A WINNING way with the art of communication has paid off for recipients of City Polytechnic's Division of Human and Social Science project of the year awards. The graduating Higher Diploma in English for Professional Communication students met the challenge of approaching business and community organisations with proposals aimed at improving specific aspects of their communication network. The gold award was jointly shared by the APA Publications and KELY Support Group projects while the silver went to The Kowloon Panda Hotel shopping guide project. Yannie Chan Mei-yan, Marcella Wong Man-yee and Wendy Young Ting-yan, sponsored by APA Publications (HK) Limited, spotted a niche in the firm for promotional material that would target local readers. The challenge was to raise awareness of APA's 190 Insight Guides and Pocket Guides, while maintaining the consistency of slogans, colours and typeface. ''We looked at the size, product potential and language medium of the host company before choosing to work with it,'' said Marcella, who served her internship at APA last summer. ''It was quite difficult fulfilling our course requirements as well as meeting the needs of our client.'' Joint winners - Diana Wong Mei-fung, Lena Chong Yun-wing, Gwyneth Chung Wai-man and Carol Leung Sin-kam representing the KELY Support Group - were inspired by the idea of working with a non-profit organisation that had a specific interest in the welfare of young people. ''We encountered a lot of problems, as KELY being a voluntary organisation, we were not given any money for promotion,'' said Diana. Along with Lena, Gwyneth and Carol, she approached various sponsors and managed to secure about $6,000 for the campaign. Further fund-raising activities, as well as a maze-solving competition, were undertaken at KELY's Function Day in February. Diana explained: ''We used the idea of a maze to illustrate the message of KELY, which is the importance of peer support in problem solving.'' Silver award recipients Vicki Yu Po-ching, Dilys Wong Pui-yin and Queenie Tse Wing-mun produced a shopping guide for the Kowloon Panda Hotel, to publicise their shopping arcade and shops in the Tsuen Wan district. ''We chose the hotel as we are all interested in the tourism and airlines industries,'' said Vicki. The students' innovative techniques and public relation skills impressed the panel of adjudicators, chaired by Dr George Shen, chief editor of the HK Economic Journal. ''The students had to build up a relationship with their host organisation, as well as show off the different skills they have picked up,'' said Richard Mitchell, project supervisor and senior lecturer.
