University News Last updated 14 November 2013
Birmingham City University has been named a gold winner for its excellent staff magazine in the annual PRide Awards - the "Oscars" for the communications and PR industry in the UK regions and nation.
The University's Connect magazine topped the Best Internal Publication of the 2013 Midlands Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) PRide Awards after being praised for an excellent understanding of the target audience.
"The vision was to create a publication that was driven for staff by staff - and they did just that," said the judges of the prestigious annual awards, the only UK-wide scheme that recognises excellence in public relations and communications work across the regions.
The CIPR PRide Awards, sponsored nationally by Precise, PRWeek and RedBrand/Specialist Speakers, receive entries from freelancers, consultancies and in-house teams across 12 UK regions and nations.
"I'm very proud of our dedicated in-house communications team for beating such tough competition in this category," said Kathryn Jones, Marketing Director for Birmingham City University.
"The team has worked hard to create a publication that was truly representative of our staff and this award recognises the support we have received from our Human Resources Department as much as anything. We have a magazine that not only keeps colleagues informed at a corporate level, but also reflects the people and passions of our diverse University community.
"Connect has therefore updated staff on important strategic developments, such as the building of a new City Centre Campus, while also featuring great human interest stories, such as an article on a senior manager who is an enthusiastic beekeeper in her spare time. This editorial mix makes Connect special."
The same communications team from Birmingham City University were also a finalist in the Internal Communications Campaign category for the University's own awards scheme entitled, "Tell us Your Story".
CIPR President Sue Wolstenholme FCIPR said: "The Midlands CIPR PRide Awards celebrate the very best public relations campaigns, teams and individuals from across the region.
"The exceptional quality of entries received this year is a real testament to the thriving communications industry which exists here in this region. The CIPR PRide Awards represent the best, most creative and most effective public relations work across the UK regions and nations and to win an award is a great achievement."