Media Wise Communications/ Muse Books clinched yet another Gold Quill Award from the San Francisco, USA-based International Association of Business Communicators, this time for the coffee table book The Front Runner: 150 years of the Manila Jockey Club, during virtual awarding ceremonies held June 17 (Manila time) streamed over YouTube.
“These are extraordinary times and we wish we could have received the award in the usual manner, in the company of numerous brilliant communications practitioners all over the world,” said Ramoncito Ocampo Cruz, Media Wise CEO.
The 2020 Excellence Gala, celebrating the highest achievements in communication, was supposed to be held in Chicago but was cancelled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Still, the change in mode does not take away from our pride in clinching this recognition for communication achievement,” Cruz said.
The 300-page The Front Runner documents the journey of the Manila Jockey Club (MJC) from 1867, when it was informally established as an exclusive horse-racing club of Manila’s elite, to today, more than 150 years later, as the premier venue for the country’s most popular racing sport and as one of the oldest horse-racing clubs in the Asia-Pacific region.
Nine chapters of text and photos tell the story of the evolution of horse racing in the Philippines. The Front Runner—a must-have for any racing aficionado—blends history, sport, business, and culture through powerful photos and compelling narratives.
The publishing team was led by Atty. Alfonso Reyno III, President of the Manila Jockey Club Inc. as publisher, with Achilles B. Mina as editor.
Earlier this year, the book won the PRSP Anvil Gold and Platinum Awards from the Public Relations Society of the Philippines. This was MediaWise’s second consecutive Gold and Platinum win, the previous year being for On the March: The Jesuits in the Philippines Since the Restoration, which chronicled the mission of the Jesuits in the Philippines.
IABC’s Gold Quill is the only awards program that honors the dedication, innovation and passion of communicators on a global scale. Since 2008, more than 4,451 projects have been entered in the Gold Quill Awards.
All IABC Gold Quill Award entries are evaluated by international professional communicators with more than 10 years of experience. The majority of evaluators have earned Gold Quill Awards and many are either IABC accredited or certified by the Global Communication Certification Council.
All are trained to evaluate entries against established criteria aligned to IABC’s Global Standard of the communication profession.
MediaWise’s IABC wins include the 2017 IABC International Gold Quill (awarded in Washington DC) and the Asia Pacific IABC Silver Quill Award (awarded in Singapore) for the coffee table book Jesuits In Mindanao: The Mission.
In 2020, it received the IABC International Gold Quill (awarded in Canada) and the Asia-Pacific IABC Silver Quill Award (awarded in Wellington, New Zealand) for On the March: The Jesuits in the Philippines Since the Restoration.
“We are humbled by the recognition that outs us among the ranks of the best communicators in the world,” said Cruz.
“We will continue reaching for these heights with our current and future projects, telling compelling stories of Philippine organizations to the world,” he added.