Gold Quill Awards: Judging
Observations By a Judge to Help You as You Prepare Your Entry
by John Clemons, ABC, APR, Raytheon Technical Services Company LLC, Virginia, USA
Having the privilege of serving on the Blue Ribbon Panel for the 2008 IABC Gold Quill Awards program was a highlight of my more than 20 years as a former leader and active member of our association. It was an exciting experience because I had the opportunity to judge some of the best and brightest internal communication programs from around the world and work with professional communicators from around the world—the United Kingdom, Brazil and even India. By the end of a long weekend of judging, we had all bonded as a global IABC family.
One of the first things you notice as a judge is the level of creativity and the passion behind the various entries. Clearly, an extensive amount of work went into producing these programs and initiatives, but still some of the entries were lacking. The following are a few thoughts and observations that may be helpful to those who plan to enter the Gold Quill Awards this year:
- Research is still a critical element to the development of successful employee and member communication plans.
- Strategy cannot be stressed enough: Is the initiative tied to the goals and objectives and/or the vision or mission of a respective organization?
- Some really good entries did not have budgets. Even if the costs have been absorbed by the internal customer or client, let us know! Some really good entries lost points because they either totally ignored inclusion of a detailed budget or did not provide enough budget information.
- What was most impressive was the level of teamwork involved in some initiatives—recruiting of fellow team members or those from other internal functions to help out (partnering/teaming effort does not cost a cent!) and convincing senior management to provide support and assistance.
- A very clear work plan is essential. Some entries require that, as a judge, you have to fill in the blanks and make assumptions. This only leads to a lower score and prompts the question, “What do you think the entrant meant by…?” Every entry should by complete, clear and well written. Remember this is the first time we are seeing your work.
- Some entries lacked hard copies of work samples, which is not acceptable.
- Proofread your entry and have someone else review your entry before submitting. I reviewed some really good entries that stopped me in my tracks when one or two typographical errors appeared in the work plan. It shouldn’t happen, but it does. Put your entry aside for a day or two, and then review it once more before mailing. Then you may find that your narrative may look a little different and your work plan can be improved, because you reviewed it once more with fresh eyes.
I walked away from the Gold Quill Awards judging experience a better communicator, who will apply what I have learned to my professional skills portfolio.
Start preparing your Gold Quill Award entry today! The early-bird deadline is 27 January 2010, and the final deadline is 3 February 2010.
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