Going for the gold—as in Gold Quill Award for 2003

Communication World, Dec, 2002 by Michael Metzger, Penny Poole

Editor's Note: In this new CW department, two Gold Quill Blue Ribbon Panel judges outline the do's and don'ts of submitting a Gold Quill entry. Subsequent issues will spotlight Gold Quill award-winning communication plans. The 2003 Gold Quill Awards program is sponsored by Mercer Human Resource Consulting.

Entering the prestigious IABC Gold Quill Awards program is a communication exercise in itself. Having a fabulous project is not enough. With more than 1,000 entries each year and only about 100 winners, you need to be able to present your project work plan clearly and articulately to the most discerning audience of all--your professional peers.

If your entry makes it through divisional and regional judging and reaches the second stage of judging, the Blue Ribbon Panel, your final judge and jury is a two-person appraisal team. Each team member is a senior communicator, an IABC member (most likely accredited) and a former Gold Quill winner. Panel members are also chosen for their global perspective; the 2002 judges, for example, hailed from 12 countries.

A Blue Ribbon Panel judging pair may evaluate as many as 30 entries over two days, so it's critical that you fine-tune your work plan until you are sure all information adds something to your case. Include only information the judges need to understand your story, what you were trying to accomplish, how you went about achieving your goal and how you know it worked.

A WINNING WORK PLAN

The plan is everything! The project sample simply validates it.

If you've got a unique project, winning a Quill is well within your realm of possibility. Simply follow the guidelines. The work plan instructions in the Call for Entries provide a logical paint-by-number framework. Each section is weighted equally and all are related.

* Need/Opportunity: Paint the appropriate background to provide context for the project. This crucial segment must be clearly written.

* Audience: Because each section of the application receives an equally weighted score, a single bad, or even mediocre, score will bring down your average and can make the difference between winning an Excellence or Merit Award--or no award at all. Understanding that, how would you score an audience definition that describes the target in a single sentence like "customers living within ABC geographic area"?

You should know much more about your target group than gender and age. If you list an audience as "the general public," you can be sure you will receive a failing score for not targeting appropriately. Supply research if you can, and tell the judges everything you know about that person whose behavior you want to influence with your project.

* Goals and Objectives: This section of the work plan is often confused, so it s worth clarifying here what the judges are looking for. Goals generally describe what you want to accomplish in the big picture sense. Objectives are measurable and specific targets.

* Measurement: This is a critical make-or-break element of the plan. If you have not identified a point of departure, how can you measure your accomplishments? Show a clear link between your objectives and your results. (Some entrants make it easy for the judges by reporting against each objective.) You may use anecdotal evidence for your measurement, but you must be specific about it. "It was a very successful project judging from the large number of emails, telephone calls and positive comments from senior staff" simply is not enough. Quantify these results and compare them with other program results. Make sure you include a couple of examples. You're after behavioral change, so make sure you know what it is you're measuring.

TIME, BUDGET AND OTHER RESOURCES

The judging score sheet includes the question: "How well was the project implemented in terms of budget, timing and resources?" In most cases, this is a difficult one to assess. Make sure you cover this information under the "Implementation and Challenges" section of the work plan.

Why do we want to know? It's pretty simple: If you have a small budget and managed it cleverly and creatively, you will score very well. If you had a generous budget, you'd better show worthy results. Some entrants are reluctant to include budget information, but all entries are confidential. If your entry is a winner, you will have the opportunity to remove anything commercially sensitive before the work plan is published.

SUPPORT MATERIAL

Two major problems tend to surface here: volume and navigation. Judges have limited time. If you don't prune or provide clear navigation, judges can only flip through or select randomly. Label your material to help the judges navigate your entry, and refer to it in the work plan. Highlight support material, such as audience research, that you would really like the judges to consider. Also make sure support material is appropriately presented and encased in sturdy packaging. Your entry may be judged by several people who will unpack and repack it. Use a ring binder where possible.