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"The heights by Great men reached and kept Were not attained by sudden flight But they, while their companions slept Were toiling upwards in the night" - Long Fellow

In the first e mail I sent out to the identified team to shoulder SLIM AWARDS 2003, I remember using the above phrase just to indicate the enormity of the task we had ahead of us. That was way back in July 2002 and we have gone through many hours of rigorous involvement to have staged the outstanding event that was unveiled on the 1st of March 2003. I have received many calls, many e mails since last Saturday all of which have been full of praise.

It is my duty now to place on record my appreciation to all those who were part of this mega project, helping us in our flight to the heights that were never reached before. Let me start with my team The whole team deserves gratitude, special mentions for the outstatnding contributions, Chitrangani & Sharmila took great pain in getting the publicity for the event organised, Mahinthan spent many hours of his time to immaculately planning and executing the judging process and the showreel for the event, Deepal was in charge of the hospitality at the event and also at all other mini events leading to it. Ralston, single handedly looked after the preparation and the distribution of the trophies, Dhammika was totally responsible for the coding and the preparation of the entries, and the smooth management of the judging process.

Manjula became our anchor at the Secretariat office. Niranjan ( & Rizmi) were in charge of the coffers. Sylvester shared all the experiences he had & was there to discuss any radical thoughts. Without all their commitment and contribution we could not have done this.

The wind beneath our wings was the sponsors. Our Strategic partner, ICI Dulux for the seventh year in succession placed the trust in us and was willing to be associated with the project. The main partners Hiru, Maliban, & Suntel were also equally committed to the task. Media was handled by the official partners Rupavahini, ANCL, Sun & Sha FM.

Co-partners were Graphitec, Trans Asia, SLECC, SriLankan Airlines, ACNeilsen, Signtech, Swedish Trading and Business Today helping us in their own areas of expertise.

Next in the list receiving our thanks is the Advertising and the Marketing fraternity for the support provided by participating in the process and at the event. 4A's need special appreciation for the support and the guidance extended to make the project evolve into the statue it is today.

I need to mention the Communication partner for the event Grant McCann Erickson for creating and exciting campaign to launch the project. Laila, Russell, Paddy, Alyna and Kapila need special recognition in this area. We are also grateful to Vision work for execution of the TV campaign. The event related activity was totally looked after by Imran and the team at Funtime. if not for their efforts the glamorous night on the 1st of March would not have been a reality.

Taslim, the Council of SLIM also the E,xco members I am grateful for the faith you had in us to execute an event to reach the heights we did. The unconditional support of Deepal Sooriyarachi and the two panels of judges, Dr Uditha Liyanage who provided advice to streamline the process helped immensely.

The path we travelled was not a bed of roses, we had many supporting us and there were also many who criticised every step we took. But I am equally thankful for all of them, whilst the supporters' encouragement gave us the strength and the confidence the criticism allowed us become stronger and more determined. We had faith in the system that was put together and the ultimate objective was to deliver the "Expert judgement of effective and impactful marketing communication". The results announced on the 1st night endorsed that.

Last I need to state it was an experience that was exceptional which left a great amount of learning for all of us. I am truly glad to have been selected to chair this project.

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