MONDAY, 11TH NOVEMBER, 2019

The Public Relations Society of Malawi (PRSM) is pleased to invite its members to nominate fellow members and other outstanding individuals for the inaugural Annual PR Awards which have been introduced to recognise and celebrate excellence in and outstanding contributions to Malawi’s Public Relations society.

The 2019 awards are in two categories; 1. Honorary PRSM Fellow and 2. PR Professional of the Year, and will be conferred during the PRSM Annual Conference to take place at Sunbird Nkopola Conference Centre in Mangochi from 28th to 30th November, 2019.
The recipients will be identified through a transparent process which will include nominations from members as well as evaluation and selection by a special committee that has been set up to administer the awards. The committee comprises both executive and non-executive members and will operate independently to ensure objectivity in the selection of winners.

1. HONORARY FELLOW
The award will be conferred on an individual from within or without the society in recognition of outstanding contribution and service to the Malawi’s PR industry. Candidates shall be considered from nominations made by PRSM’s Members. Self-nominations are ineligible. PRSM executive members can make nominations but they alongside awards committee members are not eligible for the awards. Recipients will be selected based on the following criteria:
• Service and Contribution – How the nominee has exceptionally served the PR profession or PRSM in Malawi even though they are not members of the society or don’t live in or are citizens of Malawi. A nominee can be a member or non-member of PRSM.
• Character – How the nominee demonstrated the values, ethos, spirit and principles that are valued in the PR profession in other public undertakings.

2. PR PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR
The award will recognise one of PRSM’s members for outstanding practice in their work. Candidates shall be considered from nominations made by PRSM’s paid-up members. Self-nominations are ineligible. PRSM executive members can make nominations but they alongside awards committee members are not eligible for the awards. Recipients will be selected based on the following criteria:
• Leadership – How the person demonstrated exceptional authority in their work as a public relations or communications practitioner.
• Innovation – How the person developed and executed ‘out of the box’ approaches in PR and communications during the year. The nominee must have delivered a remarkable programme or campaign that clearly inspired both PR and non-PR professionals. The campaign must have clearly demonstrated good planning, implementation and attainment of results.
• Service – How the practitioner conducted him or herself in critical aspects of PR profession such as responsiveness to media and decisive handling of a crisis.

Nominations open today Monday, 11th November, 2019 and close on Friday November 22, 2019 and should be made by filling the respective forms downloadable here which, after completion, should be submitted to the Awards Committee through e-mail: awards@prsm.mw.