Depok-University of Indonesia (UI) through the Public Relations study program, UI Vocational Education Program held the PRAction X Makaravox Awards Public Relations (PR) Awards. This national competition event was attended by high school students, university students, public relations practitioners, public relations of private companies and government agencies/institutions, on May 20, 2025 at the UI Vocational Auditorium.
Carrying the theme “The Power of Communication: Preserving the Ocean, Eliminate Exploitation”, this year’s PRAction invites students to take part in various competitions, such as Public Speaking, Public Relations Campaign, and Creative Videos that raise the challenges of environmental issues, especially marine exploitation. In addition, the competition at the Makaravox Awards includes Government Public Relations Figures, PR Rookie for PR practitioners who are new to the industry, PR Pro for public relations who already have more than 5 years of experience, PR Student of the Year for public relations students, Innovative PR Program, Social Media Management, and the Government Public Relations Program category. In addition to the awarding, the series of events also presented a talk show with Vega Pita, Manager of Corporate Communication & Relations of PT Pertamina International Shipping (PIS) who reviewed the important role of PR in marine conservation and business sustainability.
(Photo: Vice Director for Education, Research, and Student Affairs, Deni Danial Kesa, M.B.A., Ph.D, giving a speech at the PRAction 2025 event)
“PRAction X Makaravox Awards UI is here as an innovation in a prestigious public relations competition involving students and PR practitioners in Indonesia. This event is also part of the learning model in the Public Relations study program, through the Special Event Management and Protocol courses, to hone the hard skills and soft skills of students. This is in accordance with the objectives of the Vocational Education Program as an education that focuses on competency with a practice-based curriculum so that students will be trained to face challenging things in the world of work,” said Deni Danial Kesa, M.B.A., Ph.D., Deputy Director of Education, Research and Student Affairs of UI Vocational.
One of the categories competed, namely the Government Public Relations Program, also collaborated with partners from Trendreader to assess data-based media. The assessment was carried out through an evaluation of government institutions based on news coverage in the mass media and social media during the period October 2024 to March 2025. In addition, the assessment was carried out based on three main pillars, namely the volume of news coverage, narrative context, and positive sentiment that emerged in the media.
(Photo: Awarding of awards to a number of practitioners in the world of public relations)
Another category is PR Campaign, the assessment indicators include the sharpness of the program according to the issues raised, creativity, precise measurement, campaign effectiveness, and appearance during presentation. The assessment also considers the extent to which the campaign is able to build a positive image, actively involve the target audience, and the long-term sustainability of the campaign idea. Finally, the team’s ability to answer the jury’s questions and convey the material convincingly is also part of the assessment aspect.
Present as the first winner in the PR Campaign category, namely Universitas Gadjah Mada. The Creative Video category was won by SMAN 1 Margahayu and the first winner of Public Speaking went to Ataya Raisa from the Universitas Pembangunan Nasional Veteran Jakarta. As for the Makaravox UI Awards category, it was won by the Indonesian National Police, PT Bank Central Asia, the Central Statistics Agency, and others.
This PRAction is expected to have an impact on the academic world of public relations that the implementation of concepts and practices is increasingly real through the holding of prestigious events. Meanwhile, the impact for professionals is that they have a place to show their achievements and performance so that they are motivated to work more innovatively and creatively.
