MANILA, PHILIPPINES — The International Association of Business Communicators’ (IABC) 19th Philippine Quill Awards recently bestowed top honors on Camp COMCO Mentorship Program, the groundbreaking and proprietary talent incubation initiative, industry linkage course, and apprenticeship platform of trailblazing inter-regional integrated communications agency COMCO Southeast Asia.
Camp COMCO won Excellence Awards in Internal Communication for “Camp COMCO House Wars – The Force of Learning in New PR and Smart Social” and “Igniting the Alumni Culture – The Camp COMCO Alumni Society.” It also bagged the Excellence Award in Communication Training and Education for Camp COMCO House Wars and Merit Award in Internal Communication for “Celebrating the Alumni Culture – The Camp COMCO Alumni Society Unity Games.”
Ultimately, Camp COMCO earned one of the highest honors in Quill Awards as it received the finalist citation for the much-coveted Top Award in Communication Training and Education. Launched in 2016, Camp COMCO Mentorship Program also won the 2019 IABC Quill Award of Excellence in Communications Training and Education and the 2019 Gold Anvil Award in Specialized Public Relations Program.
One of the many reasons why the program is vastly successful is because it strategically and structurally covers training in diverse communication areas empowered by the COMCO’s culture of mentorship. Camp COMCO apprentices are assigned to their respective mentorship houses – House Bearcat, Hawksbill, Flying Fox, and Whaleshark where they are co-trained by their respective house stewards alongside mentors from COMCO Mundo League of Enterprises, Camp COMCO Alumni Society and the industry. These young talents go through the process of Skills Calibration, Strategic Communications Immersion, and a Specialization Elective.
In House Wars, the culminating activity of the Camp, the apprentices through their mentorship houses are given the opportunity to use what they have learned in the program and develop communication proposals for some of the most renowned brands in the industry. Some of the brands and organizations that have participated in House Wars were Starbucks, FWD Insurance, Theo & Philo Chocolates, CARA (Compassion and Responsibility for Animals) Welfare Philippines, and ABS-CBN, among others. The houses compete for the best communications proposal to be presented and pitched to the brand, and the winning house will be declared as the House Wars Champion!
Over the past six years, Camp COMCO Mentorship Program has already produced 100 graduates from 18 cycles. Graduates of the program become members of the Camp COMCO Alumni Society and continue to be involved in many of the organization’s initiatives, such as the “COMCOlidays with Kids” outreach program, emergency response fundraisers (e.g. for PGH during the Covid-19 pandemic and for Tuguegarao Bloggers Society during Typhoon Ulysses) and Camp COMCO Unity Games. Camp COMCO alumni have become top-caliber young professionals, and many of them are now award-winners and are holding key positions in COMCO, as well as in other companies and sectors in the industry.
“I’ve done many projects throughout my career but bringing Camp COMCO Mentorship Program to life is probably my proudest accomplishment. Camp COMCO is designed to give the best internship or apprenticeship for aspiring communication professionals as I believe that a good mentorship program is the one that will fully prepare these students and young practitioners, provide them with the best jumping board for the practice of our craft, and ultimately help them define their future,” said COMCO SEA Group Chief Executive Director and Camp COMCO Mentorship Program Creator and Head Mentor Mr. Ferdinand L. Bondoy.
Camp COMCO Mentorship Program is now accepting young communications talents for its 19th cycle. If you think you have the edge to become the next communication rockstar, send your application and curriculum vitae (CV) to headquarters@comcomundo.com or commandcenter@comcosea.com.
To know more about COMCO Southeast Asia, visit comcosea.com. Follow them on Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram, and Twitter.
