2013 MPASA PICA Awards: SARIE, RISKSA and Men's Health magazines take top honours

The awards took place at the Emperors Palace Hotel Casino Convention Resort. They were closely followed by Men's Health (four awards). Known as the "Oscars" of the SA magazine industry, the MPASA PICA Awards recognise individuals and companies in the magazine industry that deliver publishing and editorial excellence, and display excellent teamwork.

SARIE dominated the event by taking home the Rossi Trophy for Consumer Magazine of the Year, the Jane Raphaely Consumer Editor of the Year award for Michélle van Breda, as well as awards for Consumer Publishing Excellence - General Interest, Non-Professional Writer of the Year: Consumer for Annerie du Plooy ("Ter Gedagtenis aan Henk"), and Online Solution. Three of these awards included consecutive repeat wins for the title. SARIE brand extension SARIE KOS also performed well, clinching the award for Décor, Crafts, Food and Gardening, while its recently launched brand extension in the English language, SARIE FOOD, won for Annuals, Directories, Product Guides & Special Editions.

RISKSA in turn managed not only to successfully defend four of its category wins from last year, but also walked away with the Profile Writer of the Year: Business-to-Business award (Hanna Barry for "Leading Lloyd's"). Repeating their 2012 wins, the RISKSA team once again managed to secure the awards for Professional Services and Cover of the Year in the Business-to-Business Publishing Excellence sector, and Andy Marks again took home the Watling Trophy for Editor of the Year: Business-to-Business Publishing.

Men's Health was victorious in two new categories this year - Columnist of the Year: Consumer for Adam Cooke ("Man to Man") and Health and Wellness Writer of the Year for Gordon Laws ("King of the Fat Guys"). These awards were added to repeat wins from last year, namely Designer of the Year: Consumer for "A Bunch of Real Losers" by Robert Cilliers and Clinton Jurgens, as well as Consumer Publishing Excellence - International General Interest.

Commended, and a Special Award

Other titles commended at the 2013 MPASA PICA Awards included High Life and Joburg Style - both securing three awards each. High Life won Feature Writer of the Year: Customer (Janine Stephen for "Spot the Dog"), Designer of the Year: Customer (Craig Baxter for a series of designs) and Customer Publishing Excellence - Cover of the Year. Joburg Style secured a repeat win for Editorial Publishing Excellence - Photojournalist of the Year: Consumer (John Ferraz for "The Invisibles"), and also took home two new awards for Feature Writer of the Year: Consumer (Elizabeth Donaldson for "Voices on a Train") and Consumer Publishing Excellence - Consumer Magazines (largely free distribution). Customer Magazine of the Year honours went to Woolworths Taste, while Robbie Stammers of The Intrepid Explorer received the award for Editor of the Year: Customer Publishing.

A Special Award for Editor was bestowed on Chris Bishop of Forbes Africa, whose publication did not fit into any of the Editor of the Year categories, owing to its distribution model.

As main sponsor of the event, Peter Metcalfe, executive director: sales of Paarl Media, says: "Paarl Media congratulates the winners of the 2013 PICA Awards - as committed industry players we are proud to play our part in promoting excellence in the printing and publishing industry.

"This event and the great work recognised is testament to the quality being produced by the magazine industry, inspiring all in attendance and motivating future journalists, designers and publishers - this in itself makes our contribution to this industry event rewarding."

Says Willem Breytenbach, chairman of MPASA: "The 2013 MPASA PICA Awards represented a highlight for the magazine industry this year as it saw the largest number of entries of the past four years. We should all get excited about the vast range of opportunities available to us. We now have the ability to supply content in many different formats and on a wide range of platforms previously unavailable to us. Magazines are content leaders that deliver the best content via print, online, mobiles and apps. We will take back our birthright! Magazine titles from all media houses need to stand together to take back our birthright. We create the best multi-platform media!"

Melony Boucher, PICA project manager, adds: "Kudos all around to a job well done! To those who entered the 2013 MPASA PICA Awards, I salute you for filling our world with brilliant journalism, breath-taking and eye-popping visuals, and bursts of colour. We're already looking forward to welcoming you to the 2014 event."

For the first time in the history of the MPASA PICA Awards, interested parties are able to download the enriched PICA Winners Showcase magazine (go to your app store, search for "PICA Awards" and download to your tablet). The magazine will not only showcase the award winners, but also all the latest news of the PICA Awards.

The 2013 MPASA PICA Awards also allowed non-MPASA members to enter for this first time this year.

Another first for the MPASA PICA Awards was the addition of new categories targeting the youth market. The overall youth market winner was Totem.

For more information about the MPASA PICA Awards, visit www.mpasa.org.za and click on the PICA 2013 banner. For the latest updates, follow @mpasamags on Twitter.

WINNERS OF 2013 MPASA PICA AWARDS

EDITORIAL PUBLISHING EXCELLENCE AWARDS:

Columnist of the Year - Consumer:
Adam Cooke - "Man to Man: a series of columns" - Men's Health, Media24

Columnist of the Year - Business-to-Business:
Peter Major - "Stop Blaming the Past" - SA Mining, Times Media

Columnist of the Year - Customer:
Darrel Bristow-Bovey - "Home Alone" - Fresh Living, John Brown Publishing

Feature Writer of the Year - Consumer
Elizabeth Donaldson - "Voices on a Train" - Joburg Style, Ballyhoo Media

Feature Writer of the Year - Business-to-Business
"A Lost Generation?" by Wessel Ebersohn, Kathleen Ebersohn & Mbali Dlamini - Debate, Debate

Feature Writer of the Year - Customer
Janine Stephen - "Spot the Dog" - High Life, Cedar Communications

Profile Writer of the Year - Consumer
Erns Grundling - "Suidwes se Storieman" - Weg!, Media24

Profile Writer of the Year - Business-to-Business
Hanna Barry - "Leading Lloyd's" - RISKSA, COSA Communications

Profile Writer of the Year - Customer
AJ Opperman - "Hulle Noem Haar Liewe Verna" - Taalgenoot , ATKV

Health and Wellness Writer of the Year
Gordon Laws - "King of the Fat Guys" - Men's Health, Media24

Travel Writer of the Year
Will Bendix - "The Alchemy of Gambia" - ZigZag, Media24

Non-Professional Writer of the Year - Consumer
Annerie du Plooy - "Ter Gedagtenis aan Henk" - SARIE, Media24

Non-Professional Writer of the Year - Business-to-Business
Vincent Kuo - "The Art of Civil Engineering" - South African Institution of Civil Engineering

Non-Professional Writer of the Year - Customer
Michael 't Sas-Rolfes "Hunting Safaris' Future" - Wildlife Ranching, AgriConnect

Designer of the Year (Layout of the Year) - Consumer
Robert Cilliers and Clinton Jurgens - "A Bunch of Real Losers" - Men's Health, Media24

Designer (Layout) of the Year - Business-to-Business
Michelle du Pisani - "Uncomfortable Familiarity - the Bredasdorp Reality" - Debate, Debate

Designer (Layout) of the Year - Customer
Craig Baxter - a series of designs - High Life, Cedar Communications

Photographer / Photojournalist of the Year - Consumer
John Ferraz - "The Invisibles" - Joburg Style, Ballyhoo Media

Visual Production of the Year - Consumer
Crystal Birch and Jonathan Taylor - "Triple Threat" - FHM, Media24

Visual Production of the Year - Customer
Tina-Marié Malherbe, Dirk Pieters, Marianne Burke - "Fade to Blue" - Plascon Spaces, New Media

OVERALL PUBLISHING EXCELLENCE AWARDS:

Philip Tyler Trophy - Launch/Relaunch
VISI - New Media

Youth Market
TOTEM - John Brown Media

Annuals, Directories, Product Guides and Special Editions
SARIE FOOD - SARIE KOS, Media24

Supplements
"Boerekos" - Landbouweekblad, Media24

Online Solution
www.sarie.com - (SARIE), Media24

360 Degrees of Innovation
LEGiT, The Publishing Partnership

CUSTOMER PUBLISHING EXCELLENCE AWARDS:

Retail & Consumer Goods
Woolworths TASTE - New Media

Leisure & Lifestyle
Private Edition - The Publishing Partnership

Education, Health, Conservation, Safety and Security
Wild - TIP Africa Publishing

Financial and Other Professional Services
JSE - Highbury Safika Media

Customer Cover of the Year
High Life (May 2013 Cover), Cedar Communications

BUSINESS-TO-BUSINESS PUBLISHING EXCELLENCE AWARDS:

Professional Services
RISKSA - COSA Communications

Essential Services
Sea Rescue - The Publishing Partnership

Resource-Based Industries
The Dairy Mail - AgriConnect

Construction, Engineering and Related Industries
earthworks - Young Africa Publishing

Business-to-Business Cover of the Year
RISKSA - COSA Communications (October 2012)

CONSUMER PUBLISHING EXCELLENCE AWARDS:

General Interest (Male & Female)
SARIE - Media 24

International General Interest (Male & Female)
Men's Health - Media24

Special Interest (Male & Female)
Longevity - Aegle Wellness

International Special Interest (Male & Female)
ELLE - Times Media

Décor, Crafts, Food and Gardening
SARIE KOS - Media24

Consumer Cover of the Year
VISI (Issue 64) - New Media

Consumer Magazine Largely Free Distribution
Joburg Style - Ballyhoo Media

EDITOR OF THE YEAR AWARDS:

Editor of the Year - Customer
Robbie Stammers of The Intrepid Explorer - Insights Publishing

Editor of the Year - Business-to-Business
Andy Marks - RISKSA, COSA Communications

Jane Raphaely Consumer Editor of the Year
Michélle van Breda - SARIE, Media24

Special Award for Editor
Chris Bishop - Forbes Africa, ABN Publishing

MAGAZINE OF THE YEAR AWARDS:

Customer Magazine of the Year
Woolworths TASTE, New Media

Watling Trophy for Business-to-Business Magazine of the Year
RISKSA - COSA Communications

Rossi Trophy for Consumer Magazine of the Year
SARIE - Media24