2009 IABC African Quill winners announced

Small Capital for Africa project

Lee, who walked away with two International Gold Quill awards in 2008, speaking about the awards said, “They are the mark of global distinction and represent the highest level of professional acknowledgment within business communication today.”

The winners represent several communication disciplines, from employee and multi-audience communication, to publications and publication design.

The 2009 African Quill winners are:

Amanda Hamilton-Attwell, Business DNA
Division: Communication Management
Category: Strategic Communication Processes
Project: Research - A dashboard for guiding quick decisions

Elizabeth Anne Florecio, Nedbank
Division: Communication Skills
Category: Publications
Project: 3sixty

Michael Mitchley, Sentinel Mining
Division: Communication Management
Category: Strategic Communication Processes
Project: Sound process drives management led communication strategy and change

SARS Communication team
Division: Communication Management
Category: Multi audience Communication
Project: Tax Season 2008

Ilze van der Merwe, DevCom
Division: Communication Management
Category: Member/Employee communication
Project: Become involved to Resolve

Sophia Dower, Word's Worth
Division: Communication Creative
Category: Publication Design
Project: Standard Bank Small Capital for Africa

The Gold Quill programme is an international competition that reaches communicators worldwide through the IABC Chapters in various regions. Communication professionals are invited to submit their work for evaluation by their peers, by entering their communication project or product in one of 27 competition categories. The categories are designed to acknowledge excellence according to criteria within three broad divisions of communication management, communication skills and communication creative. Amongst the judging criteria are strategic relevance of the communication project, sound measurement and successful implementation.

The first tier adjudication sees industry role-players evaluating local entries according to the same criteria used by IABC Chapters worldwide. Those entries receiving a high score are awarded local Africa Quill status, and are also put forward to the second tier of adjudication, which is done at the IABC headquarters in San Francisco in the United States by an international delegation comprising the Blue Ribbon judging panel.

The Blue Ribbon results were also in by the time the African Quills event took place, and both Sophia Dower and Ilze van der Merwe were informed that their entries had also secured international Gold Quill awards. These are presented each year at the IABC Global Congress, and South Africans have picked up awards every year for the past nine years or longer.

Words'worth senior content manager, Sophia Dower, explains that the Small Capital for Africa project was launched in 2007 on behalf of Standard Bank to provide practical, relevant information and advice to owners of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) throughout the continent.

“Any business that has dipped its toes into continental waters will know that doing business in Africa - particularly as a small or medium enterprise - faces enormous challenges,” she says. “There is an incredible hunger among SME owners for advice, understanding and support - and that's exactly what the Small Capital for Africa project provides.”

The project consists of a “starter kit”, which has been distributed to Standard Bank branches in 12 African countries, and is presented to SME owners when they open a new business account. The kit includes a customised briefcase containing a 220+ page practical guide, as well as an interactive, self-contained CD with hints, tips, tools and templates for starting, managing and growing a small business.

Dower adds that a number of countries are now exploring the option of translating the package into their own official language. The first of these is Mozambique, with the Portuguese version of Small Capital for Africa due to reach branches before the end of 2009.

Communication professionals, regardless of whether or not they are IABC members, are encouraged to submit their work to the 2009 competition.

For more information about the Gold Quills and the IABC, go to www.iabc.co.za.