Xavier Ateneo Alumnus does it again
Media Wise Communications / MUSE books, the little company that could – has done it again—and done it in a really big way this year.
Media Wise Communications won four awards for three of its recent coffee table books at the 16th Philippine Quill Awards held July 9, 2018 at the Manila Marriott in Pasay City.
Already the recipient of numerous local and international publishing awards in previous years, Media Wise romped off with four awards at the 16th Philippine Quill Awards held July 9, 2018 at the Manila Marriott in Pasay City.
Winners of a Philippine Quill are considered to have achieved the pinnacle in business communication excellence.
Ramoncito Ocampo Cruz, Media Wise executive creative director and CEO, said the company won four awards for three of its recent coffee-table books: PNB: One Hundred Years of Service Excellence and St. Andrew’s School – One Hundred Years – Pro Deo et Patria (both in the Publications category) and The Maestro of Philippine Basketball (for Writing and Special Projects).
Ramoncito Ocampo Cruz
Cruz expressed great pride not only in its newest titles but also in Media Wise’s latest awards, explaining that for a boutique-sized yet agile publication company, it has consistently won more awards, including Philippine Quills, than many big organizations have through the years.
Ocampo Cruz was cited with a Merit Award by The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) in the 2017 Gold Quill Awards program for the publication of Jesuits In Mindanao: The Mission under the Communications Skills Division (Category 26: Publications).
The IABC Gold Quill Awards are the global initiative of the IABC to recognize and award excellence in strategic communication worldwide, and is acknowledged as one of the most prestigious awards programs in the industry.
Entries are evaluated against IABC’s standard of excellence, and the feedback from last year’s evaluators indicated that the standard of work for 2017 was some of the best seen in recent years.
Previously, Jesuits In Mindanao: The Mission won the Philippine Quill Award of Excellence for Publications under the Communications Skills Division at the 2013 Quill Awards, and another at the IABC Asian Pacific Silver Quill Awards held in Singapore last year.
Jesuits in Mindanao: The Mission was co-published with a fellow Xavier University alumnus, with the proceeds going to the Philippine Jesuit Aid Association (PJAA) for the benefit of the elderly, retired and infirm Jesuits, and the promotion of Jesuit vocations.
A sequel, The Jesuits in The Philippines: The Restoration is now in the works, the proceeds of which would most likely also be donated to the PJAA.
Meantime, PNB: One Hundred Years of Service Excellence also won a Gold Anvil Award at the 52nd Anvil Awards last year.
Ocampo Cruz began his first eight years of education at Xavier University-Ateneo de Cagayan in 1959 (Grade School, 1967). He moved to St. Andrew’s School in Parañaque City (High School, 1971) and the University of Santo Tomas (Bachelor of Fine Arts, major in painting, 1976).
A visual artist, advertising and publishing professional, Monching (as he is known to friends), is a multi-awarded publisher and artist.
After a stint with Sining Makulay CATV (a cable television company) and national broadsheet Manila Chronicle, he established his own graphic design and publishing company, Media Wise Communications, Inc. in 1993.
He won his first Catholic Mass Media citation as well as a Philippine Quill award for publishing MUSE, a magazine dedicated to art, culture and travel. He has had three solo art exhibits.
A proud product of XU Grade School, Monching also gained acclaim for his publication of the Ateneo de Manila University’s sesquicentennial coffee table book, 150: The Ateneo Way by Fr. Jose S. Arcilla, SJ (2009); and Veritas Integras Justita: 75 Years of the Ateneo Law School published for the Ateneo Law School.
Monching is married to Emilie with whom he has two children, Chino and Gio.
– INDNJC –