What you need to know about the new direct marketing guidance note
Nadine Mather and Chloë Loubser
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Four Gold Quills in total for SA
SA corporate communications is on a par with the best in the world, with four prestigious international awards won in the recently judged Gold Quill Awards, an annual programme of the USA-based International Association of Business Communicators (IABC). So says Theresa Lee, chairperson of the Africa Region of the IABC, following the success of communicators from Russell & Associates, Nedbank Limited, FirstRand and Word's Worth.
Lee points out that the four South African entries were among only 129 Gold Quill Awards made this year, out of 1175 entries from 27 countries. The South African entrants received many favourable comments from both the regional and international judging panels.
The IABC's Gold Quill Awards are made annually to recognise excellence in communication. They are subject to stringent judging - first at regional level and then internationally. An important requirement for the success of entries is their ability to measure the effectiveness of the communication and its impact on the overall performance of the relevant company. Winners are given feedback on their entries.
The South African Award recipients were:
- Charmane Russell of Russell & Associates for the 2005 Harmony Gold Annual Report;
- Sue Niehaus and Kerri Savin of Nedbank Limited for Deep Green Day, an internal communications campaign;
- Pietie Mackenzie of FirstRand for Banking on Knowledge in the Employee/Member Communications category.
- Sophia Dower of Word's Worth for Small Capital, a quarterly publication providing guidelines for starting or growing a small or medium business.
Providing strong support
The Africa region of IABC provides strong support for aspirant entrants, with special workshops arranged at which previous winners and support company Quo Vadis Communications provide in-depth advice on the best way in which to prepare an entry. This is an important factor in the success of each entry, given the rigorous requirements for submission.
Lee says the success of the South African entries is the more remarkable given the number of varied challenges that communicators have to deal with in the country.
"Our challenges include the multi-cultural and multi-lingual nature of our society, as well as the normal challenges faced by other global communicators, such as financial pressures and the ability to keep up-to-date with modern trends in our field."
Lee has pledged that the number of entries from Africa will increase next year, adding that a regional Quill Award is also under consideration.
