Many negative things can be said about the impact of COVID-19 on our lives, but one definite positive is that it sparked our creativity. We had to more creative than ever before because it was a case of life and death. Everybody depended on us as communication professionals to get the word out, to change behaviour, to motivate our staff and students, to help them to adjust to this sudden change in all aspects of life.

But we did it. We succeeded even when we were tired to the bone because of all the demands made on us – while we were fighting our own battles. We want you to showcase your work! We want to see your creativity and learn about the changes you brought about.

There is no special category for COVID-19 projects because we believe that we used all our resources on all levels to get the message out. Please tell us how you did it!

We would like you to enter your work – for various other reasons as well…

The Awards programme is structured to enhance the career development of marketing, advancement, and communication professionals working for tertiary institutions across the country. It starts with the entry guidelines based on global best practice in professional communication and applies to the planning and execution of all communication projects and initiatives. In preparing your entry, you will be able to determine to what extent your work meets global best practices. Applying the Preparing for Excellence guidelines in planning future projects will benefit your strategic alignment, and you will be able to add value to your institution.

The purpose of the Excellence Awards Programme is to enable you to determine if you are improving every year. Always keep in mind that the award-winning work you submitted last year, will probably not earn you an award this year. We continuously need to improve, be creative, find new ways of achieving understanding for our messages, improve our knowledge, and encourage the appropriate attitudes and required behaviours from our target audiences.

We do not judge – we evaluate; we give guidance to grow, because we believe that marketing, advancement, and communication are the central nervous system of our communities and our institutions.

The team of evaluators comprises senior marketing, advancement, and communication professionals, hand-picked from tertiary institutions and commerce and industry. The MACE Board reviews and approves the panel members to ensure that only leaders in the profession are allowed the privilege of determining the standard of excellence for interventions in our respective fields of expertise.

A pair evaluate each entry according to the criteria set out in the Preparing for Excellence Guide – one person from a tertiary institution and the other from the business world. They provide each entrant with detailed, constructive comments aimed at assisting entrants in improving their work. The comments and scores are moderated by a third person to do a final check on the standard and the allocation of awards.

It provides you with an opportunity to grow individually as a professional, and it helps to grow the profession.

We are looking forward to the privilege of evaluating your excellence.