Indianapolis Motor Speedway New Media staff member Cassie Conklin received the Rising Star Award at the Indiana Women and Hi Tech Leading Light Awards ceremony Tuesday, Oct. 9 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in downtown Indianapolis.

Conklin was honored for her outstanding work and involvement with various IMS social media initiatives. Conklin’s contributions toward increasing and better positioning IMS’ social media presence, Web content re-direction and the success of the IMS Social Media Garage at the Indianapolis 500, Kroger Super Weekend at the Brickyard and the Red Bull Indianapolis GP were cited as reasons for her selection.

“I am honored to receive this award, and I am very thankful for the opportunity to work with an organization like the Indianapolis Motor Speedway,” Conklin said. “It has been particularly fun integrating today’s exciting new technologies into a facility with history and tradition dating back over 100 years.”

The Leading Light Awards honor women of achievement in science, education and technology. More than 400 of Indiana’s most influential business and technology leaders were on hand to honor this year’s award recipients.

Conklin has worked with IMS since April 2011 as a new media assistant. She is expected to graduate from Indiana University at Bloomington with a bachelor’s degree in journalism in 2013.

“Our events are extremely exciting and high-tech, and our fans are looking for new and innovative ways to connect to our races and the IMS brand,” said Rhonda Winter, chief information officer for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “Cassie added a lot of value to our team, and her energy, creative input and dedication helped us all succeed in offering a more compelling way for our fans to participate in and learn about the activities at our facility.”