The Media magazine and Wag the Dog Publishers hosted a successful tenth Women in The Media awards event last week, and not without much planning, hard work and attention to detail on the part of the organisers and the judges.
Terry Volkwyn might have been crowned the 1st for Women Insurance Company Woman of the Decade in Media award, but if these letters to the CEO are anything to go by, the uncrowned heroine of the affair was Wag the Dog CEO, Sandra Gordon, who has kept the awards going for a decade…and will keep them going as long as there is still a glass ceiling hampering progress of women in the media.
Dear Sandra,
Just a quick note to say a BIG Thank You to you and your Team on a remarkable event and Congratulations on all that you have achieved with The Woman in the Media over the last 10 years.
Also a special note of thanks to your board who selected/voted me as the winner. I am delighted and relieved to have won and the past 24 hours have been a “rush”.
Please pass on my gratitude to all involved and apologies for the harassment you might have experienced from my team. They are a “passionate” bunch and I am truly grateful for their support and enthusiasm.
Terry
[Terry Volkwyn]
Sandra
Next time someone asks me “what’s the secret to having people listen to your speech?” I’ll say “speak like you’re speaking to friends around a table, like Sandra Gordon does.”
Next time someone asks me “what’s the secret to having people remember what you said?” I’ll say “give them blunt straight truths including ones that normally get whispered, like Sandra Gordon does.”
Next time someone asks me “what’s the secret to having them go away thinking of you as a distinctive individualist?” I’ll say “wear an orange jacket against your sponsors’ pink branding, like Sandra Gordon does.”
Mahvellus occasion. One guest told me “It’s become the Place To Be, all of us are going to accidentally bring it into every possible conversation for months to come.”
Great year to you and to The Media and to WtD.
Denis
[Denis Beckett]
Hi Sandra, Peta and Ronell and all who made today so special
Firstly a big thank you for my 10 year birthday party of being on the Board. It feels to me I should be the one honouring you guys and not having an unexpected and kind acknowledgement from you. It will have a special place in my office and in my heart.
But The Media Magazine is there anyway, as are the great people I have ‘served’ with. And what an event – I think it has become an icon of what an awards event should be. And there were many lovely moments – not least of which was Bea saying to me as Gordon started his description: “I wonder who he is talking about” and then her face when she realised who it was!
Ferial was very gracious about not winning as was Esmare so I think it all turned out fantastically. And the Primedia crew were ecstatic as you saw. What a lovely thing has emerged with people standing up to acknowledge the winners – I think it is a tribute to the esteem in which the awards are held.
So thank you for yet another incomparable stylish, impressive, and meaningful event.
I love you all!
Jos
[Jos Kuper is a member of The Media’s editorial board]
Dear Sandra
I so LOVED your Women in the Media lunch…perfectly done, everything looking so exquisite!
You too!
And our table just screamed with laughter at all your quips….it wouldn’t be the same without you. And Edwin told me that you’re cousins…he’s just a dreamboat and sat at our table, love him!
Beatrice Khubeka and I go back a long way, we fell on each other.
Well done for all you do Sandra, to highlight the extraordinary strides women are making.
Sue
[Sue Grant-Marshall]
Dear Sandra
A belated thanks and well done on yet another superb Women in Media event.
Truly enjoyable!
Xxxxxx
Clare
[Claire O’Neil]
Dear Sandra,
You and your team are stars!
This was the best function yet!
Kate x
[Kate Turkington]
Hi Peta
What a charming event. I was delighted to be there and very honoured by the award. Thank you and the committee so much for even thinking of me. What a lot of talent South Africa has. And that is good.
I was also so delighted to meet some old friends and colleagues.
I am writing briefly as I am packing up house and moving Monday and hoping like hell Telkom moves the phone and broadband as they say they will.
Please will you pass on my grateful thanks. I will contact you again when the move is over. (I do not know why I am moving actually. The closer it gets the more I think I have been really, really stupid!)
Bestest
Peta T
[Peta Thornycroft, Lifetime Achiever]
Dear Sandra,
I hope that you were able to stay home today and rest up – you were marvellous yesterday in spite of not being 100% well, so a bit of rest after all that stress is important. Although – thanks to Revlon – no one would have guessed you weren’t in top form! Must say I enjoyed my make-up session thanks to Adele.
Thank you for inviting Tim and me to be your guests once again – I do appreciate being part of it all, and thought yesterday was the best ever. The excitement around the Woman of the Decade winner was palpable and you handled the whole thing very easily – neither Ferial nor Esmare could have been at all put out, and definitely Terry was a very popular and deserving winner.
Congratulations Sandra – you did it again! Thank you, too, for my special gift – I certainly wasn’t expecting to be mentioned at all, and was very touched.
Many thanks again Sandra – as far as I am concerned, you are my ‘woman of the decade’ and I only wish we could find a way to honour you the way you do for others.
Love
Ba
[Barbara Cooke]
Hi guys
Firstly just a quick note to say Thank You so much for yesterday. It was such a lovely event, fabulous speeches, great food and champers and as always, so nice to catch up with old friends. The cherry on the top was us both being so spoilt with our prizes – I really have no idea how that happened – but a very big thank you from both of us nonetheless!
I also just wanted to congratulate you, Sandra, on the wonderful job that you have done these past ten years in recognizing Women in Media and providing a platform where they are nurtured, and encouraged to reach their full potential and then recognised for their achievements and contributions.
Karen and I were talking last night over supper and both of us had had the same feeling yesterday as we looked across the room and saw the cumulative scale of what you have done for the past 10 years. What an unbelievable achievement !
You have made such a difference in so very many women’s lives and you deserve to be very proud.
Ta
Marisa
[Marisa Torrani | Popcorn]
Dear Sandra, Michelle and Ronell (what special ladies)
Well if it was at all possible, you and your teams outdid yourselves yesterday!
It was pure magic and what a treat. Revlon brought some real pizazz to the day as well as the delicious Mum champagne.
I have heard so much media feedback.
Thanks again for including me in this day. I feel inspired and totally spoilt.
Have a wonderful weekend and I hope Sandra is feeling better.
Lots of love
Dustine
[Dustine Tobler]
