Our judges – the core of the benchmark

The quality of entries in the Corporate Publication Competition has improved over the years and this is partially due to the valuable feedback from the hand-picked judges and moderators. The reputation of the Competition rests on the quality of this panel of judges and moderators. Judges, the core of the system, are appointed for their various traits such as experience, qualifications, special skills, practical knowledge and a certain perceptiveness. They are mostly nominated by other professionals in our industry or recruited by the team of the SAPF executive members.

Impartial

Judges cannot enter the competition or be involved in any capacity in any publication entered, as this could compromise their impartiality. However, a number of judges are former entrants who now gladly and graciously plow their knowledge back into the industry. They know firsthand what it is like to be on the receiving end of the judging sheet. A few award-winning former entrants are part of the judging team this year!

What is expected of a judge?

Objective, impartial and insightful are the key-words. Judges are expected to analyse the merits and faults of entries resulting in feedback that will inspire entrants to do better next time. Judges realise that all publications are the result of hours of hard work, late nights, innumerable cups of coffee and other ‘performance enhancers’, doing and re-doing, last minute critical changes, while juggling budgets, management, and advertisers against the inescapable looming deadline and loadshedding!

Judges are expected to be constructive in their remarks, gentle with critisism and always professional.

We welcome nominations for judges from the industry and invite you to contact Jedrie Harmse at jedrie@sapublicationforum.co.za regarding potential candidates.