Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Galen G. Weston Receives CEO Award of Excellence in Public Relations




Today I attended the 16th Annual CPRS CEO Award of Excellence in Public Relations luncheon at the Royal York Fairmont in Toronto. This was my first CPRS event and it was quite motivational. A room full of PR professionals and aspirers gathered together to watch Galen G. Weston receive this prestigious honour. A couple jokes were made about this event competing with Barack Obama's inauguration ceremony, which was happening at the same time in Washington, D.C. and Weston said he was flattered we chose him.

I enjoyed the 3 course meal at a table of fellow student members (shoutouts to Matt and Amy from Seneca's corp communications program, Crystal from York, Michael from UofT and Natasha from Humber! Woot woot Table #24!). We shared light conversation about our experiences in the industry thus far over President's Choice molten lava chocolate cake and President's Choice pineapple cake, courtesy of G.G. Weston--they were delicious, I recommend!

Weston's speech was well delivered. He engaged the audience with his good humour and inspiring words. He spoke of his family and Loblaw Companies Ltd.'s initiatives in corporate social responsibility and within the company culture. He delivered Loblaw's key strategies and objectives, which won him the Award of Excellence. My favourites were the last two: integrity and fun. Those resonated within me the strongest because they are the same criteria I measure against when making decisions about my professional life. Everything I do is because I believe in it, and because I do it becomes enjoyable and fulfilling. Weston's award was well deserved—he demonstrates excellence in communications by listening to everyone around him and delivering an honest message his company and the public value and want to share.

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