More than 1000 entries have been received for this year’s PANPA ‘newspaper of the year’ contest.

“It’s been a tough year for everyone, and I believe many colleagues see these awards as something worthwhile to participate in,” says chief executive Mark Hollands. “They’ve worked hard and, win or lose, this is a good way for their managers to recognise their achievements in tough times.”

The awards will be presented at the gala annual dinner during PANPA’s

Entries – from Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Fiji, Singapore and Malaysia  – in what has proved the biggest awards competition the association has conducted have been sorted and sent to the 75 judges. No category will be judged by any fewer than two judges and the vast majority have three judges.

Winners will be announced at a gala dinner in Sydney on August 18.

“Winning is prestigious because people understand the high levels of participation from various countries around the Asia- Pacific,” says Hollands. “Internal company awards are great but beating those from outside your business, and even those in a different country . . . well, that’s pretty cool.”

Among entries was a mystery bag of echinacea root: “We thought this was a pretty lame bribe, but as it turned out the courier had mixed it up and the echinacea was supposed to go to an Australian lab for testing.”

• Hollands is pictured (right) with Samantha Gibbens Cager and a stack of entries