The Public Relations Society of Serbia (DSOJ) granted the “Srdjan Djuric” Award to Borislav Miljanovic, PhD, Represent System CEO, at the 22nd PR Awards 2019 ceremony, held on May 21. The “Srdjan Djuric” Award for exceptional personal contribution in the area of communications is granted as a special recognition to professionals from all areas of public relations and communications.

Miljanović won the prestigious award for his exceptional personal contribution in the area of communications. His vast professional experience in the media has been upgraded by work in public relations departments and in the field of communications. Decades of Bora’s work are best described with the following sentence: constant self-development and keeping pace with trends and innovation.

He graduated from the Faculty of Law in Belgrade and obtained an MA and PhD degree in communicology at the Faculty of Political Sciences. He established the public relations department of the BK grupa and of the Royal Palace. Bora also worked as an editor and journalist in a number of media outlets (BK TV, TV Politika, Studio B, Blic…). He also devised and implemented numerous communication campaigns for clients in the both profit and non-profit sectors.

In his long and fruitful career, he also met Srđan Đurić, a journalist, who opened the door of the media world to him, an opportunity that Bora embraced and later on helped Đurić enter the area of marketing and communications. Bora began his addressing by thanking all for the award and continued:

– I am happy for this great recognition, because the most important award is the one received from peers in your own profession. And our profession is unpredictable, fast and ever-changing, a giant machinery and business that constant changes and develops from year to year. This is exactly how the Represent System monitored trends and evolved from a classic PR agency to a digital one and it now continues to grow in that area – said the Represent System CEO at the beginning of his speech and added:

– I am a visionary, I like to create and always look ahead. In that respect, I am especially glad that my fellow professionals have recognised my vision above all in my work. Some still perceive PR as an old profession while others, like ourselves, perceive it as a dynamic profession that changes constantly – explained Miljanović.

He then recalled his good friend, Srđan Đurić, who left us prematurely, and after whom this award is named:

– I am especially glad that this life-time achievement award is named after my colleague and, I am free to say, my friend, Srđan Đurić, who helped me by opening the door of BK TV for me and thus enabling me to make a successful TV career, while on the other hand I, as more experienced in PR, supported him when he decided to enter the PR world. It was a man with whom I competed in two things – professionalism and kindness. Thank you all again for this precious and important award.

In May 1997, the Annual Conference of (the then Yugoslav) public relations experts was established. The first one was held at the University Club in Belgrade and in 1998 a selection jury reached a decision on the PR Award winners. Its name best reflects the purpose and depth of the award.

It is interesting to note that these forms of awards and recognitions in the area of public relations in the neighbouring countries were established years after Serbia.