The awards were presented at an Excellence Gala on 15 June at the IABC's World Conference in San Francisco, USA.
South Africa shines among the world's bestGlobally a total of 313 entries have been awarded, with 124 Excellence and 189 Merit. Altogether 15 different countries are represented on the winners list - and South Africa is proudly one of them. "We have submitted 26 entries of communication excellence across various industries. Of these, six winners emerged - four Excellence and two Merit," said Mari Lee, ABC, the 2015 IABC Gold Quill Chair Africa.
The winners are:
| Programme | Winner | Company |
| One AFM Game Plan: Preparing the church for strategic measurement | Chantalle Schutte | The Apostolic Faith Mission of South Africa |
| Engaging employees to re-energise a service philosophy through a "Customer at the Heart' employee engagement campaign | RBB Communication and Mann Made Media | Barclays Africa Group Limited |
| Live Video Streaming of the 2014 Graduation Ceremonies | Lovemore Nalube, Derek Stocken and Marick Hornsveld | Cape Peninsula University of Technology |
| University of the Free State #FaceOfFacebook Student Engagement Campaign | Lelanie de Wet | University of the Free State |
| Delivering on the Brand Promise - A Focus on the Patient | Biren Valodia | Mediclinic Southern Africa |
| B Safe Take Action Campaign | Leonie Bolleurs and Stefan Lotter | University of the Free State |
"The Gold Quill Awards are determined by an international panel of evaluators. The Africa region hosts 25 to 30 communication experts annually on this global panel."
Entries are evaluated against IABC's standard of excellence. Unlike many other awards programmes, all entries that meet the standards win an award, to encourage excellence rather than competition," said Mari.
Impact on business outcomes globally Evaluators were impressed by the quality of entries this year - they remarked on the overall improvement in the standard of submissions.
"We had consistent feedback from evaluators that this year they were seeing some of the best work they'd seen in years. We're thrilled to see the industry embracing the significant impact communicators can have on business outcomes," said Priya Bates, ABC MC, 2015 International Gold Quill Chair.
"That's where Gold Quill winners can be justly proud of their achievements. Gold Quill sets out to recognise communication that meets a business need - either solving a problem, working through an issue or maximising an opportunity. It's not just about attractive execution, we look for the strategic impact," Priya said.
The winners of the IABC Agency and Communication Department of the Year awards - newly introduced this year - will be announced at the Excellence Gala at the World Conference.
More information on the Gold Quill Awards, including the full list of winners, can be found at:
www.gq.iabc.comLocal 2015 conference tackles leadershipThe IABC Africa Conference takes place from 29 to 31 July at the Fairway Hotel and Spa in Johannesburg. The continent's communication professionals and business leaders will gather to discuss the increasingly important challenges of leadership communication, cross cultural communication and the shifting of the communication function to a strategic advisor role within business.
Both global and local expert speakers will share their insights into the role of business communication and successes they have experienced.
For registration and more information about the conference, please email
az.oc.cbai@ecnerefnoc.
About IABCThe International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) is a global network of communication professionals committed to improving organisational effectiveness through strategic communication. Established in 1970, IABC serves more than 14,000 members in 90 countries. For more information, visit www.iabc.co.za.
