The why & how of IABC’s Gold Quill Awards

Presented by

Kristen Sukalac

10 October 2014

Global awards program to recognize and foster excellence in business and organizational

communication

Get better at making the business case

Photo: iStock

Diagnose your strengths

& weaknesses

Get feedback from peer evaluators

Evaluators take a break at the 2013 Blue Ribbon Panel in London, UK

Photo: IABC EMENA

Stand out in the crowd

Which is more compelling: you claiming to be great on your CV or having third-party validation?

Photo: IABC

Gold Quill is a great training tool Integrate GQ entries into annual evaluations to ensure

that team members are constantly sharpening their skills

Photo: IABC

Raise your visibility

Winning a Gold Quill can open the door to speaking opportunities, articles, etc.

How to enter?

4 Divisions and 47 categories

•

• Digital

• Audio/visual

• Publications

• Writing

• …9 others

• Internal/external comm. training

• Institutional comm. Training

• Comm. Education tools

• Student entry

• Employee engagement

• Leadership communication

• Media relations

• Marcom

• …19 others

• Comm. research / measurement (internal and external)

• Research innovation

• …2 others

Comm. Research Mgt

Comm. Mgt

Communication Skills

Communication Training

anfdEducation

Online submission

Work plan

Work sample

Fees

Key tips for success

• Tell a story, don’t write a project report

• Give the evaluators the context they need

• Ensure a chain of evidence from business need to strategy and tactics.

• Tie your measurable objectives to that chain of evidence and then measure against the stated objectives

• Don’t stuff your entry with fluff

• Entries are evaluated against set criteria and scored for excellence

• You do not keep against someone’s else’s big budget or “sexy” theme

Not a beauty contest

Photo: Wikimedia

≥ 5.75 = EXCELLENCE

Entries are marked down for omissions, insufficient information, lack of strategic thinking, misaligned measurement

Entries are marked up for creativity, good use of

resources, strategic, aligned with business 4

COMPETENCE

≥5.25 = MERIT

WORK PLAN

• Business need/opportunity

• Stakeholder analysis

• Goals and objectives

• Solution overview

• Implementation and challenges

• Measurement and evaluation

WORK SAMPLE

• Alignment

• Professional execution

• Overall quality

Help is available!

http://gq.iabc.com

Deadlines and entry fees

Early bird 12 November 2014

Final 7 January 2015

IABC member $250 (~€195) $325 (~€255)

IABC student member $25 (~€20) $40 (~€31)

Non-member $350 (~€275) $425 (~€335)

Student non-member $60 (~€47) $75 (~€59)

They did it, why not you?

Gala celebration

15 June 2015 IABC World Conference San Francisco, CA, USA

Photo: IABC