Sierra Tel recently won two first place Indy Awards from the Organization for the Promotion and Advancement of Small Telecommunications Companies (OPASTCO) in the categories of Directory and Website. The awards will be presented on July 18, during the OPASTCO Summer Convention and Tradeshow in Minneapolis.

Every two years, OPASTCO recognizes the best communications and marketing publications created for the rural telecommunications industry. Entries for the 2012 contest were accepted from independent telephone companies throughout the United States and Canada.

A panel of outside judges familiar with publications and telecommunications review and score the entries in a specific category based on the following criteria: Definition of goals and how well those goals were met; design of the publication or item, including layout, writing and content; creativity used in designing the publication, including its effectiveness to deliver its message; and overall quality and excellence of the project.

The 2012 directory team included Debbie Peters, Peggy Kail, Monica Bates, Tami Michel, Dan Rule and Rima Runtzel.

"Sierra Tel's goal has always been to produce a Sierra Telephone Directory that is unique and educational," said Rule, company business manager. It has always been a very special labor of love and a source of pride for the company. The objective is to create a directory that provides accurate white pages listings, attractive, informative yellow pages, and to provide who, what, where and when information for customers and for visitors to the communities we serve."

Comprehensive information about phone company products and services is included in the directory, local and long distance calling and contact information, safety information, governmental and regulatory information, plus calendars of community events.

"Additionally, it has always been a goal to present a positive, professional image of the company," said Rule.

The 2011 Directory cover was designed to help create awareness of and to promote the historic Yosemite Mountain Sugar Pine Railroad.

Rule said the a lot of work went into developing an award winning Sierra Tel website. Sierra Tel used internal development staff including William Shockley, Eva Busto, Chris Jasper and Susan Norman to develop the website.

"The challenge was in bringing separate websites into a cohesive site that met the demands of all the Sierra Tel companies and was easy for subscribers to navigate and utilize," said project lead Matt Faulkner.

OPASTCO is a Washington, D.C.-based trade association that represents more than 550 small, independently owned, local telecommunications companies, serving 3.5 million customers primarily in rural areas of the United States and Canada.