Entries for two of MICA’s biggest events - the Young PR Professional of the Year Award and the Automotive PR Essential’s Masterclass - are closing shortly, so you’ll need to be quick.

We’d need to get your entry for the MICA PR Young Professional of the Year Award by 18th October.

And you’ve only got until 26th October to secure your place on MICA's Automotive PR Essentials Masterclass on 9th November.

Last year's winner Elizabeth Waddup, pictured with (left to right) Richard Gotch, MICA MD; Award Sponsor, Garry Wilson, CEO Historic & Classic Vehicle Alliance; Richard Aucock, Guild of Motoring Writers Chair 2022.

Are you under 30 and working in PR? Don’t miss this great opportunity. It’s just under two weeks before entries close for the MICA Young PR Professional of the Year Award, run in partnership with the Guild of Motoring Writers and sponsored by Meridian Audio. 

The prizes, presented at the Guild Awards on December 7, are:

•        £500

•        One year’s free membership of MICA worth £150

•        A smart trophy

•        An excellent line for your LinkedIn profile or CV

•        Six months’ mentoring from an experienced member of MICA.

Last year, winner Elizabeth Waddup, Honda Motor Europe’s automobile PR and events manager, received mentoring from Roger Ormisher, Vice President, Communications and PR for The Americas at McLaren Automotive.

Both found it extremely enjoyable as well as valuable. Elizabeth said: “I will take away so much from this MICA mentorship and I feel privileged to have built a great working relationship with someone who I know I can rely and call upon on in the future for advice and inspiration.”

The short entry form is open on the Guild website.

Seeing the brand we represent in the spotlight can be our reward after months of hard work, but there are times when we have to work twice as hard to keep it out.

At our Automotive PR Essentials Masterclass on 9th November, we’ll be learning about crisis comms from Tim Burt (pictured), Global Vice Chair at Teneo, representing some of the organisation’s largest international clients on corporate, crisis, financial and mergers and acquisitions communications.

Tim has advised company leaders, institutions and high-profile individuals around the world for more than 15 years. Over that period, he has acted for companies including BMW, BT, Geely, Google, Informa, Inmarsat, Liberty Global, Live Nation, NBC Universal, Nissan, Reuters, Salesforce, Sony, Vivendi and Volvo. Such clients have turned to him for strategic counsel, industry intelligence, reputation risk management and media engagement advice.

He joined Teneo as part of its 2015 acquisition of StockWell Group. Before co-founding StockWell in 2011, Tim spent six years as a partner at Brunswick, where he oversaw technology, media and telecom, industrial and automotive clients.

From 1989 to 2005 he worked at the Financial Times in roles including Media Editor, Motor Industry Correspondent and Nordic Correspondent. As a former Business Journalist of the Year, he has written for the Wall Street Journal, Daily Telegraph and The Guardian, and appeared on CNBC, the BBC and ITV news. He has written two business books: Dark Arts and 2020 Vision.

We’ll also be hearing from members of the MICA committee about their experiences of managing a crisis in the automotive world.

Automotive PR Essentials

9 November 2023, 10am – 4pm

Coventry University in person or virtual attendance

Price:

MICA members – free of charge

Non-members – £50

PRCA members receive a 10% discount on the event fee

Light lunch, tea and coffee included

The day will cover:

What is Automotive PR? - Oliver Rowe, MICA Chair & Communications Manager at Ford

Crisis communications - Tim Burt, Global Vice Chair at Teneo

Building successful relationships with partner organisations - Mark Harrison, MICA Director & Managing Director of Praga Cars

Finding, shaping and developing stories - Andrew Noakes, motoring journalist and lecturer

There will plenty of time to get to know the committee and other guests - so far, seven OEMs and five agencies are represented.

Guests will also have the opportunity at lunch to view the impressive facilities at the university’s new Delia Derbyshire building, which boasts a stage and a photo studio large enough to present or photograph vehicles. It’s named after electronic music pioneer Delia Derbyshire, who created the theme for Dr Who, and lived locally.

Click here to book your place.

MICA members are invited to join the committee for drinks and a chat in the beautiful Long Bar of the RAC Club (in the basement) in Pall Mall before for the Guild Awards on December 7.

We will be looking forward to seeing you from 5pm until 7pm when we move upstairs for the Awards.

You’re very welcome to join us if you are not attending the Awards, but all guests must follow the Club dress code.

Please email us to let us know if you are coming so we have an idea of numbers.

Individual MICA members can hone their writing skills with an offer from the Business Writing Academy (BWA) that gives a 50% discount on a course for £99.50 (plus VAT).

And every sixth person brought in by a MICA member from their company, or companies for whom they consult, will receive a free BWA writing course.

Plus, BWA will make a £5 donation to either WOMAC, BEN or the Guild of Motoring Writers Benevolent Fund from every sign-up via this MICA arrangement.

BWA is an online self-help series of modules to make writing easier and less stressful for everyone. It’s a lifeline for a lifetime of business communication and writing.

More information about the course is online: https://www.businesswritingacademy.com

The course is in a state of continual development (all modules have been edited to reflect current EDI ethics) and two new modules are about to be added: ‘How to edit search results delivered by ChatGPT and other AI engines'  and ‘Taking Minutes to meet Corporate Governance Requirements.'

• Join quickly and easily on the MICA website.
• Three membership levels are available. The £150 full membership, £50 p/a two-year associate membership for those embarking on their communications career and a £15 student membership for anyone in full time education
• Members from across the world and any sector of the motor communications industry are welcome
• All members receive the same impressive range of benefits, masterclasses and networking opportunities regardless of location, membership level or stage of career.

MICA newsletter editor Paul Jeffries has written for a number of motoring magazines, such as Street Machine and Classic American, as staff and freelance, as well as contributing words and pictures to the national press. He has also edited internal publications for a number of FTSE 100 companies including British Airways.