Communicator of the Year – An Example of Reliable, Simple and Direct Communication with the public
Retired employee dr. sc. Ante Mrvica from the Jadrolinija shipping company was declared Communicator of the Year by the Croatian Public Relations Association (HUOJ), for his reliable, simple and direct communication with clients and users of the services of that company in Split.
Mr Ante Mrvica, a sailor and university professor, was a long-standing coordinator for ferry and shipping services in Dalmatia at the state-owned Jadrolinija company. He worked in the Port of Split for 27 years and the media really appreciated his reports and the way he provided information about the state of affairs of transport at sea. He retired last year.
Despite the large number of finalists and the difficulty the jury faced in choosing a winner for this prestigious award, the Grand PRix jury members decided to acknowledge and reward Mr Ante Mrvica for being an example communicator that every citizen should try and copy in their own lives: “He carried out his duties humbly without attracting attention to himself, which is why not much was known about him during his career. He is, however, an excellent example of how someone in public service should communicate to the public and in the public’s interest. HUOJ further explained their choice by saying that communication should be reliable, simple and straightforward no matter who is on the receiving end – a traveller or a journalist. “The media really appreciated his availability, which is exactly what is expected from people in similar positions,” said Krešimir Macan, President of the 11th Grand PRix jury.
The winner of the HUOJ award expressed his first impressions: “I was pleasantly surprised and proud when I learned that I had been nominated for the Communicator of the Year award. In particular, I would like to thank all those who voted for me on social networks and the expert jury for recognising my work. I am glad that this award is the opinion of the professionals“, Mr. Mrvica said.
Mr. Mrvica will be presented his award at the Grand PRix award ceremony on Friday 16th March at 7.30pm at Westin Hotel in Zagreb.
Apart from Mr. Mrvica, other candidates for the Communicator of the Year were Science and Education Minister Blaženka Divjak, European Parliament member Biljana Borzan of the Social Democratic Party, Colonel Davor Turković, and authors of the Facebook profile “Di su pare” (Where’s the money).
On 20th February, the HUOJ named Sisak Bishop Vlado Košić as Anti-Communicator of the Year for 2017, saying that Rt Revd Košić spread intolerance and used hate speech against specific political and social groups in the country.
Read more about the finalists and the awards here.
Tags: HUOJ