If I were a Chartered member

Last night I attended the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) Awards. I had not attended the awards night for several years. As an associate member of the institute, I must confess I have not been very active in the activities of the institute, and this has to change going forward.

Except for the occasional partnered programmes, which are mainly continuous development courses, I hardly attend their events.

The institute is very active and very well organized and runs very good programmes.

Currently, I have many reasons to associate with CIMG activities. The current President, Mr Kojo Mattah was my direct boss until I left the organization 10 years ago.

He is a very fantastic leader and an action-oriented man and I learnt a lot from him. I actually give him credit for my membership with CIMG. If I had followed his advice I probably would have written all the accreditation exams. He is a man who does not take no for an answer. When he wants something done, he says so himself.

His favourite saying is “you either get it done or you get it done.” I loved reading and writing generally but when I worked with him, my love for reading increased tremendously. I bought books like I was crazy because he kept on recommending new ones and telling me how good they were. I moved on years ago but that inheritance has not perished. My love for books is still strong.

The other reason why I love to associate with CIMG is because it is run by a very active and efficient office administrator and director so I don’t expect anything less from them. It is very easy to go along with such a professional body.

On Saturday evening, I was in the best mood because a former boss of mine was presiding over the awards night and the CEO of the company I work for was the recipient of the grand award.

The fact that my CEO was winning this award tells it all – he is another action man who ensures the goals of the business are achieved whilst working to motivate his team.

His achievements are numerous and we applaud him for the great work he is doing.

The awards night was very well attended. The marketers love their event and they make it just as they run their own– very big.

The décor in the room was very elegantly done, clad in the colors of the Institute – Blue and white.

It was very smart of the organizers to put food first because as someone put it “good food is good mood.”

So dinner was set from 6:00 to 7:30 pm and this was made clear to all guests. I bet setting the dinner time that early could be a strategy by the organizers to get the place filled up early because you and I know how important that aspect of events means to a lot of people. I missed that session anyway due to other commitments.

Once food was served, the audience were in a good mood to start receiving the award winners.

The President’s address officially kicked off the serious business of the day and it was followed by the Guest of Honour’s speech.

Both speeches were straight to the point. One of the things I get anxious about when I am attending award events is the long and sometimes not-too-interesting speeches.

Long and boring speeches can kill your excitement and diminish your love for the event. Not the speeches at the CIMG awards night; they were tasteful.

A look at the programme shows that there were 38 awards and I shuddered in my seat as I imagined 38 different companies and individuals mounting the podium to receive their awards. I had a very busy day and I was very eager to see the awards done within time. But as luck would have it there was nothing to worry about. The MC and planning committee had it all figured out and they did a great job with the time management.

They advertised that the entire event would end by 9:30 and indeed they got close to it.

Honestly this is the only awards night I have attended that ended before 10pm. It doesn’t happen.

I commend CIMG for keeping to time. I think all event organisers needs to learn from them. There was time to dance and enough time for the award winners to walk majestically up and down the stairs to receive their prize. I believe the organizers of the GH Timekeeping initiative will be taking note of the organizers and actors for commendation.

The MC was just fantastic. He knew his job and kept his focus. He was not lured into unnecessary commentaries and overruns.

Some MCs are the reason why events drag and drag. They talk about everything and hardly make any positive impact.

What I loved again was the photo booth which was set up close to podium. Award recipients practically walk from the stage to take pictures there. The criteria for the events are not a secret.

It is published online and in the programme brochure so it is very clear what the adjudication committee is looking for.

CIMG is well noted for their credibility with the awards.

So in short if I were to assess the marketing awards I would give them an A rating. The timekeeping alone puts them in a favorable lead. I hesitate to use the word comfortable lead but that is what it is. There is one thing they could improve though. Except for those whose citations were read, the main reason why the companies were awarded was not mentioned I guess for lack of time.

I surely understand that time was of essence but it would have been very good if at least the MC had stated the main reason why the person/company was adjudged the winner.

That can be done in a sentence or two and can be recounted whilst the recipients walk up the stage.

So if I were a Chartered Marketer I would be very proud of the CIMG awards because of its credibility and excellent organization.

I take this opportunity to applaud all the award winners, especially the CIMG Marketing Man and Woman of the year Mr Ebenezer Asante, CEO of MTN Ghana and Mrs Abiola Bawuah, MD of UBA Ghana.