The Sharjah Press Club (SPC) of the Sharjah Government Media Bureau (SGMB) successfully hosted a workshop entitled 'Institutional Pillars of Effective Communication'. The workshop was conducted by Mohamed Ahmed AlMatroushi, a leading media expert and Ambassador for the Sharjah Government Communication Award and Abdelghany Abu Ghazaleh, a known expert in the field of institutional media and Managing Director of Tactics, a marketing management company.
The workshop was widely attended by employees and representatives from various government departments and entities looking to learn more about the submission process for this year's Sharjah Government Communication Award (GCA).
The workshop comes in line with the opening of submissions for the 5th edition of Sharjah Government Communication Award, which has seen the addition of 5 new categories including, the ‘Best Communication Plan for the Year of Zayed 2018,’ ‘Best Practices in Social Responsibility (UAE),' 'Best Government Application,' 'Best Youth Initiative in Government Communication,' and 'Best Media Initiative in Government Communication "GCC"
Asma Al Juwaied, Manager of the Sharjah Press Club, provided participants with an outline of the objectives and categories of the Award, and its role in enhancing the concept of government communication in the UAE, the GCC and the Arab world. She noted that over the last few years, the Award has become increasingly popular as a key platform to recognise excellence in government communication at both local and regional levels.
Al Juwaied also talked about the newly added categories, which have been developed to help expand the circle of participation and geographical reach of the award. Al Juwaied also explained the criteria covering these new categories as set by this year's prestigious board of judges.
She emphasised that the Award has seen the adoption of a new strategic plan, which aims to reach out to all parts of the Arab world. The move demonstrates the Emirate's keenness to keep at pace with global developments in government communication while also looking towards attracting the youth segment to play an active part in the award by sharing their new and innovative ideas, she added. Al Juwaied called on everyone involved in the government communication sector to take part in the Award and submit their entries before December 31, 2017 through the Award's new website, www.sgmb.ae
On this occasion, the Award Ambassador AlMatroushi made a detailed presentation on the elements of government communication, and importance of building institutional reputation, sharing examples of successful national models in this field. He particularly cited the success of the UAE's wise leadership in communicating effectively with the community and helping in the launch of strategic initiatives that result in positive communication across all concerned parties, leading to happiness in the community.
For his part, Abu Ghazaleh reviewed the importance of building media influence across institutions and the pivotal role it plays in terms of achieving the integration of various communication elements that are needed in the move to ensure the success of a key message and the enhancement of institutional performance. This is in addition to the adoption of an integrated methodology and structure to help manage communication aspects of local authorities.
The workshop also included interactive exercises for participants that focused on the importance of internal communication in government institutions and its impact on strategic areas like institutional performance, institutional identity and applications of information services, public relations and communication with the media, marketing, community responsibility and the heart of building reputation and mental image and strategic partnerships.
