91 Entries in BAPRA Bright Awards 2016

Winners will be announced at a ceremony on 13 April at Sofia Hotel Balkan

For the second consecutive year entries for the prestigious BAPRA Bright Awards exceed 90. 19 PR agencies and 4 internal departments compete in this year’s race. BAPRA Bright Awards 2016 winners will be announced at a ceremony on 13 April 2016 at Sofia Hotel Balkan.

Again, competition is toughest in the Sustainable Development Campaign, Communications Campaign of the Year, and Special Event categories while entries in the Public Sector category have doubled. The number of competitors in the relevant categories is as follows:

• Sustainable Development Campaign  – 24 campaigns;
• Special Event of the Year – 18 projects;
• Communication Campaign of the Year – 18 campaigns;
• Innovative Campaign of the Year – 15 campaigns;
• Campaign in the Public Sector  – 6 campaigns;
• Agency of the Year  – 6 agencies;
• Campaign by an Internal PR Department – 4 campaigns.

"For the seventh consecutive year the BAPRA Bright Awards have attracted both PR agencies and internal communications departments. The competition has established itself as a place where competitors benchmark their creativity vying for the transparent and objective evaluation of an international jury comprising outstanding PR experts. Through the awards we achieve a higher quality of services offered by Bulgaria’s  PR business  as we learn from one another”, BAPRA Managing Board chairperson Denitsa Sacheva commented.

BAPRA Bright Awards is this country’s only PR competition in marketing communications boasting a jury of international PR and communication experts.

The 2016 jury is chaired by Christophe Ginisty, an international public relations guru and a specialist of social media, reputation management and crisis communications in the digital age. He is currently Senior Director and Head of Digital at FTI Consulting in Brussels.

Jury members include well-known professionals with extensive PR and communications experience:

• Allard W. van Veen, a Dutch-Canadian businessman, experienced in management consulting, research, design, health-care, real estate and technology. He formed his first communications company in 1967 which, in 1973, evolved and became part of The Noram Group, a Canadian Group of independent companies owned and founded by Mr. van Veen. The Group became the 3rd largest and first fully integrated communications group in Canada, serving over 300 clients in government, corporate and civil sectors.
• Damjan Obal, a user experience designer with a PhD in computer science and deep passion for brand stories and  founder of Edgar - the place that magically connect SMEs with the best storytellers to work on their brand and product stories;
• Anna Krajewska who laid the cornerstone for the development of the PR industry in Poland. She has over 25 years’ experience in managing corporate PR, financial PR and investor relations projects;
• Bart de Vries, the 2016 President of International PR Association (IPRA) and  professional with over 25 years’ experience in public relations;
• Paul Haugen, Partner and Director of Planning for EMEA FleishmanHillard;
• Dr. Sarah Rötzer, Head of Corporate Media Relations at Vodafone in Germany.

Details about all jury members is available at http://www.bapra.bg/2016/bg/jury/

Official Partners of BAPRA Bright Awards 2016: Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum, Italian Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria, French-Bulgarian Chamber of Commerce and of Industry, German-Bulgarian Chamber of Industry and Commerce and American Chamber of Commerce in Bulgaria.

Media Partners: Bulgarian ON AIR TV, BG Radio, Economy.bg, ManagerNews, marketing360.bg, csr.bg, Еcon.bg, PR Kernel, PR&Media News, actualno.bg, expert.bg, dir.bg, myPR.bg and b2bmagazine.bg.

Sponsoring Partners: Hotel Sofia Balkan, Brangaba, Dve Events, Coca-Cola, Avanti.

For additional information about the contest or to join us as a partner, please contact us at office@bapra.bg.

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BAPRA Bright Awards

BAPRA Bright Awards were established in 2010 and were quickly recognised as the only  event where Bulgarian PR professionals could measure up their achievements to the best PR practices worldwide. Each year the number of entries grows significantly. In 2015 the contest drew the record number of 97 entries. The selection of winners is absolutely confidential as every jury member evaluates the submitted entries in a particular category independently.

BAPRA

The Bulgarian Association of PR Agencies (BAPRA) was established in 2001 as an independent non-profit organisation to support and strengthen PR as an activity that benefits social development. BAPRA aspires to improve partnership between the PR business and the state, even more so to build relations with local authorities in Bulgaria, academic circles, business, civil organisations and media. BAPRA members are the most prestigious companies for communication services in the Bulgarian market. All member agencies have adopted the Code of Ethics of PR specialists in Bulgaria, ensuring transparent and fair business, high professionalism and loyal attitude to both customers and colleagues. BAPRA is the voice of the Bulgarian PR business.