Anyone could win... The Good Hope FM Best of Cape Town Awards!

“The motivation for the awards,” says Meegan Kieffer, marketing manager of Good Hope FM, “is that together with Cape Town Tourism and other stakeholders, we want to reward those who truly make our city a better place to live. With 2010 around the corner, we want to promote service excellence and encourage everyone to go the extra mile. Anybody who sells, competes, entertains, accommodates, feeds, serves, shelters, teaches or saves lives in Cape Town is eligible. Anybody can vote, and anyone could be a potential winner!

“Good Hope FM is delighted to have this opportunity to highlight those Capetonians who make a difference and we are confident that if we all work together to achieve a common vision, these awards can go a long way to building pride in our unique city.”

Explaining the nomination process, awards director Alison Mulhall says, “This is a competition with a significant difference. The Good Hope FM Best of Cape Town Awards have been established to recognise, reward and applaud Capetonians who have achieved excellence to such a point that the public have decided that they are the best in their field. Through creating a culture that celebrates success and excellence, we are endeavouring to raise the bar of service delivery and ensure that Cape Town remains a world-class destination, for 2010 and beyond.”

Finalists are chosen purely on the basis of the number of nominations they receive from the public. Simply put, the more nominations put forward by the public for a candidate, the better their chance of becoming a finalist. Winners will also be decided by public vote and the finalists with the most votes will be declared winners of The Best of Cape Town Awards in their categories.

The Best of Cape Town Awards categories are as follows:

Cape Town Shopping, which has two sub-categories including:
• Best Shopping Centre
• Best Retail Outlet

Cape Town Achievers, which has four sub-categories including:
• Best Sports Person
• Best Sports Team
• Best Performing Artist
• Best Performing Group

Cape Town Hospitality, which has four sub-categories including:
• Best Attraction/Event
• Best Accommodation
• Best Restaurant
• Best Nightspot

Creative Cape Town, which has two sub-categories including:
• Best Building (completed by January 2006)
• Best ‘Made in Cape Town' product or service (established between 2004 and 2006)

Cape Town Heroes, which has three sub-categories including:
• Best Emergency Services Hero (fire, police, traffic and medical)
• Best Education Hero (teachers, lecturers, head principals)
• Best Community Hero (good Samaritan, NGO/CBO initiatives)

Mulhall says the public only needs to provide the name of their nominee and they do not need to justify or explain why they are being nominated. However, she says the public need to consider some key factors when making their nominations as these will form the underlying criteria for successful nomination:
• do they embrace a ‘green' policy on water, energy and water?
• do they contribute to empowerment by mentoring others or transferring their skills?
• are they law-abiding?
• do they excel in service delivery?
• do they have an outstanding product offering?
• do they show creativity and innovation?
• is Cape Town their base?
• are they currently active in their field of expertise?

Nominations close on Thursday 14 August.

She reiterates that ordinary Capetonians will decide the finalists. “The five nominees who receive the most nominations in each category will be declared finalists. Due diligence will be done on the five finalists by a committee of experts in their respective fields and will be verified by Grant Thornton. Those that most closely comply with all the above criteria will be declared finalists and their names put out to public vote. The winner will be whichever finalist receives the most votes from the public.”

The winners will be announced at a red-carpet event to be held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre on 13 September and members of the public will be able to purchase tickets to watch their favourite finalist announced the winner.

How can nominations and votes be made?

Official nomination forms can be collected from Cape Town Tourism Visitor Centres or the SABC Office in Beach Road Sea Point or you can nominate online www.goodhopefm.co.za. Once completed - with the name of your nominee spelt correctly - they can be dropped off at any Cape Town Tourism Visitor Centre or the SABC offices in Sea Point or they can be posted to:

Good Hope FM Best of Cape Town Awards
PO Box 156
Cape Town
8000

or faxed to 086 609 8500. Alternatively log onto www.goodhopefm.co.za.

All funds raised by the Good Hope FM Best of Cape Town Awards will go to the establishment of the Amy Biehl Foundation Tik Prevention Programme. As lovely as the Western Cape is, if we don't get tik abuse in check now, it will wreck havoc on all that we have achieved. To play a part in fighting this destructive drug by pledging R30, SMS “NO TIK” to 42772. Research shows that youngsters who are occupied after school between 3pm and 6pm are less likely to fall prey to addiction. It is envisaged that the Tik Prevention Programme will become involved in after-school activities in areas with vulnerable youth.

“We thank Good Hope FM for electing us as the first beneficiary of these amazing, public-spirited awards,” says Kevin Chaplin, managing director of the Amy Biehl Foundation. “Congratulations to all nominees - you make our city a great place to live in!”