43 countries enter 2009 IPRA Golden World Awards

The call for entries for the 18th annual event was announced in March and all entries had to be submitted by May 2009. Companies, associations, private institutions, NGOs and government bodies worldwide are eligible for the competition. PR campaigns can be local, regional, national or international.

Entries submitted to the IPRA Golden World Awards for Excellence competition are judged by an international panel of senior practitioners. Each entry is assessed on the basis of its competence in five areas - a statement of the issue; research; planning; execution and evaluation. The categories have no effect on the volume of entries.

Judging takes place in two parts - a remote stage and a physical round. The remote stage takes place via email in May and June with the final judging being held in Warsaw, Poland at the end of June.

Countries participating in the 2009 competition:

Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Lithuania, Nigeria, Northern Ireland, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, UK, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, USA

Although last year's number of entries was higher than this year's, the IPRA is not unhappy about the slight down turn year-on-year given the global slowdown.

"The turnout is still good, despite the economic climate" says Maria Gergova, 2009 President of IPRA, "and it shows us that practitioners are committed to quality standards despite the worldwide recession," she concludes.

For more information, go to www.ipra.org.