Gold Quill Awards: Judging
Help Is on the Way: Gold Quill Awards program’s new mentorship program
by Paul Matalucci, ABC, 2009 Gold Quill Awards chair, Wordwright Communications, California, USA
Have you ever opened your Gold Quill Awards Call for Entries and felt your palms go moist? Even before reading a word, you’re struck by its sheer volume. Pages of instructions, dozens of categories, and lists of do’s and don’ts: binder width, permission letters, font size, minimum margins, maximum page count.
Through how many hoops can one person jump?
Fortunately, while the requirements to enter may be complex, they are not arbitrary. Entries come from around the world—from diverse backgrounds, specialties, languages and cultural norms—and all are being evaluated against a global standard. The requirements help to minimize distracting cultural variables, to focus the judges on the core components of each entry, and ultimately to provide a fair and consistent method of evaluation.
And now—to slow your beating heart—you don’t have to sweat the entry process alone.
The Gold Quill Awards program has launched a new mentorship program. We will pair past winners, judges, and Accredited Business Communicators (ABCs) with any communicator who has not previously won a Gold Quill Award.
Your mentor is available to answer your questions, review your draft work plan and work samples, and to provide you with feedback and suggestions. Keep in mind that your mentor is offering guidance and support, but will not rewrite or directly alter your entry. When you win, we want the credit to be completely yours.
It’s also worth mentioning that your mentor is investing his or her time in your success. Once you commit to using a mentor, please make every effort to complete and submit your entry or entries. After your first get-acquainted meeting or call, consider scheduling regular check-ins. Use those check-ins to give yourself personal deadlines.
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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