Alongside 'when will we be able to measure what we do' and 'can you recommend a superstar middleweight account manager', the question I heard most often while covering PR in Asia concerned the region's public affairs industry. Specifically, people would often wonder when public affairs would become the revenue-driver it already is in countries like the UK and the US. It was a topic that, it seems, we revisited year upon year at Media Asia. The launch of PublicAffairsAsia and, in particular, its Gold Standard public affairs awards may signal that those questions are now moot. The importance of a dedicated resource is plain to see, so congratulations to Craig Hoy and his team for making this all happen. Increasing professionalism is also undoubtedly playing a role, as lobbying becomes more transparent. The importance of public affairs to domestic and international companies in countries like China, India and Indonesia means that it can no longer be the preserve of a few well-connected networkers any longer. From what I understand, the event had pretty good, senior-level attendance. The full awards run-down can be found at the PublicAffairsAsia site. It looks like the big winners were Weber Shandwick, ING Insurance and Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.