The International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), a global community for the meetings industry, will present an all-new “Best Public Relations Award” at ICCA Congress 2013. The award covers traditional print and Web/social media channels.
Carefully evaluating the PR coverage of ICCA members over the course of a year, Martin Sirk, CEO, ICCA, and Mathijs Vleeming, marketing and PR manager, ICCA, compiled a shortlist of five candidates for the award. The official winner will be announced on Nov. 3 at the ICCA Congress luncheon in Shanghai.
All ICCA members on the shortlist will be invited to give a short presentation on their PR activities and the strategy behind it in a dedicated media and PR session at the ICCA Congress.
“We have all been looking out for strong story-telling, high-visibility coverage, brand consistency, PR that helps to overcome a crisis, and PR that showcases success,” said Sirk. “We have been looking for any of the skills required to deliver an exceptional PR performance, covering both traditional print and Web/social media channels.”
The judging panel for this year’s award consists of James Latham, executive producer, International Meetings Review; Martin Lewis, chairman of the Editorial Advisory Board, IMR; and chief editor, CAT Publications; Roger Kellerman, Meetings International; and Mathijs Vleeming, marketing and PR manager, ICCA.
“We’re very excited to be working with IMR on this new award and on other projects designed to help ICCA members gain the best possible editorial coverage around the world,” said Sirk. “We have long believed that PR is one of the most cost-effective yet under-utilized elements in the marketing mix, which is one of the reasons we launched the ICCA PR Kit, our free ICCA resource that will help to dramatically improve ICCA member’s PR performance. Our partnership with IMR ensures that more and more ICCA members will learn to become star PR performers.”
The ICCA “Best PR Award” competition was first introduced at the 2012 ICCA Congress in Puerto Rico, where ICCA and its business partner, International Meetings Review, confirmed their long-term strategic collaboration. IMR took over the sponsorship of the Sunday lunch for what will become a regular, annual showcase of IMR and its media partners from around the world, and a celebration of the very best PR work by ICCA members.
