The San Diego Press Club (SDPC) will host its 53rd annual Excellence in Journalism awards program on Tuesday evening, Oct. 27, at the Southwestern College’s new Student Union Ballroom, 900 Otay Lakes Road, Chula Vista. Free parking is available in Parking Lot “A.”
The awards event is open to the public. The pre-event reception runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m., followed by the program, from 8 to 9 p.m. Cost to attend is $65 for SDPC members and $76 for nonmembers. A table for 10 is priced at $600.
For ticket information, visit www.sdpressclub.org. For sponsorship information, contact Albert Fulcher, SDPC executive director, at admin@sdpressclub.org, or 858-215-1619.
SDPC said more than 500 awards will be presented in more than 130 categories and 10 divisions, along with special career achievement awards and scholarships for college students. This year’s awards program drew more than 1,000 entries, making it one of the largest journalism competitions in the nation.
Award winners will include reporters, writers, artists, photographers, videographers and public relations professionals, along with college journalists.
Receiving the Jim Reiman Enlightened Media Management Award will be Troy and Claire Johnson, owners of San Diego Magazine. The award is given to the boss or supervisor who shows exceptional leadership or managerial skills to promote a positive, creative, and healthy work environment.
After spending a dozen years in national media roles, the Johnsons acquired San Diego Magazine in 2021. Over the last five years, they have transformed the 78-year-old magazine into a full media platform. Among their initiatives: launching the Here We Are Studios, an in-house creative shop, and co-founding the Del Mar Wine and Food Festival. The Johnsons remain convinced that a city’s story should be told by the people who actually live there, SDPC said.
“This October will be five years since Troy and I acquired San Diego Magazine, and it’s been a wild and exciting and chaotic adventure, but one that’s made us more sure than ever, that we want to continue building here at home,” Claire told Times of San Diego.
The magazine was founded in 1948.
“When Troy and I acquired San Diego Magazine, it was never just to save an iconic magazine,” said Claire, who serves as the magazine’s CEO. “It was to build something bigger that connects people, entrepreneurs and communities through shared experiences. We build connection.”
A statement said the work of Here We Are Studios spans two lanes, including original programming and creative services.
Here We Are Studios produces San Diego Magazine’s owned series, including the long-running Happy Half Hour podcast and the SDM Guides video series, along with flagship experiential events, including Best of San Diego and The Omakase Open, a first-of-its-kind experiential event created for Sapporo.
Here We Are also partners with brands, institutions and organizations across the region on creative strategy, brand identity and positioning, campaign creative, documentary film, branded content and full-service production, a statement said.
Additional recent work has included a campaign celebrating San Diego’s creative community for Sony, a 30th anniversary storytelling campaign for Stone Brewing, an integrated outreach campaign for the Museum of Contemporary Art San Diego and an ongoing creative partnership with SDFC.
The studio is led by Megan Grable, managing director and executive creative director, who works alongside a full in-house team of creatives, strategists, producers and editors.
“Here We Are Studios exists to make the shows, films and campaigns that make San Diegans feel more at home in their own city, and to do that same work for the brands and institutions that are serious about being part of this place,” said Claire.
Receiving the Harold Keen Award for Outstanding Contribution in Journalism will be Elsa Sevilla, an award-winning journalist and historical filmmaker with a career spanning four decades. The Keen award is given to the journalist who has throughout their career shown a high degree of professionalism and gone above and beyond standard practices for the sake of fairness and truth telling.
Arriving in San Diego at age five speaking only Spanish, Sevilla found connection through storytelling, driving a lifelong commitment to sharing stories that inform, inspire and empower. After internships at KNSD-TV NBC 7 San Diego and C-SPAN, Sevilla spent 20 years at KGTV 10 News, including 13 years on the air covering breaking news, investigative reports and major events.
In 1998, Sevilla founded Sevilla Productions. As creator and host of “Historic Places with Elsa Sevilla” airing on KPBS, she has produced more than 80 documentaries since launching the series in 2008.
Receiving the Terry Williams Directors Award will be Dr. Max Branscomb, retired professor at Southwestern College.
During his 30-year career at Southwestern, Branscomb taught journalism, mass communication, creative writing and political science and served as faculty advisor of the Southwestern College Sun since 1996. He founded El Sol Magazine in 2010.
Branscomb is a five-time National College Journalism Professor of the Year and Society of Professional Journalists Sunshine Award winner. He is a member of the Associated Collegiate Press (ACP) Journalism Professors Hall of Fame.
Under Branscomb’s leadership, the two publications have won 26 ACP Pacemaker Awards, regarded as the collegiate Pulitzer Prize. Also, the Sun and El Sol have been were named National Collegiate Publication of the Year more than 40 times since 2003.
Receiving the Andy Mace Award for Outstanding Contribution in Public Relations will be Denise Scatena, CEO of Scatena Media Group. The Mace award is presented to a public relations or marketing professional who has exemplified a high ethical standard of fairness and integrity, and over the course of their career has effectively disseminated the truth on behalf of their clients to the general public.
With nearly 30 years of experience, Scatena has led award-winning campaigns and initiatives across many sectors, including nonprofits, healthcare, telecommunications, hospitality and professional services.
Scatena has been instrumental in the growth and long-term success of Mama’s Kitchen, both professionally and as a former board member whose leadership helped shape and strengthen the organization during its formative years.
Scatena’s community involvement and pro bono work for numerous nonprofit organizations includes services as a San Diego Press Club board member from 2019-2025. For her efforts, Scatena was honored with the Eva Irving Community Service Award in 2024 and as the Deborah L. Baker Public Relations Professional of the Year in 2020 by the San Diego-Imperial Chapter of the Public Relations Society of America.
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Palomar Insurance sponsoring Aztecs football jerseys
San Diego State University Athletics has announced a multi-year sponsorship with Palomar Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLMR) that includes a Palomar Insurance patch appearing on the front right shoulder of Aztecs football black-and-red jerseys this current season.
Financial terms of the sponsorship were not announced. It’s the first time for an apparel partner to appear on Aztecs uniforms, SDSU Athletics said.
“It is an exciting time at San Diego State as we head into our first year in the Pac-12, and we are thankful for the continued support of a San Diego-based company that focuses on serving the local community,” said John David Wicker, director of athletics at SDSU.
The expanded partnership builds on an original agreement announced in February 2026, when Palomar was named SDSU Athletics’ Official Specialty Insurance Partner and Official Volunteerism Partner. The partnership centers on community engagement, highlighted by Days of Service that will bring SDSU’s more than 500 student-athletes to support local organizations addressing needs across the San Diego community, a statement said.
“Palomar is both thrilled and honored to be the Aztecs’ inaugural jersey patch partner,” said Mac Armstrong, chairman and CEO of Palomar. “It is a natural extension of our identity as a San Diego-born company that has scaled into a national specialty insurance leader. We are excited to lock arms with the football program as it enters the Pac-12 and to bring the Palomar name to a wider stage right alongside the Aztecs.”
JMI Sports, the exclusive multimedia rights partner for SDSU Athletics, operating locally as SDSU Athletic Partnerships, connected Palomar and SDSU Athletics on the original agreement and continued to work alongside both organizations to grow the partnership that includes the jersey patch, a statement said.
“We are proud to have brought SDSU football together with a local brand like Palomar that believes in the future of the program,” said Erik Judson, co-founder and CEO at JMI Sports. “Palomar has chosen to put that support front and center with a jersey patch that will stand with the Aztecs every game day, while also continuing to build on its commitment to the community.”
So far this season, the football team’s record is 2-4 and 1-1 in Pac-12 conference games. On Saturday, Oct. 10, Oregon State beat the Aztecs 66-14. It was the fourth loss in five games for SDSU, which allowed the third-most points in a game in the program’s 104-year history.
The Beavers outgained the Aztecs 651-to-147 yards in total offense, including 409 passing yards. Oregon State had a 2-to-1 advantage in the number of offensive plays and time of possession. The Beavers had five touchdowns before SDSU had five first downs and scored on 10 of their first 11 possessions.
SDSU’s next game is against Fresno State on Saturday, Oct. 17 at Snapdragon Stadium.
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San Diego AMA hosts Longball presentation, Oct. 27
The American Marketing Association’s (AMA) San Diego chapter will host “Inside the Making of a Lifestyle Brand,” a presentation how Longball Cocktail Club is intersecting golf, craft cocktails and culture, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m., Tuesday, Oct. 27 at Longball Cocktail Club and Golf Simulator, 4026 Hawk St. Suite #A, San Diego.
The presentation will feature a behind-the-scenes conversation on brand building, experiential marketing and the partnerships that help emerging brands grow. Speakers will include Daniel O’Connor, co-founder/CEO, Longball Craft Cocktails, and Donovan Dresti, VP of marketing, Betr Brands Solutions of San Diego.
From creating experiences that bring the brand to life to building community and expanding reach without losing authenticity, this conversation will explore both sides of the brand-partner relationship and the strategy behind Longball’s growth, AMA said.
Admission is $44 for AMA members, $55 for nonmembers. For more information, send an email to info@sdama.org or visit https://sdama.org.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly in Times of San Diego.
