Communications Department, said Rininger “consistently raises the bar to produce high-quality materials that move the College forward.”

“As manager of Kellogg Community College’s Media Design Center, Cab directs the visual identity of the College and in turn influences the impressions of countless current and prospective students who look to KCC as a way to improve their lives through education,” Thalmann said. “Cab also teaches design classes at KCC, guides student marketing and design interns as a mentor, and balances it all with her responsibilities as an artist, wife and mother outside of work.

“Cab consistently performs above and beyond in her duties to explore new and innovative ways to communicate both in print and digitally and is always open to trying new things.”

Rininger, who’s worked in the KCC Marketing and Communications Department at KCC since 2018, is a visual communications professional with an impressive career spanning two decades. She holds a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in graphic design from Arizona State University and distinguished herself before coming to KCC through notable visual communication initiatives for clients including the SPCA, Pfizer, Stryker and the United Way.

At KCC, Rininger’s journey has been one of collaboration and innovation. Together with her colleagues in the Marketing and Communications Department, she was instrumental in a website redesign that transformed how KCC connects with our students and community.

Rininger is also the creative force behind KCC’s continuing “Be Bruin” campaign, an initiative focused on branding as well as building a sense of belonging within the KCC community. Her work in unifying and elevating visual communication shines through in the College’s publications, enhancing brand perception and reinforcing KCC’s commitment to excellence.

Rininger is also passionate about nurturing the next generation of visual communicators, and since 2013 has shared her passion for design by teaching college classes, including at KCC.

Rininger received the Communicator of the Year Award at the Awards of Excellence luncheon ceremony at the NCMPR District 3 & 5 Conference in St. Louis on Oct. 5. As a district recipient, Cab is also automatically a finalist for the national award, which will be announced at the national conference this spring.

The NCMPR represents marketing and public relations professionals at community and technical colleges across the United States and Canada. District 3 of the NCMPR includes schools in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin and the Canadian province of Ontario.

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