Website Wins Gold at Horizon Interactive Media Awards, Video Series Takes Home Two Silvers at IAVA Communicator Awards

NEW YORK, NEW YORK, June 6, 2008 — ORBIS International was honored by two prestigious international media competitions this spring.

The ORBIS International website was honored with a gold award in the public sector/nonprofit category by The Horizon Interactive Awards, a leading international interactive media awards competition. The seventh annual competition saw just over 1,000 entries from 20 countries. Each entry was judged on:

• Solution creativity and originality
• Overall graphic design/appearance/user experience
• Communication of message
• Technical merit
• Effectiveness of solution

The ORBIS website was designed by 3^rd Edge Communications of Jersey City, New Jersey.

Meanwhile, the ORBIS video series “Uncover the Truth About Blindness,” which accompanied the ORBIS International 2007annual report, won two silver Communicator Awards by the International Academy of the Visual Arts. With over 9,000 entries from across the U.S. and around the world, the Communicator Awards is the largest and most competitive awards program honoring creative excellence in communications.

The “Uncover the Truth About Blindness” series illustrated ORBIS’s sight-saving work in Bangladesh, China, Ethiopia, India, Latin America and Vietnam. The series earned silver “Awards of Distinction” in the categories of charitable/nonprofit and videography/cinematography.

“To be recognized by both the Horizon Interactive Media Awards and the IAVA Communicator Awards is indeed an honor,” said ORBIS International Executive Director Geoffrey Holland. “Excellence in communications is something we strive for. It is so important if we are to educate the public as to the tremendous need across the developing world for critical sight-saving skills and technology. We congratulate Global Web Manager Esther Benenson, Audiovisual Director Gavin Wickham, and the many other ORBIS staff involved in bringing these projects together.”     

For more information on ORBIS, please see www.orbis.org. For more information on the Horizon and IAVA awards, please see www.horizoninteractiveawards.com and www.communicatorawards.com.