Expanded to include categories for both outstanding news and feature journalism in property, as well as Property Publication of the Year, the Awards – sponsored by national property brokerage Pace Property Group – will recognize writers from a far broader range of media.

“Our aim is to widen the current pool of journalists who are eligible for the Awards,” explains 2008 SAPOA Convention chair Nicole Baumgarten of Finlay.

“We also took a decision to establish a panel of judges that represents the range of disciplines in the property industry.”

The judges this year include property fund managers like Catalyst Fund Managers CEO Andre Stadler and Stanlib Limited’s Keillen Ndlovu, media experts like Business Day deputy editor Janet Parker and Marketing Concepts MD Kathryn Payton; property developers like SAPOA past president TC Chetty from Tongaat Hullett Development and Pace Property Group MD David Green; and

“We’ll be looking for articles that track, analyze and interpret changes taking place in the property industry,” explains Ndlovu. “And that offer comprehensive, proportional and relevant comment.”

The criteria for submissions focus on news journalism that is ground-breaking, feature journalism that is investigative, and publications that successfully engage readers with new thoughts and fresh insight.

“An excellent journalist makes sure that articles are well researched, provide a balanced view of the topic and leaves the reader with a clear take-away of the theme and the supporting arguments,” adds Stadler.

The revitalized and much expanded Awards dovetails with the theme for this year’s Convention which is A New Reality: Lead, Embrace, Shift. Topics under the spotlight in this year’s program include controversial ones such as foreign land ownership, rolling power outages and safety in SA cities.

The traditional annual gathering of the country’s commercial and industrial property cognoscenti, the Convention is scheduled to run from Wednesday, 28 May 2008 to Friday 30 May 2008 at the International Convention Centre on Cape Town’s Foreshore.