More than 200 international guests attended the gala awards dinner at the London Marriott Hotel, Grosvenor Square, London. The awards were presented by Mr Yoshitoshi Kitajima President of Dai Nippon Printing Co., Ltd. (DNP) the exclusive sponsors.
This year's winner of the top award was Bromley / Manning Selvage & Lee from San Antonio, Texas, USA for their "Helping Hands" programme for Western Union. Present to receive the award was Erenay Jackson, Manager Marketing, Communications and Public Relations, Western Union International. Also present were Deborah Vallejo, Managing Director of Bromley MS&L and Bill Thomas, President Western Union, International. The Western Union Helping Hands programme enabled hundreds of thousands of Hispanic immigrants to the United States to learn how to make their way, understand their new surroundings, and best help their families at home in El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua
The United Nations Award was presented to Lawrence Gikaru of Apex Communications, Nairobi, on behalf of the John Hopkins University for the Tanzanian Aids Commission education and awareness programme.
Other winners included agencies and organisations from the USA, UK, France, German, Spain, Hungary, Russia, Hong Kong and Australia. Several public relations agencies, including Manning Selvage & Lee, Edelman, Ketchum, Weber Shandwick and Golin Harris won more than one award.
In his opening remarks, IPRA 2002 President Jacques Dinan commented; "The IPRA Golden World is the worlds most prestigious and far-reaching awards programme recognising the best public relations work from across the globe. Each year its influence and recognition grows. This year, the jury of senior professionals from more than 12 countries gathered in London, under the Chairmanship of Michael Morley of Edelman, to select 46 diverse campaigns from as far apart as Brazil, Turkey, Poland, Hong Kong and Australia.
Dinan continued "Once again I acknowledge and thank our sponsors Dai Nippon Printing for their continued support and for their third year of sponsorship for the IPRA Golden World Awards"
Jury Chairman Michael Morley, who hosted the award ceremony, was also full of praise for this year's winners and judges. "IPRA recognises and thanks all of the companies and organisations who entered this year's awards. The closely fought categories generated passionate debates on the merits of each submission. The range of skills demonstrated across the programmes and the level of achievement are testament to the development of our profession" said the IPRA Jury Chairman.
On behalf of the board of IPRA, President Jacques Dinan also presented the IPRA 2002 Gold Medal to the Golden Jubilee Office, in recognition of their outstanding communications programme of behalf of the 50th Jubilee Celebrations of HM Queen Elizabeth II. The IPRA Gold Medal is awarded by the President to either individuals or organisations whose public relations programmes have achieved significant and lasting impact on a global audience.
"The Jubilee team's readiness and ability to communicate with global media audiences and to respond to international media interests and demands were outstanding. The team is to be congratulated and IPRA is delighted to recognise its achievements in such a positive manner," Dinan said."
IPRA Golden World Awards
The awards, founded by IPRA in 1990, are the only multi-national awards programme in the world of public relations. This year saw the biggest entry, 266 programmes from 42 countries. IPRA makes summaries of the winning awards available to public relations student through its website www.ipra.org and the IPRA magazine FrontLine.
With over 900 members in 95 countries, IPRA is the world's leading professional association for senior international public relations professionals. Established in 1955, the organisation's activities include the IPRA Golden World Awards, the only global public relations awards programme; professional development conferences and seminars; publishing IPRA FrontLine, the international public relations quarterly; the website www.ipra.org, the leading public relations portal, regular Gold Papers on issues affecting the international communications profession; assistance with the development of public relations professionalism in new and emerging markets, and a wide range of professional member services. The organisation also hosts a number of regional and conferences annually, as well as a tri-annual World Congress on Public Relations.
