2013 PUBLIC AFFAIRS ASIA GOLD STANDARD AWARDS SHORTLIST

The Gold Standard Awards will be presented at a gala cocktail reception in Hong Kong on Thursday, December 5.

There are 15 Gold Standard Awards:

• Gold Standard Award for Professional Excellence
• Gold Standard Award for Communicator of the Year
• Gold Standard Award for Policy-Maker of the Year
• Gold Standard Awards for Corporate Citizenship including In-Country Programme Category, Regional Programme Category and Global-Asia Category
• Gold Standard ‘Internet for Good’ Award
• Gold Standard Award for Country or Trade Promotion
• Gold Standard Award for Corporate Financial Communications
• Gold Standard Award for Diplomatic Engagement
• Gold Standard Award for ‘In House’ Team of the Year
• Gold Standard Award for Issues Management and Crisis Communications
• Gold Standard Award for NGO Engagement
• Gold Standard Award for Public Private Partnership
• Gold Standard Award for Digital Communications
• Gold Standard Award for Stakeholder Engagement
• Gold Standard Awards for Consultancy of the Year including In-Country Consultancy  Category, Specialist Consultancy Category of the Year, Regional Network of the Year Category.

1. Gold Standard Award for Professional Excellence

This award recognises achievement by a senior communications, corporate or public affairs professional connected to the Asia Pacific region. It is open to senior corporate or consultancy communications and public affairs professionals who are seen as leaders among their peer-groups and the broader corporate affairs and communications industry in Asia Pacific.

• Rachel Catanach, Senior Vice President, FleishmanHillard, Hong Kong
• Roberto “Bob” Kanapi, Vice President for Communications, Shell Philippines
• Ross Rowbury, President & CEO, Edelman Japan
• Pushpanathan Sundram, Managing Director of EAS Asia, Singapore and former Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN

2 Gold Standard Award for Communicator of the Year

This category recognises excellence in communications by a business or public figure in Asia Pacific. It is open to anyone or any corporate, NGO or governmental group to nominate a corporate leader, public servant, campaigner or political figure who has shown significant achievement through their communications over the previous 18 months. Nominations are also sought from among The Gold Standard Awards judging panel.

• Shinzo Abe, The Prime Minister of Japan
• Aziz Huq, Managing Director, GSK Bangladesh
• Gary Locke, The US Ambassador to China
• Edgar O. Chua, Country Chairman of the Shell companies in the Philippines

3. Gold Standard Award for Policy-Maker of the Year.

This award recognises a policymaker in the Asia Pacific region for their gold standard achievement in innovative and consultative policymaking. Entries should illustrate how, through engagement with external stakeholders, an individual minister or policy-maker [for example a regulator] has successfully developed and implemented a specific initiative which addresses the needs or concerns of stakeholders.

• Manish Tewari, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting in India
• Ma Ying-jeou, President of Taiwan
• Ministry of Health Malaysia, The Disease Control Division, (Dr Zainal Ariffin Omar and Dr. Feisul Idzwan Mustapha)

4. Gold Standard Awards for Corporate Citizenship

These awards identify excellence in the development of a CSR, sustainability or good governance project which enhances corporate reputation. It is open to corporations, NGOs and public bodies who can show commitment to sustainable business practices, governance values or corporate responsibility either through a single campaign, case study or broader corporate commitment to these outcomes.

The In-Country Programme Category:

• Fonterra: The Fonterra Rural Maternity and Infant Healthcare Community Programme.
• Melco Group: Promoting youth development, environment and education.
• Visa: The Visa-Micro Pension Inclusion Lab.

The Regional Programme Category:

• Nokia Corporation: The Nokia Education Delivery system in Indonesia and Bangladesh.
• Mastercard: Project Inspire – 5 Minutes to Change the World (nominated by Weber Shandwick).
• Walmart Asia: Environmental responsibility, women’s economic empowerment, tackling hunger and nutrition.

The Global-Asia Programme Category:

• Citibank N.A.: Citi Microentrepreneurship Awards programme.
• IBM: The Corporate Service Corps (CSC) programme.
• PT Astra International Tbk: National Trees Planting programme.
• Xylem: The development of the watermark programme.

5. Gold Standard 'Internet for Good' Award

This award is designed to recognise excellence in the use of the internet as an interactive engagement tool by the public, employees, community groups, charities or NGOs in promoting charitable, community or volunteer initiatives. It is open to the nomination of non-corporate bodies in Asia Pacific who can illustrate excellence in the innovative use of the internet for good causes.

• The Health Promotion Board of Singapore: The "I Quit" Club.
• The Internet Society: Wireless for Communities
 (W4C) – A 
community based
 approach
 to 
bringing 
the internet
 to rural India
.
• IVRS Aadharit Dainik Anushravan Pradali. Project Daily Monitoring System of the "Mid Day Meal Scheme"- Nominated by the Mid Day Meal Authority, Uttar Pradesh, India.

6. Gold Standard Award for Country or Trade Promotion

This award recognises effective communications and public affairs activity in the promotion of a country, industry or trade. It focuses on the work of chambers of commerce, embassies, trade and industry groups and government trade promotion and investment agencies. It is open to any domestic, regional or global trade promotion activity connected to the Asia Pacific region.

• Hill & Knowlton Shanghai: Tourism New Zealand and Air New Zealand Joint Campaign – A High Impact Project.
• Kreab Gavin Anderson: Reconstructing Miyagi.
• Perfect Relations: Recreating Australia’s Appeal as a Premium Holiday Destination for Indians.
• Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Bid Committee: Successfully winning the bid (Weber Shandwick).

7. Gold Standard Award for Corporate Financial Communications

This award is designed to identify excellence in corporate financial communications, government relations or regulatory affairs. It is open to consultancies, corporations, financial institutions, government agencies or regulatory bodies active in the financial communications arena. Entrants should show “Gold Standard” excellence in areas such as M&A communications, IPO communications or related regulatory or governmental affairs.

• Edelman Japan – The Gibson Guitar Corp. tender offer bid.
• Hill+Knowlton Strategies Australia – Defending FPMarkets' Australian Contracts for Difference model.
• Rowland Pty Ltd – Recapitalising Namoi Cotton.

8. Gold Standard Award for Diplomatic Engagement

This award identifies excellence in diplomatic engagement through the nomination of any ambassador, embassy or diplomatic mission. It recognises achievement in corporate public affairs in areas such as the promotion of trade, economic, political or cultural relations. Nominations can be made by diplomatic missions themselves or by a third party, such as a foreign ministry, a partnering corporation, trade group, chamber of commerce or NGO. Entries must show achievement of a desired strategy or outcome following a process of external engagement by the ambassador, embassy or consulate.

• The Bangladeshi High Commissioner to Malaysia: Promoting trade and investment and enhancing migrant workers' welfare.
• Philippine Consulate General, Hong Kong: Promoting national security, economic diplomacy and overseas Filipino workers' welfare.
• The United States Embassy in New Zealand: Future Leaders of the Pacific conference in American Samoa in partnership with the East-West Center.

9. Gold Standard Award for 'In-House' Team of the Year

This award identifies excellence in an in-house public/corporate affairs or communications team in Asia Pacific or related to the region. It is open to multinational and domestic corporations, government agencies and NGOs.

• DBS in-house communications team.
• HSBC communications team in Hong Kong.
• Shell Philippines' communications team.

10. Gold Standard Award for Issues Management and Crisis Communications

This category requires nominations outlining excellence by any corporation, government, NGO or agency in communicating key messages in the management of an “issue” or “crisis”. It is open to entrants from all sectors which can show a “Gold Standard” response to an event which took place in the 18 months prior to the close of nominations.

• Fonterra: Fonterra China issues management of the DCD health scare.
• Hill+Knowlton Strategies: Australian CFD (Contracts for Difference) trading company FPMarkets’ reputation management.
• HK Electric: From Sorrow to Support – Handling the Lamma Tragedy.
• Sinopec: Sinopec’s Hong Kong plastic pellets crisis management.

11. Gold Standard Award for NGO Engagement

This award identifies excellence in NGO engagement with external groups. It applies to domestic and international NGOs operating in Asia Pacific or to Asian NGOs operating overseas. Nominations should identify “Gold Standard” achievement by an NGO in its strategic engagement with government, business or civil society. Nominations can be self made or by a third party, such as a fellow NGO/corporation/chamber of commerce or government agency.

• The Movement Against Malaria.
• Coke Support My School and the CSR good-to-do camapign.
• The Hope Foundation - Running for Hope ultramarathon to raise awareness of cancer.

12. Gold Standard Award for Public Private Partnership

This award recognises excellence in any project involving both the public and private sector in Asia Pacific. It reflects the growing importance of public private partnerships in areas such as health promotion, environmental protection and the delivery of public services. The award will be made to a partnership as a group in recognition of the public affairs and communications engagement, execution and outcomes connected to their PPP programme.

• The Volvo Chinese fuel efficiency programme (nominated by Edelman).
• The HP eHealth Center, a cloud enabled healthcare infrastructure.
• The Coke Support My School CSR good-to-do campaign.

13. Gold Standard Award for Digital Communications

This award recognises excellence in the use of digital media, including social media platforms and corporate websites, as a communications tool by business, governments or NGOs. Entrants must show how social or digital media has been used to effectively communicate with target stakeholder groups and has, then, achieved desired and pre-stated outcomes.

• Edelman Japan– Promoting the Axe brand.
• Edelman Korea – Cleaning Up Social Media through SK Telecom's Social Relay.
• McDonald’s – Weber Shandwick and the National Breakfast Initiative.

14. Gold Standard Award for Stakeholder Engagement

This award identifies excellence in a strategy or campaign engaging stakeholders such as government, the media, regulators, employees and the public. It is open to corporations, governments, embassies, NGOs and trade groups represented in Asia Pacific or representing Asian interests outside Asia. Outcome based it will show how a process of planned engagement has achieved a positive outcome with stakeholders.

• Chengdu Municipality: Ogilvy Public Relations and the promotion of Chengdu.
• Friesland Campina: The South East Asia Nutrition Surveys (SEANUTS).
• Syngenta Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.: The Rice Bowl Index as a tool for promoting food security.
• Rowland Pty Ltd: Sagittarius Mines, Inc. and its Environmental Impact Assessment for the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project.

15. Gold Standard Award for Consultancy of the Year

CATEGORY A: IN-COUNTRY CONSULTANCY OF THE YEAR

This award identifies full service corporate public relations and communications excellence by a consultancy within a country in Asia Pacific. It is open to country consultancies operating at the in-country level. Entrants must offer either a full service portfolio or a specialism in the areas of corporate communications, corporate public relations and public affairs.

• Bell Pottinger (Singapore)
• Fleishman Hillard (China)
• Perfect Relations (India)

CATEGORY B: SPECIALIST CONSULTANCY OF THE YEAR

This award identifies corporate public affairs, public relations and communications excellence by a consultancy practice or specialist agency. It is open to public relations and communications consultancies operating in Asia Pacific who deliver service offerings in the areas of corporate communications, corporate public relations and public affairs.

• North Head: A public affairs and communications consultancy based in Beijing.
• Ryan Financial Communications: an independent and strategic corporate communications firm with offices in Hong Kong and Singapore.
• VOX Global Japan: A public affairs and strategic communications firm in Japan.

CATEGORY C: REGIONAL NETWORK OF THE YEAR

This award identifies corporate public relations and communications excellence by a full service consultancy at the regional network level. It is open to public relations and communications consultancies operating in Asia Pacific who deliver service offerings in the areas of corporate communications, corporate public relations and public affairs.

• APCO Worldwide South East Asia
• Bite Communications Asia Pacific
•  Waggener Edstrom Asia Pacific