The Pressclub of California hosted the First International Media Summit in Palo Alto last night (21 Oct.). Additionally, members of the Pressclub handed out the 2004 Awards for the Best in International Media & Public relations in the tech industry.

The Pressclub’s 100+ members, foreign correspondents from all over the world as well as numerous domestic reporters, voted “Best in International Media & Public Relations in 2004” the following:



1. Intel

2. Cisco

3. Sun Microsystems



Agnes Kwan (Intel), Ron Pivosan (Cisco) and Kristin Huguet (Sun) took home a good bottle of French (of course, monsieur) champagne. Cheers!



Named as the top 3 tech companies needing improvement in International Media & Public relations were:

1. HP

2. Yahoo

3. Google



Apple received a special award: Simultaneously best and worst in PR. As several foreign correspondents have noticed in the last couple of years, Apple treats international reporters simply “not at all” or with arrogance. The local teams though (I can speak especially for the folks in Apple’s Munich office) are doing a great job. Too bad the key deciscions are made in Cupertino and not in Bavaria . . .



Another story on the side: Kristin Hollins, International PR Manager at Oracle, and also one of the Panelists on Moderator Tom Sanders' Panel on Best Practices in International Media Relations, mentioned what Larry Ellison’s favourite paper is: The Financial Times. Of course!



Enjoy the weekend!