Au Pair of the Year Award for 2012 Announced

PRLog (Press Release) - Mar 22, 2012 -
Every year thousands of youth worldwide embark on a cultural journey by becoming au pairs.  Leaving behind the familiarity of their homeland for as long as one year, au pairs travel to distant countries, where they are welcomed into different cultures and become part of a new family.  For most of the au pairs, this is their first experience away from home and their first opportunity to experience a new country.

The “IAPA Au Pair of the Year” award is one way of giving au pairs the recognition and credit they deserve and enhances the public’s awareness of this demanding yet undervalued cultural experience.  

IAPA members ask host families to nominate outstanding individuals who, if selected, can act as a spokesperson for au pairs around the globe. The host family is asked to complete a Nomination Form explaining in a written essay why their au pair should be considered for the IAPA Au Pair of the Year Award. The essay should be from 500 to 850 words (about 1 page, single spaced) and must be written in English.

Au Pair Finalists are required to write a short essay detailing their au pair experience. The winning au pair is invited to attend, with all expenses paid, the award ceremony that takes place every year during the IAPA Annual Conference and Work Experience Travel Market.  This year a German au pair, known as Birte, was given her award in Budapest, Hungary.

Birte is from Smart Au Pairs, an au pair agency located in the UK, with offices in Australia. Birte is the au pair for the Bess family and helped the family with the care for their two young children and newborn twins when they lived in Lambton, near Newcastle England. The Bess family, originally from the USA, knew they needed an extra pair of hand to help with the children after the twins were born.  Read more about the story here and learn more about the previous winners: www.aupairclearinghouse.com

"Au Pair" is a French phrase that translates, loosely, "as an equal" or "on par."  Au pairs are not considered nannies, nor are they considered "employees" - an au pair is a young foreign woman or young man, who desires to come abroad for a year, live with an American family, experience a new culture, travel and make American friends.

There are 14 unique and different au pair agencies in the United States.  Au Pair Clearinghouse is the first and only website that reviews and rates all 14 agencies and provides news stories and press releases on the au pair industry; interviews with experts in the field; offers top hosting tips for parents and publishes the Top Au Pair Agencies List.

AuPairClearinghouse is the first and only website that reviews and rates all United States au pair agencies. We make choosing the best agency and best au pair for your family easy, affordable and safe. Finally, a better way to choose an au pair!

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BBC News website wins top award

25 September 2011 Last updated at 06:09 GMT Giles Wilson and Bella Hurrell, from the features team, accepted the award The BBC News website has won an international award for general excellence in online journalism.

The site won the Online Journalism Award for a large website beating competition from the New York Times, Washington Post and Al-Jazeera English.

Accepting the award in Boston, features editor Giles Wilson said it was "fantastic recognition" for the hard work of all involved in the site.

Zeit Online, Flipboard and the Washington Post also won awards.

The BBC News website was praised by the judges in a posting on Twitter, reading: "The standard bearer, pushing the whole field forward. Strong in leveraging tech for journalism."

Editor Steve Herrmann said: "The award is brilliant news - it comes in the year following a major revamp of the news site, including a complete redesign. It's also been a year of huge news stories and we have been able to be increasingly effective at showcasing all the BBC's newsgathering potential and expertise on the site.

"We also launched our North America edition a year ago, and have just announced a further investment in Washington, to run an international edition of our popular Magazine section, with the backing of BBC Worldwide, the BBC's commercial arm, which funds our services internationally."

'Excellent work'

The awards were launched in 2000 and are administered by the Online News Association, in partnership with the University of Miami's School of Communication.

They seek to recognise excellence in digital journalism and focus on independent, community, nonprofit, major media and international news sites.

The Los Angeles Times and Pro Publica each won $2,500 and the Gannett Foundation Award for Innovative Investigative Journalism for investigations about corruption in a small California town and the high cost of kidney dialysis in the US respectively.

Online Journalism Association chairman Anthony Moor said: "What's most gratifying is to see the proliferation of quality work from next-generation digital journalists.

"While there is justifiable concern about the fate of numerous long-established newsrooms, there's a healthy amount of excellent work coming from a new class of publications that don't rely on broadcast or print to inform the public."

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ABS-CBN Honored with Asia’s Best Employer Brand Award, Charo Santos-Concio Bestowed the Woman Super Achiever Accolade

ABS-CBN was named one of Asia’s Best Employer Brand Awards 2011.

This is in recognition of the Kapamilya network’s valuable achievements, making it a most sought after employer, whose organizational framework covers being exemplary in learning and development initiatives, communicating distinctiveness in employee hiring, training and retention practices, and continuing innovation.

ABS-CBN was chosen after a thorough research was implemented in every Asia-Pacific country by a team of independent professionals from different parts of Asia. After the research was completed, the team submitted its recommendations to a jury that identified the final winners.

ABS-CBN president and COO Charo Santos-Concio, on the other hand was conferred the WOMAN SUPER ACHIEVER AWARD given to “Outstanding Women who have the vision, flair, acumen and professionalism to demonstrate excellent leadership and management skills in an organization, making changes and achieving results”.

Both Asia’s Best Employer Brand and Woman Super Achiever awards, hosted by the Employer Branding Institute, World HRD Congress, Stars of the Industry Group and CMO Asia, came with a trophy and a citation to recognize the valuable contribution made by ABS-CBN and Charo Santos-Concio respectively. The award ceremonies were held at the SUNTEC Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre last July 22, 2011. Santos-Concio and Bong Osorio, ABS-CBN’s Head of Corporate Communication attended the affair.

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