17th annual judgement of the PR industry

The Public Relations Society of Kenya (PRSK) has released timelines for entries for the 2017 PRSK Awards for Excellence. According to a press release from the industry’s body, the awards ceremony will be held on 17^th November, 2017. This is the 17^th year since the awards were established in the year 2000.

There are 13 categories for the awards. These include Consumer Relations Campaign of the Year; Crisis and Reputation Management; Financial Communication Campaign; Internal Communication Campaign of the Year; Media Relations Campaign of the Year; Public Affairs Campaign of the Year; PR Event of the Year; Social Investment Campaign of the Year; Public Sector Campaign of theYear; New Media PR Campaign of the year; Not for profit campaign of the year; Best Corporate Publication and; Young Communicator of the year.

There are also two honorary awards. These are the PR Golden Honors Award (PR hall of fame given to an individual) and the PR Shepherd Honors Award (recognizes organizational support given to the PR industry).

Entries are open to members and non-members from business enterprises, associations, private and government bodies, and students pursuing PR studies. The awards reflect the level of competitive services offered in the Kenya PR and communications industry.

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The comprehensive awards also seek to create a platform that showcases leadership, service and knowledge in the industry. Basically, it is all about promoting the practice of PR in the country by setting certain benchmarks. Therefore, it is expected that current entries should show a marked improvement or shift from the previous years.

Every year, unfortunately, the awards do not end without controversy, amidst accusations that the winners and judges belong to certain cliques or cartels. This would be extremely unfortunate, even if there was an iota of truth in it. It would be a great disservice to creating an environment where genius of innovation and creativity is recognized, regardless of where it emanates.

Further, PRSK must aggressively seek sponsorship for the awards in order to make submission of entries free. The high charges in entering various categories may be a deterrent in attracting individuals and organizations that have great potential. Meaning that only those with the money, no matter how uninspiring, might see the light of day!