The message is ‘People, People, People’ for this year’s SLIM-Neilson Peoples’ Awards, which will be held on October 9 at the Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall in Colombo.

Never before has there been such a raw, down-to-the-bone reflection of what the people really think. 5,050 ordinary citizens of all ages, sixteen to sixty, and representing an equal number of males and females took part in interviews earlier this year. They were selected from all parts of the country except the north and east.

Science was at the centre of the survey, which aimed to get at the hearts and minds of the people. ‘For every house in the urban areas we had a successful interview, we skipped two houses to maintain balance. In the rural areas, it was every other house’ said Madura Chelliah of Nielson Group. ‘It was part of a series of strategies to ensure accuracy and a fair representation’.

The announcement of the October 9th awards ceremony took place at the Galadari Hotel last week. The emphasis was on the people being the decider, the jury and the decision. Speakers at the event went to great lengths to spell out how the sample population was chosen and how they avoided bias.

SLIM President R. M. P. Dayawansa said market research is a known problem in Sri Lanka; but we think we’ve got the pulse of the people.

With thirty awards in the offing, and the right backing - including main sponsor HNB Assurance - the awards looks sure to set the standard for acuracy and excellence of all future award ceremonies.