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Development West Coast took home one Gold and four Silver Awards at the 2024 Public Relations Institute of New Zealand Awards held in Auckland last week.
DWC won Gold for ‘Most Innovative Campaign’ for the ‘West Coast Wikipedian at Large Project’, one of only six Gold Awards presented at the gala event.
The Wikipedian at Large project was inspired by research demonstrating Wikipedia edits can boost tourism. DWC partnered with Dr Mike Dickison on the initiative which rallied volunteers to create and enhance hundreds of West Coast Wikipedia articles and donate thousands of images. The project has been widely featured in the national media, as well as international publications like Forbes and the UK Telegraph.
At the PRINZ Awards, DWC was recognised for their work promoting the West Coast as a great place to live, work, and do business, securing Silver Awards in four other categories, ‘Best Use of Media Relations’, ‘’Best Use of Digital and Social Media’, ‘Community Relations & Engagement’, and ‘Best In-house PR Team’ (for the third year in a row).
During 2023, the West Coast enjoyed substantial media attention with DWC securing over 250 national and international media stories showcasing the West Coast in a positive light.
DWC marketing and communications manager Aaron Rees, remarked that it was humbling to be acknowledged alongside some of the country’s biggest marketing and PR agencies, as well as major organisations with large communications teams.
“A massive thank you to all the Coasters who have worked with us to share their stories.”
For the 2024 PRINZ Awards, a panel of more than 50 judges from various sectors of the public relations profession reviewed more than 200 entries across all categories, ultimately selecting 45 finalists.
The Supreme Award was secured by Mango Communications for its ‘Correct the Internet’ campaign, focussed on making sportswomen more visible on the internet.
