Southern Africa’s premier awards for public relations excellence, the Prism Awards, is seeking 11 youngsters to act as judges in the competition which will be held next year.
Selection for the young judges committee will be made up of this year’s winners.
“We are looking for students, enthusiasts and professionals in public relations who are interested in experiencing unique exposure to the industry by judging entries submitted to the 2018 Prism Awards alongside a panel of senior practitioners,” said Palesa Madumo, founder of Prism Young Judges and executive director of strategy at Vuma Management Reputation Management.
“We are also looking to young people bringing their raw and natural talent to the judging process and we are providing a platform for them to learn, engage and gain some valuable insight into the industry.”
Each young judge will be placed in a cluster led by a chief judge and they will evaluate various categories for individual awards, consultancy awards, the Pan African and the coveted campaign of the year award.
Bridget von Holdt, business director at Burson-Marsteller, convener of the awards, said young judges bring a fresh perspective to the judging process.
Von Holdt said, “[And] because it is so detailed, they in turn gain a lot of industry knowledge which is extremely important for skills development within the industry.”
People who would like to enter the competition must be between the ages of 18 and 30 and must live either in Durban, Cape Town or Johannesburg.
This year’s young judge, Bongani Mogari said he enjoyed meeting industry giants, learning how to judge the awards, how the industry worked and the standards which were expected from public relation professionals.
Mogari said, “I am excited to be part of the committee selecting next year’s judges because I know how much they are going to benefit from the experience.”
Entrants should also currently be unemployed, self-employed or studying towards a public relations qualification, or be actively be involved in the industry.
The awards will take place in April and the closing date for entries is 2 February.
Details: https://goo.gl/bSxEMZ
