South African winners of International Association of Business Communicators 2013 Gold Quill Awards were lauded at a celebratory function held in Pretoria. Of the 16 entries submitted by IABC Africa Region members to the prestigious international competition, half were recognised with either merit or excellence awards and one received a ‘Best of the Best’ award for scoring the highest out of all the winners in the Africa Region. This entry also scored the highest out of the more than 800 entries submitted to the competition.
The top scorer, Mari Lee of DevCom, a development communication consultancy, says, “It’s a great honour to be recognised for excellence in communication by one’s peers”. Lee’s entry showcased a successful stakeholder management campaign for the Timbali Technology Incubator, an agri-incubator setting up small scale farmers in their own sustainable businesses.
The local ceremony came after the winners had received their global awards at the IABC’s World Conference held in New York in June. At the celebration in Pretoria, they were presented with IABC Africa Gold Quill Excellence Awards.
“A Gold Quill award is the highest accolade in the global business communication environment. It is resounding confirmation that the work the entrant has produced is among the very best in terms of quality and effectiveness, in the world,” says IABC Africa chairperson, Sophia Dower.
Of the eight African winners, four were from Anglo American subsidiary Kumba Iron Ore.
