Judging completed for the 7th Annual Prism Awards

Established by the PRISA Consultants' Chapter (PRCC), the awards recognise and encourage excellence in public relations and communication practice.

Over the years, the number of categories has grown and the judging process for the PRISM Awards follows the same criteria as the UK Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Excellence Awards.

"The judging of the 7th Annual PRISM awards was completed on Wednesday, 10 March 2004, and we believe that the judges were extremely strict this year. This is especially important as we are raising the standard of the public relations and communication profession as well as standards for the PRISM awards," said Morne Ebersohn, Chairman of the PRISA PRCC. "Our judging panel included public relations and communication professionals, branding and marketing specialists as well as academics. They were specifically looking at how the public relations interventions submitted for the awards contributed to reach strategic business objectives," he said.

The judges for this year's PRISM awards were Andrew Fasedemi, chief executive officer, Wisdom Keys Group; Andy Rice, director, Yellowwood Brand Architects; Anthea Johnston APR, public relations consultant; Prof Ronel Rensburg, head: Department of Marketing and Communication Management, University of Pretoria; Sejamothopo Motau, general manager corporate affairs, Sasol Limited and Prof Thomas Oosthuizen, D Litt et Phil (Unisa) Communication, ID8. "The PRCC is exceptionally proud to have attracted well respected communication practitioners and academics to assist in the judging process. Over the past two years the judging standards have definitely been raised, and it will be interesting to see how the public relations and communication profession measures up to this higher standard."

"The profession has gained increased market awareness and support lately, and we are seeing that expectations in terms of public relations interventions are increasing. Clients demand strategic interventions from their in-house and external public relations consultants. The PRISM awards need to challenge the profession and continue to demand higher standards from its practitioners. The PRISM awards will become a benchmark for the profession," says Ebersohn.

He said that the judges had mixed feelings about the standard of the entries received this year. "We are not going to reveal the overall impression of the judges at this stage as the judges' chairman, Andrew Fasedemi, will address this matter at the awards ceremony."

The 2003 Financial Mail PRISA PRISM Awards Gala Dinner takes place on Wednesday 24 March at the Sandton Sun and Towers InterContinental. Guests are encouraged to book their places or organise corporate tables soon, as the tables are selling out fast. Contact Susan Richardson at PRISA for further information and bookings at .