TheBuzz
TheBuzz
Awards in the offing,
careers in the makingIn addition to getting attention for their companies or clients, marketing and communications professionals should be busily preparing for possible accolades of their own.
The Hawaii Chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators is accepting entries for the 2001 Ilima Awards program.
Last year's competition saw 21 award of excellence winners and 15 winners of awards of merit in more than a dozen categories, but "just because you enter doesn't mean you win an award," said IABC Hawaii President Brian White. "An award of excellence is very hard to earn."
As with many industry award competitions, IABC entries are reviewed by mainland judges to maintain objectivity, White said.
Each chapter maintains a judging panel, members of which have won awards of their own. The work from Hawaii is being judged "by the leading experts in the field," he said.
By day, White serves as communications manager for Hawaii Pacific Health, the health care system created by the merger of Kapiolani Health, Wilcox Health Systems and Straub Clinic & Hospital.
The competition is open to nonmembers of IABC, but membership has its privileges. The cost to enter is $35 per entry for members, $50 for nonmembers. The student rate is $15.
The absolute deadline is 5:30 p.m. Feb. 5. Other rules and regs and a downloadable entry form are available at www.iabchawaii.com.
Winners will be notified in mid-March, which should be sufficient time to shop for a new outfit for the awards ceremony April 10 at Hilton Hawaiian Village.
A good drop in the bucket
The staggering number of Hawaii's post-Sept. 11 unemployed population has dipped a bit.Some 100 new hires have been training for their new call center jobs at Ticket Plus Inc. and start to work Friday morning.
The new employees were pre-screened by Oahu WorkLinks. "We are glad that so many of our customers have been given this opportunity with Ticket Plus, particularly in this difficult economy," said Rolanse Crisafulli, an administrator with Oahu WorkLinks.
Ticket Plus President Manny Sanchez described the call center as being a foundation of the company. Not only are the jobs new, the digs are new, as the company is relocating its call center and corporate headquarters to 1132 Bishop St. from 932 Ward Ave.
Starting Feb. 7 the call-takers will be talking with Major League Baseball fans wanting tickets for the Cleveland Indians, Houston Astros and Chicago Cubs, through a Ticket Plus alliance with Tickets.com.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com