IABC Edmonton

2024 Capital Awards Program

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About The IABC Edmonton Capital Awards

The Capital Awards program is Northern Alberta's premier awards program for communications professionals. Now is your chance to be recognized for your keen thinking, hard work and creative brilliance and join the ranks of Edmonton's renowned communicators.

Already know why and how to enter? Jump to submit an entry:



Top Three Reasons To Enter

  1. Gain exposure within the local Edmonton communications community
    We promote the Capital Awards and winners in a number of ways, including our social media channels.
  2. Receive recognition internally and externally for exceptional strategic communications
    We encourage you to show off the abilities and talents of your department and your organization.
  3. Market yourself to your peers, prospective clients and potential future employers
    As one of the largest IABC chapters in the world, a Capital Award is a great opportunity to gain recognition in front of a very influential group of professional communicators.

Frequently Asked Questions

Here are the answers to some common questions about the awards program and the submission process.

Eligibility

Who is eligible to submit an award nomination?

All communications, public relations, marketing and advertising professionals, graphic artists, strategists, tacticians and photographers throughout Northern Alberta are invited to submit their work for recognition in the IABC Edmonton Capital Awards – the highest level of professional acknowledgement for your outstanding work.

Students of communications, marketing and advertising programs are also invited to submit award nominations in special student categories.

All types of organizations – public, private, not-for-profit, government departments and marketing and advertising agencies – are eligible.

Entrants must have had direct and primary involvement in the submission.

When must the work have been completed?

All work submitted in the awards program must have been planned and largely executed in 2023. Eligible work is in the process of being or has been implemented, published or broadcast between January 2023 and the day of submission.

Work that continues to be implemented in the current time period under a long-term strategy developed prior to January 2023 is eligible provided it has not previously been entered in the Capital Awards program.

Can a team submit an entry?

You may submit as an individual or as a team.

Can I submit work done for a client?

Of course! But you do need to have the permission of your client and indicate so on the entry.

What are the eligibility requirements for student entries?

Students who were enrolled in a post-secondary public relations, marketing, communications or design program in the last school year (2023-24) are eligible to enter. NOTE: if a student has prior professional communication experience or is currently employed in the communication profession, they must submit a professional entry.

Students may enter in the Student Entry category – there is one in each of the four divisions.

Eligible projects include school projects completed within the last school year for an educational course, work produced for a club, a volunteer association, an internship or work for an IABC chapter or region.

If the project was not fully implemented, please note this for the evaluators. It will not disadvantage your entry, however, you must show how the program would have been evaluated had it been implemented.

Professors, lecturers or advisers may NOT enter on behalf of a student or student team.

Submitting Entries

How do I submit an entry?

To enter, choose your category, complete and upload your entry and pay the entry fee. Full payment must be received for all entries on or before the closing date to be eligible. Each entry must be submitted and paid for individually.

The entry requirements vary by division – see below for details.

There are a variety of resources for entrants available on the Gold Quill site - we highly recommend reviewing these to get a sense of what evaluators are looking for when they are judging entries. But don’t forget to come back here to enter the IABC Edmonton Capital Awards.

What divisions & categories can I enter a project in?

With four divisions and 29 categories, you are sure to find one that suits your project! The divisions and categories for the Capital Awards are aligned with the IABC International awards, making it easy to take the feedback you receive and enter your project for a Silver Leaf and/or Gold Quill award. Find out more about each of the divisions and their categories by clicking on one of the divisions below.

NOTE: These links will take you to the Gold Quill Site for division/category information. Please come back to this site to submit your nomination!

  1. Communication Management
  2. Communication Research
  3. Communication Training & Education
  4. Communication Skills

How does the submission process differ for each of the divisions?

Divisions 1, 2 and 3 all require a Work Plan (template here – maximum of 4 pages) and Work Sample (PDF – maximum 2GB). See the Midas Touch Entry Guide for Division 1, 2 and 3 for more information on what judges will be looking for.

Division 4 requires an entry form (template here) and Work Sample. See the Midas Touch Guide for Division 4 for more information on what judges will be looking for.

What is the deadline for entering?

The entry deadlines are as follows:

Early-bird deadline: March 19, 2024 11:59 PM MST (price discount)

Deadline: April 2, 2024 11:59pm MST

Late deadline: April 9, 2024 11:59pm MST (price increase)

What is the Entry Fee?

Membership February 27 - March 19 March 20 - April 2 April 3 - April 9
IABC Member $105 $115 $135
Non-Member $125 $135 $155
Student $80 $80 $80
Non-Profit* $80 $80 $80
Multiple Entries** 15% off 15% off 15% off

* You may be asked to provide proof of non-profit status.

** 3 or more entries per person or organization.

Judging & Scoring of Entries

Who judges the entries?

Our experienced judges – senior communicators from across Canada – not only review and score submissions, they also provide valuable, individualized feedback (super helpful to take your winning entry to the next level with recognition at the Silver Leaf and/or Gold Quill level).

How are entries evaluated?

Each entry is evaluated on technical excellence, creativity, resourcefulness, innovation, effectiveness in identifying and responding to an organization’s or community’s needs, the delivery of measurable outcomes, and the overall success of the project.

Evaluations are based on IABC’s Global 7-point scale of excellence. This is the same scale and evaluation form used by the Silver Leaf (Canada-wide) and Gold Quill (international) awards programs. Each entry is judged twice with the final score being the average. In the event of a discrepancy of more than 3 points between the two evaluations, a third evaluation will be completed and the final score will be an average of all three. One of the most valuable aspects of entering in the IABC Capital Awards are the comments you will receive back from the judges who evaluated your entry.

HINT: Check out the score sheets for each division for specifics on what judges will be looking for.

Scores for Communication Management, Communication Research and Communication Training and Education division entries are based equally on the work plan and the work sample. For entries in the Communication Skills division, the score is based on the work sample and its alignment with the information on the entry form.

Winning Entries

What qualifies an entry as a winner?

Winners receive either an Award of Excellence for a score of 5.25 and above or an Award of Merit for a score between 5.0 and 5.24. There is no recognition for scores of less than 5.

IABC’s Global Seven-point Scale of Excellence
7 Outstanding: An extraordinary or insightful approach or result
6 Significantly better than average: Demonstrates an innovative, strategic approach; takes all elements into account and delivers significant results
5 Better than average: Demonstrates a strategic approach and aligns the communication solution with the business need to deliver meaningful results
4 Average: Competent approach or results, professionally sound and appropriate
3 Somewhat less than satisfactory: Several key elements that are critical to the strategy or execution are missing, incorrect or under-represented
2 An inadequate approach or result: A significant number of critical elements are missing
1 Poor: Work that is wrong or inappropriate

I’ve never submitted before. Is there anywhere I can get some guidance on what a winner looks like?

We encourage you to review the resource materials on the Gold Quill site, which includes case studies from past winners, score sheets for each of the divisions so that you will know what evaluators are looking for, and other useful templates.

Where there is a discrepancy between Gold Quill instructions and Capital Award instructions, the Capital Award instructions should be followed.

When will winners be announced?

Awards will be announced and presented at the 2024 Capital Awards event which will be held on June 7, 2024. Tickets will be available on Eventbrite starting February 27, 2024. Everyone’s welcome!

How can I nominate someone for an IABC Award of Distinction?

Nominations will open on the IABC Edmonton website April 2024. A panel of IABC Edmonton (past) presidents, along with the current board executive, will evaluate all nominations. Recipients will be presented with their award at the 2024 Capital Awards on June 7th.

Is there a cost for the award trophy?

IABC Edmonton provides one award at no charge for each Capital Award winner. If winners would like to order duplicate awards, they may do so following the awards ceremony. All winners will be notified about the procedure for purchasing additional awards.

What other recognition do winners receive?

In addition to the fun and excitement of being recognized at the Capital Awards event, winners also receive recognition in IABC Edmonton's website, FYI newsletter and will be acknowledged through our social media channels.

Can an entry be disqualified?

Entries may be disqualified under the following circumstances:

  • Any element of the project violates the IABC Code of Ethics
  • The entrant did not play a role in the project
  • The entry depends mainly on syndicated, borrowed, reprinted or stock material
  • The electronic files contain viruses; they disable or require disabling of any part of the computer system used during evaluation; or evaluators cannot view work samples using the instructions provided

Questions?

Please e-mail capitalawards@iabcedmonton.com referencing the IABC Edmonton Capital Awards.

Technical assistance? Please e-mail +Republic referencing the IABC Edmonton Capital Awards.