Gold Quill Awards: Process and Rules
Contents:
Eligibility
Your entry must:
- Include original material for the work sample. Syndicated, borrowed, reprinted or stock materials are not accepted.
- Work plans and work samples that are faxed or e-mailed will not be accepted. Entries sent to IABC headquarters will be disqualified and no refunds will be given.
- Meet entry deadlines.
- The entry must include work that was produced between January 2010 and the day of submission. Entries that won last year may not be submitted again.
- Include written permission to submit the entry from clients, agencies, suppliers and other key project participants, on the company letterhead of those granting permission. A printed copy of an e-mailed letter of permission that includes the signature line of the client or other key participants, is also acceptable.
- Include all required elements, such as an electronic copy and hard copy of your work plan.
- Be sent to the appropriate category coordinator or regional/language coordinator. Be sure to allow enough time for delivery to the appropriate coordinator. For submissions originating outside of the U.S., be sure to indicate on the shipping form that your package value is $1 and that you are transferring business files. If you want to assign a value to your package, check the box to indicate that all duties and taxes should be billed to the sender.
- Conform to IABC’s Code of Ethics.
- Not include work done for IABC or the IABC Research Foundation at the international level. However, work done for IABC chapters and districts or regions is eligible.
- Entries are not return and IABC reserves the right to use entries for publication, publicity purposes and display unless specifically noted by the entrant on the entry form.
- Awards will be given solely at the discretion of the judges and judges' decisions are final. Judges may move entries between categories if deemed appropriate.
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Rules for writing your work plan
Think of your work plan as an executive summary of your communication strategy. The work plan describes your project’s communication program, how it was developed and what you intended to achieve. View examples of winning work plans online or purchase IABC’s Best Practices in Communication Planning and Implementation for an inside look into Gold Quill Award-winning programs (now discounted).
Create a tailored work plan for each entry. Do not write one work plan and submit it to more than one category. Submit both an electronic copy on a disk, CD-ROM or USB drive and a hard copy of the work plan. Be sure to label your CD or USB with the entrant’s name, entry title and entrant’s organization (see How to label your work plan).
It can be challenging to fit your entry into the required page length- but it's not impossible! Edit your plan to be clear and concise. Bullets, tables and lists, rather than full paragraphs, can help save space. Ask yourself: Does this outline show that the project was well managed? Does it cover all of the important points? Is it compelling? Could your work plan be used to show others what works?
Specifications
- Communication Management work plans must not exceed four pages.
- Communication Skills work plans must not exceed three pages.
- Communication Creative work plans must not exceed two pages.
- Entries must be typed. The minimum font size is 10-point on 8.5 by 11-inch paper (A4 size outside the Americas, or 21 by 29.7 centimeters).
- Use single column (paragraph) format, with no less than half-inch margins (1.3 centimeters) on all sides.
How to label your work plan
List the following information at the top of your 2-, 3- or 4-page work plan and not on a separate page:
- Client organization or outside agency (if applicable): If the work you are submitting was not done for your organization, include the name of the organization for which the project was designed. If you are no longer affiliated with the organization the project was designed for, or are an outside supplier (e.g., an agency or freelancer), you must include the organization’s written approval of the project on their company letterhead along with your entry.
- Time period of project: Specify when the communication project took place.
- Brief description: Provide a one- or two-sentence description of your entry.
Work plans for Communication Management and Communication Skills
To write work plans for Divisions 1 and 2, use the following format (including these headings):
- Need/opportunity. What need or opportunity did your communication project address? Clearly describe the issues the organization faced, and outline any impact these issues had on performance, reputation, image, profits, participation, etc. Highlight any formal or informal research findings that support your analysis of the need or opportunity.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
A clear and concise description of the compelling reason for your communication solution. Your stated need/opportunity should establish a strong link between the organization's goals and strategy and the goals and strategies of your communication program.
- Intended audience(s). Identify your primary audience and any other audiences. What was the audience’s state of mind? What key audience characteristics did you take into account when developing your solution? Consider psychographic as well as demographic characteristics. Describe any research you did on your audience.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
Solid research: relevant demographic and psychographic data about your audience/stakeholders that assisted you in designing the communication program. Your assessment of audience/stakeholders should be used to justify your selected strategies and tactics.
- Goals and objectives. Goals describe what your communication project was designed to accomplish. Choose one or two key goals to describe in detail. These goals should be aligned with your organization’s future needs. Objectives should be realistic and measurable, and should examine outcomes such as quantity, quality, time, cost, percentages or other criteria. These measures are often financial, but not always. If your measurements are not financial, be sure to note this in your description.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
Project goals that align with the organization's goals. Specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound objectives, or, at the very least, objectives that include specific and measurable targets, against which you measured project outcomes.
- Solution overview. Outline your project’s solution and the logic that supported it. Tell us why you did what you did. The solution should demonstrate your thought process, imagination and approach to problem solving. Discuss how you involved stakeholders in developing the solution. Identify key messages. Present the tactics and communication vehicles you used. Identify your role in the project and your level of involvement and responsibility.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
A clear statement of what you intended to do, and justification for why your strategies were the right choices. Judges are looking for an innovative or particuarly creative solution- something that makes them say, "wow!"
- Implementation and challenges. State your project budget. It does not matter if the budget was small. Show that you made efficient use of money. Discuss time frames. Describe any limitations or challenges that you faced when communicating and implementing your ideas. (Judges are looking for flexibility and a capacity to resolve problems and negotiate solutions.) Note any special circumstances and discuss how they were addressed.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
Evidence that you considered the direct and indirect costs associated with your project, and selected tactics that supported your stated business need, objectives, and audience analysis. Judges are looking for demonstrated strategic and critical thinking evidenced by proactively avoiding or successfully resolving limitations or challenges.
- Measurement/evaluation of outcomes. How did you measure your project’s results? Every result should be linked to one or more objectives. Results must be shown to be valuable, thorough and convincing. Measurement should demonstrate outcomes, not outputs.
For example, if your media relations campaign was designed to support a product roll-out, you should measure bottom-line figures about sales targets or the number of qualified sales leads, rather than just measuring the number of clips and impressions, or advertising value equivalent.
If your challenge was to improve employees’ understanding of an issue, you must show that their knowledge increased as a result of the communication plan you implemented.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
Outcome results are clearly linked to the targets identified in your objectives. Outcome results are supported by qualitative or quantitative data indicating how resulting perception or behavior change/reinforcement improved performance, reduced costs, increased sales, increased quality, etc.
Describe the methods used to evaluate how your communication efforts influenced audience/stakeholder perception or behavior modification or reinforcement (outcome), rather than distribution numbers, deadlines achieved, web hits, or survey responses (outputs and out-takes). Provide the outcome data that demonstrates achievement of your objectives.
Work plans for Communication Creative
To write work plans for Division 3, use the following format (including these headings):
- Project summary. Give an overview of your project. What business need or opportunity did your solution address?
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
A clear and concise overview that shows how the creative materials presented a strategic solution for the organization's need/opportunity and/or links to a business strategy.
- Intended audience(s). Identify your primary audience and other audiences. Describe the key characteristics (needs, preferences, demographics, etc.) that you took into account when developing your solution. Describe any research you did on your audience.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
Evidence of audience research that informed the creative decisions (e.g., that the technique/channel matches that audience's preferences).
- Objectives. What were your project’s creative objectives? What outcome did you target? How did your creative objectives address your organization’s business need or opportunity? I dentify the specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound targets against which you measured the effectiveness of your creative solution.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
Objectives that target desired outcomes associated with audience/stakeholder perception or behavior reinforcement or modification. Strategic objectives are not the output produced.
- Key messages/theme. What messages or themes were most critical to convey? State your key messages or themes.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
Creative, well-thought-out key messages that clearly demonstrate an understanding of the audience and link to the objectives of the project.
- Creative rationale. Summarize the creative solution and the logic that supported it. Tell us why you did what you did. Describe how your solution demonstrates insight and imagination. Identify your role in the project and your level of involvement and responsibility.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
Solutions in which critical and strategic consideration of the need/opportunity and audience characteristics result in new, innovative, different, unusual, unique work.
- Results. In what way did you achieve your project’s objectives? How did your creative solution address the business need or opportunity? Demonstrate the effectiveness of your solution by showing increases in sales, traffic, participation or other quantifiable outcomes. Discuss your budget, resources and time frames, and show efficient use of each.
What makes an IABC Gold Quill Award winner?
Provide the outcome data that demonstrates achievement of your objectives. Outcome results are supported by qualitative or quantitative data indicating how resulting perception or behavior change/reinforcement improved performance, reduced costs, increased sales, increased quality, etc.
Scoring guidelines
Judges score both your work plan and your work sample. View the judges’ evaluation forms.
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Rules for preparing your work sample
The work sample is the supporting material that illustrates your communication program. It can include DVDs, publications, design work, writing samples, photography, computer programs, etc. You may also include products such as scripts, an executive summary of the research results, the media buy, etc. Your work sample should represent the scope of your work.
The work sample can be either electronic or a hard copy, and is the physical example of your communication project—for example, a newsletter, podcast or web site. Please send the highest-quality samples you can afford.
Important: If the work was completed on behalf of a client, include a written letter of permission from the client on their letterhead acknowledging your role in the project and their consent for you to submit this entry. A printed copy of an e-mail granting permission, signed by your client, is also acceptable.
A word about the size of your entry/entries
All entries should be contained inside a binder that has a maximum ring diameter of one inch (2.55 centimeters) or less. (Do not measure the spine; measure the ring size.) Pages inside the binder should be no larger than 8.5 by 11 inches (A4 size outside the Americas, or 21 by 29.7 centimeters).
Be sure to organize and condense your work to provide a representative overview of your project. Do not go over the size limit. Be selective with your work sample. Pick those examples (clips, photos, etc.) that best support your work plan and represent your strategy. Be creative in demonstrating impact.
The only exception to the size limit is when a single piece of your work sample that is critical to your entry—such as a videotape, book or 3-D item—exceeds the dimensions. In this case, you may package the piece with your work sample. However, the rest of your supporting material must meet size requirements.
Use tabs to separate and label the different sections of your entry (i.e. entry form, work plan, work sample) and be sure all sections are clearly identified. Avoid paper clips and rubber bands. If something can be three-hole-punched, avoid using plastic sleeves—consider using plastic sleeves only for materials such as photos. Use re-sealable plastic pouches for DVDs, CDs, videos, etc. Label all the elements of your entry in case they become separated. Once you complete your entry, label the binder or folder with the name of your entry and send it to the appropriate Gold Quill Awards coordinator.
Technical specifications
- Electronic/digital elements. Electronic and interactive work samples should be viewable on Windows or Macintosh equipment and/or software.
- For web sites, provide the URL or IP address of the site in your entry.
- For intranets or “limited, secured access” sites, provide instructions on how to register for the site, along with an account name or password. If access may be a barrier to evaluation, or if there’s a chance the site may change after submission, consider submitting a “Tour of Work Sample” video (of five minutes or less) on a CD-ROM.
Electronic entries will be disqualified if they contain viruses, if they disable or require disabling of any part of the computer system used in the judging, or if judges cannot view or install work samples using the instructions provided. Provide a summary of your CD-ROM, DVD or other electronic medium (a screen shot with caption, a storyboard of select scenes, etc.) in your work sample.
- Large and/or heavy items (displays, billboards, sculptures, etc). Send color photographs (no larger than 8 by 10 inches, or 20.3 by 25.4 centimeters) of large and/or heavy items.
- Publications. For periodicals, we suggest that entrants submit three consecutive issues as a single entry (for both printed and electronic versions). For semi-annual publications, submit both issues. For annual publications, including annual reports, submit one issue. Indicate the frequency of the publication (monthly, quarterly, semi-annual, etc.) in your work plan. Publication formats are defined as follows:
- Magazines—printed on coated or glossy paper, generally 8.5 by 11 inches (A4 size outside the Americas, or 21 by 29.7 centimeters), saddle-stitched or perfect bound.
- Newspapers—printed on newsprint, approximately 16 by 23 inches (40.6 by 58.4 centimeters).
- Magapapers/tabloids—printed on coated or high-quality paper, generally 12 by 14 inches (30.5 by 35.6 centimeters) or larger.
- Newsletters—printed on newsprint or glossy paper, smaller in size than newspapers or magapapers, generally four to eight pages on 8.5 by 11-inch paper (A4 size outside the Americas, or 21 by 29.7 centimeters).
- Photography. Submit your entry in the context in which it was used. For print media, submit the spread or story in which the photograph(s) appeared (a tear sheet is preferred). For photos used in displays or bulletin boards, or other cases where size is prohibitive, send an 8 by 10-inch (20.3 by 25.4-centimeter) photograph of the entire project and one close-up photo.
- Programs and campaigns. Submit a complete, concise entry that illustrates the entire campaign. To do this, enclose representative samples of multiple program elements. Submit color photographs (no larger than 8 by 10 inches, or 20.3 by 25.4 centimeters) of large or bulky samples.
- Writing samples. Provide a tear sheet or other evidence of where the sample appeared. For recurring features or columns (Category 21), send three different samples as a single entry. For scripts (Category 21), submit typed entries on 8.5 by 11-inch paper (A4 size outside the Americas, or 21 by 29.7 centimeters).
- DVDs. Submit programs in the standard format appropriate to the geographic area in which they will be judged.
Be selective with your work sample
For larger communication programs, pick those examples (clips, photos, etc.) that best represent your entry, rather than sending every item. For example, don’t send a T-shirt—send a picture of a crowd of people wearing it. As a final check, ask yourself:
- If you were a member of the target audience, would the work sample capture your attention?
- Is it relevant, meaningful and memorable?
- Does your work sample portray the solution as described in the work plan?
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