Emma Adcock, OSPRI

Judges’ comment

Congratulations on all your hard work. We can see that you understand why plain English is important, and that you strive to use it in everything you write. You’ve really thought about your audience and worked hard to create documents that have meaning for them. Well done.

The overall quality of your six documents is excellent. Farmers need direct, easy-to-understand information and instruction to manage their herds against TB infection and for NAIT compliance. These documents achieve that goal. Well done.

Media statement

OSPRI is delighted to be a finalist for Best Plain English Technical Communicator in the 2015 WriteMark Awards. As a first-time entrant, this has given us confirmation that our communications are direct, effective, and easily understood.

OSPRI is a non-profit organisation managing New Zealand’s national animal identification and tracing (NAIT) programme and the TBfree programme. We communicate with the people who make up New Zealand’s agricultural backbone — farmers, landowners, contractors, and business owners.

The purpose of OSPRI’s factsheets, brochures, and videos is to describe the benefits to New Zealand farmers of the NAIT and TBfree programmes and provide clear, simple instructions on what farmers need to do for each programme.

User testing of these documents showed that farmers found them easy to understand and that the flow charts, infographics, and step-by-step approaches were very useful and clear. By make sure all of our communications are easy to understand, farmers know how to meet their obligations. This supports our work towards livestock traceability and a TB-free New Zealand.

Emma Adcock
Senior Marketing Advisor