Gallery
GEORGE NEWS - Group Editors staff who may have been expecting "just another" year-end function were in for a surprise when they arrived, turned out in semi-formal attire, at the Wilderness Hotel on Friday 22 November.
Main organisers Lorraine Verhagen and Lo-An-Nel Breytenbach and their team had spared no pains to create a newsy fairyland using beautiful decorations made from old newspapers and recyclable material.
Everybody was also wondering who would be taking home the Group Editors Award in their category at the end of the evening. These awards were introduced last year as a way of acknowledging the commitment and talent of staff.
But they had another surprise coming. Instead of launching straight into the awards, "The Fab Four" took to the stage in a brilliant show that revealed some unexpected talents of four staff members.
Poet par excellence, Hannes (The Hustler) Visser read his own poems, Beatrice (The Babe) Esterhuizen transformed into a sultry songstress, Ilse (The Empress) Schoonraad astonished with her colourful French and Edit Piaf voice, and Cornelle (The Basket Case) Carstens had the audience in stitches as a stand-up comedian.
Beatrice Esterhuizen's performance was a surprise to many colleagues.
Group Editors operations director Nicole Rimbault thanked all the Group Editors employees for their dedication and commitment to the company.
"It does not go unnoticed. Many of you put in long hours and go above and beyond what is asked for, to ensure that our communities are well informed on breaking news, advertising specials or fabulous designs and extraordinary print quality."
She thanked the judges and had a special thank you for the ongoing support and love from her parents, Lesley and Peter Moolman, who worked hard to establish and grow the company.
Having a laugh in the camera booth, from left: Leonie and Neels Engelbrecht (senior printer), Alet Grobler (senior debtors clerk who received a 30 years' service award), Dot Symons (online sub-editor), and Elize and Jacques Volschenk (administrative clerk). Photos: Shamley Titus
Awards
In the production division, Luretha Cronjé secured the Designer of the Year award and walked away with the awards for Ad of the year and Online Ad of the Year.
Lisa Oudejans scooped the award for Feature / Supplement of the Year.
In the sales section, Irene Moller of George Herald took the award for the year's best classified consultant.
George Herald's journalists shone in the editorial and digital division with Michelle Pienaar's journalistic flair securing her the Journalist of the Year title for the second time.
This is also Pienaar's second Journalist of the Year title in 2019 - she won the category at the Forum of Community Journalists (FCJ) Excellence Awards in July. Pienaar said, "It is an incredibly big honour. One does not expect acknowledgement for something you enjoy doing, but it does give you a boost to walk the extra mile the next time. Working with my colleagues is a feast. We support each other in an industry that is always changing and growing."
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The George Herald also took the second and third places in the Journalist of the Year competition with Kristy Kolberg the runner-up and a newcomer to the editorial team, Eugene Gunning, proving his knack by taking third place. Kolberg was also runner-up in this category at last year's awards.
Kristy Kolberg, winner of News Photo of the Year and Best Impact Story of the Year, collects one of her awards from operations director Nicole Rimbault.
These three journalists also cleared the decks in the category for News Photo of the Year with Kolberg taking the laurels, Pienaar in second place and Gunning placed third.
Kolberg won the Best Impact Story category with Gunning in second place. Kolberg also shared the second place for Best Headline Writing with Oudtshoorn Courant editor Hannes Visser.
George Herald's gifted sport editor, Hugo Redelinghuys, took home the Sport Journalist of the Year award for the second time and also scooped the Photographer of the Year title. He furthermore won the awards for Human Interest Photo of the Year as well as Sport Photo of the Year.
Hugo Redelinghuys is Sport Editor of the Year and Photographer of the Year. He also collected the awards for Sport Photo of the Year and Human Interest Photo of the Year from operations director Nicole Rimbault.
Kolberg and Pienaar's camera skills also gained them positions in the photographic categories with Kolberg taking second place for Human Interest Photo of the Year and Pienaar the third place. Pienaar was third in the category for Photographer of the Year and Kolberg runner-up in the Sport Photo of the Year category.
Wessel van Heerden, Group Editors motoring journalist and videographer, was placed second in the Photographer of the Year category.
The judges of the editorial categories were Chantal Rutter-Dros, Jan Odendaal, Ingrid Pepler and Irma Green. The photography was judged by Chris Daly and Martin Kellerman, and in the design categories Mirelle Jacobs and Louis van Niekerk selected the cream of the crop.
Luretha Cronjé (centre), Designer of the Year, also collected the awards for Ad of the Year and Online Ad of the Year. With her are, from left: IT coordinator Isak Frans, designer Diettmar Giewelaar, Ulrich Jansen and Marochel Cronjé of studio administration.
The full list of awards are as follows:
Long Service Awards
- Alet Grobler (30 years)
- Reggie Booysen (35 years)
- Suzette Herrer (35 years)
Sales awards
- Best Sales Consultant 2019 - Letitia de Lange
- Best Classified Consultant 2019 - Irene Moller
- Best Branch Growth (year-on-year) 2019 - Oudtshoorn Courant
- Best Classified Branch Growth (year-on-year) 2019 - Mossel Bay Advertiser - Annetjie Marx and Susan Graaff
- Highest Revenue Sold on Feature / Supplement 2019 - Elaine Landsberg
- Best Multi-media Campaign Sold 2019 - Michelle Reyneke
Production Awards
- Ad of the Year - Luretha Cronjé
- Online Ad of the Year - Luretha Cronjé
- Feature / Supplement of the Year- Lisa Oudejans
- Designer of the Year - Luretha Cronjé
News Photo of the Year
- 3rd Place: Eugene Gunning
- 2nd Place: Michelle Pienaar
- WINNER: Kristy Kolberg
Sport Photo of the Year
- 3rd Place: Blake Linder
- 2nd Place: Kristy Kolberg
- WINNER: Hugo Redelinghuys
Best Human Interest Photo of the Year
- 3rd Place: Michelle Pienaar
- 2nd Place: Kristy Kolberg
- WINNER: Hugo Redelinghuys
Photographer of the Year
- 3rd Place: Michelle Pienaar
- 2nd Place: Wessel van Heerden
- WINNER: Hugo Redelinghuys
Best Impact Story
- 2nd Place: Eugene Gunning
- WINNER: Kristy Kolberg
Sport Journalist of the Year
- 2nd Place: Wyndham Everts
- WINNER: Hugo Redelinghuys
Best Headline Writing
- Joint 2nd Place: Hannes Visser and Kristy Kolberg
- WINNER: Chris du Plessis
Best Regular Column
- 3rd Place: Paula-Ann Smith
- 2nd Place: Cornelle Carstens
- WINNER: Hannes Visser
Best Front Page
- 3rd Place: Mossel Bay Advertiser – "We are all foreigners somewhere"
- 2nd Place: Mossel Bay Advertiser – "Ons leer uit elke brand"
- WINNER: Suid Kaap Forum – "Skool in rou"
Best Online Contributor of the Year
- Paula-Ann Smith
Journalist of the Year
- 3rd Place: Eugene Gunning
- 2nd Place: Kristy Kolberg
- WINNER: Michelle Pienaar
A fun moment in front of the camera. From left: Group Editors design studio supervisor Frank Abrahams, Carmen Pieterse (George Herald classified sales), Berenice Lewis (Oudtshoorn Courant receptionist and classified sales) and Andrienne Abrahams.
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