High Road Communications

Nominations for the CATAAlliance Innovation and Leadership Awards are open, and can be submitted until April 8. An overview of all the awards categories and the nomination guide can be found here.

High Road is again sponsoring the High Road Communications Award for Excellence in Science and Technology Reporting. The award is presented to a journalist or writer raising the public profile of science and technology and contributing to the building of a science and technology culture in Canada. Last year’s winner was the Globe and Mail’s Mathew Ingram (blog), and Shane Schick (blog), now editor of ComputerWorld Canada, won in 2006.

The Canadian Advanced Technology Alliance and High Road have been strategic partners for many years. High Road president Mia Wedgbury and senior vice president Sarah Burns are CATA board members.

Last night I attended the ACE Awards by the Toronto chapter of the Canadian Public Relations Society (CPRS).  I was definitely jaded going in, thinking it would be another night of high fives and back slapping with a room full of PR flacks, putting a powerful spin on their latest campaign.  But I have to say, I was wrong.

Not only was I amazed at the high caliber campaigns and breakthrough thinking in our industry, but I was blown away by the professionalism and accomplishments of the young PR professionals entering our field.  And CPRS deserves huge kudos for putting so much emphasis on our future leaders.  For the first time, they added the Student PR Campaign of the Year and the winner gave the best speech of the night.  I am sure all the agencies were frantically writing down her contact information, in an attempt to recruit her first thing this morning.

And they also gave out two awards for Young PR Professional of the Year. One went to Rachelle Khalaf of Torchia Communications and the other to our own, Cortney Anderson (see photo). Congratulations! 

We need to do more in the industry to recognize the work of our future leaders and the young professionals that work so tirelessly and often behind the scenes to drive the outstanding results for our campaigns.  CPRS took a great step in the right direction and I hope more professional organizations follow suit.

Mia