Silver Oaks Receives Omni Awards

Silver Oaks Communications received five top Omni Intermedia Awards for achieving the highest standards of excellence in interactive and video production. The Omni Intermedia Awards recognize outstanding production, design and content in the converging fields of television, film, video, Internet, interactive media and 3D animation.

Silver Oaks Gold winner, Be a Bee, is an interactive program created for the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago, Illinois. Designed to illustrate the fascinating life of honeybees, Be a Bee combines lifelike 3D animation and amazing sound effects with engaging graphics in an entertaining, educational hands-on activity. One of the many exhibits produced by Silver Oaks for the Farm-in-the-Zoo Presented by John Deere, Be a Bee is located in the zoo's Main Barn.

A Silver Award was given to Stewards of the Land, which was also created for the Lincoln Park Zoo. By "driving" a tractor around a huge touch screen simulating a farm, visitors to the zoo learn more about farming and conservation techniques. A second Silver Omni was awarded to This is Easter Seals, a fundraising campaign. The seven-minute video features the courageous stories of Easter Seals clients.

Winning Bronze Awards are Why Birds Sing, created for the University of Iowa Museum of Natural History and Ph.I.L.S., Physiology Interactive Lab Simulations, designed and produced for McGraw-Hill Higher Education. Why Birds Sing touch-screen kiosk is an interactive exploration of bird songs and calls including range maps, videos of bird behavior, and a birdcall identification game. Ph.I.L.S 11 laboratory simulations allow students to adjust variables, view outcomes, make predictions and draw conclusions that reinforce key physiology concepts.

Omni Intermedia Awards have been presented to many different companies, including Dreamworks SKG, Discovery Channel, Animal Planet, Learning Channel, Arthur Andersen, Eastman Kodak, Ford, MTV, VH1, Telemundo, Warner Brothers, WFAA-TV, CNN, Phillips Design Group, PBS, U.S. Army, Canon USA, Drury Design Group and the National Gallery of Art. For a complete listing of winners visit www.omniawards.com/winner.html.

Jim Owen, Senior Administrator of the Omni Awards said, "This award recognizes the converging fields of media production and rewards those companies who can capture the imagination and effectively communicate their message."

Located in Moline, Illinois, Silver Oaks Communications has been creating award-winning communications solutions for over 20 years. Silver Oaks extensive in-house services include: graphic design, interactive, Web, video, audio, animation, photography, writing, prepress, print shop and marketing.