Our story

The SA Publication Forum was founded 22 years ago with a vision to serve the corporate publication community.

Having processed more than 2531 publications, the Annual Corporate Publication Competition hosted by the Forum, is becoming the benchmark for corporate publications.

Four industry specialists who have long collaborated with the Forum make up the new executive committee. Our goal is to grow the Forum into a lively community of publication practitioners that will strive to uphold publication excellence, and also become the voice of corporate publications in South Africa.

The team

SURISA NEL

Strategist / communications expert / writer / project manager

Surisa has meandered through the corporate communications industry for more than 25 years as a corporate communications director, brand manager, chief operating officer, change management specialist, writer, producer and editor. She has worked in various industries including agriculture, sustainability and telecoms and always seeks to tell the brand stories that resonates with its audience.

JEDRIE HARMSE

Editor | writer | photographer | designer

Jedrie has been in the publication industry for more than 30 years as editor, writer, photographer and designer for, among others, various agricultural publications. He has extensive knowledge of the remote publishing of corporate publications on behalf of clients.

PAUL VAN DER MERWE

Web designer | web developer | UI/UX specialist

Paul worked on (and managed) some of South Africa’s largest brands, running various campaign types and budgets. These include corporate and e-commerce websites as well as listing directories and online education sites. He is proficient in custom platform development, e-mail marketing, digital publication production, html template creation, corporate identity development and product branding.

NICI HARMSE

Editor | writer | designer

Nici has been in the corporate communication and publication industry for more than 30 years. She is a proficient editor, writer, and layout designer. She was, among others, the
editor of an in-house newsletter in the agricultural industry – responsible for all aspects of producing a monthly newsletter for a client in Northwest province. She has experience in remote liaison to serve the client’s need for effectively communicating with employees.

Facts and figures

Year forum was founded

100

Publications judged to date

100 +

Judging categories