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As the largest chapter of the International Association of Business Communicators, we provide access to products, services, activities and networking opportunities in Toronto and around the world. We help people and organizations achieve excellence in corporate communications, public relations, employee communication, marketing communication, public affairs and other forms of communication.

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IABC/Toronto OVATION Awards Entry Information

New for 2008:

Extended entry deadlines
Ability to have entries returned
More in-depth category descriptions
Access to valuable resources to help put your entry together

The 2008 OVATION Awards Call for Entries are now Closed!

Entries are currently being judged with the results being announced in April 2008.

WHO CAN ENTER?

The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) Toronto Chapter OVATION Awards is open to all Greater Toronto area communications practitioners, including non-members. Each submission must have been planned, produced and completed within a period of two years prior to the entry deadline.

1.	The individual(s) listed on the entry form is considered the entrant. He or she must have had direct and primary responsibility for implementing, conducting and completing the project.
2.	You may submit as many entries as you wish, including multiple entries in different categories, as long as they all apply to the individual requirements of the category(ies). Separate entry fees apply for each entry.
3.	Submitting an entry using an individual's name requires the written approval of the organization, agency or client prior to submitting the project. If the person who actually did the work or was a key member of the project team is no longer affiliated with the organization or agency, the submission must include the individual's name and/or written approval from him or her as part of the submission.

HOW TO ENTER

Submit each OVATION Award entry in a 1" (2.5 cm) binder, consisting of five parts:

A.	OVATION ENTRY FORM Complete a 2008 OVATION Entry Form. Please print and make two copies and include a size #10 self-addressed, stamped envelope for the judges’ feedback. i) One copy of the entry form with payment with your submission ii) One copy of the entry for your records
B.	SELECT AN APPROPRIATE DIVISION AND CATEGORY
C.	WORK PLAN Think of your work plan as an executive summary of your communication strategy and an explanation of its implementation and outcome
D.	WORK SAMPLES
E.	LETTER OF PERMISSION FROM THE CLIENT - if submitted by a consultant or agency or from the person who actually did the work or was a member of the project team if that person has left the organization submitting the project. E-mailed permission is acceptable.

ELIGIBILITY

Your entry must:

Meet the program timelines and deadlines.
Bear the stated permission of clients and/or any other individual who actually did the work.
Include all the required elements, including a completed entry form accompanied by proper payment amount.

Your entry must NOT exceed the maximum number of pages allowed for the work plan, or the following size limitations:

All entries must fit into a binder or folder with a maximum RING diameter of one inch (2.55 centimetres).
Pages inside the binder should be no longer than 8.5 x 11 inches.
Organize and condense your work to provide a representative overview of your project.

NOTE: If you go over this limit, you'll be disqualified.

Entries must be typed, with a minimum font size of 10 pt. on 8.5 x 11" paper. Use paragraph format, single column, with no less than 1/2" margins (1.3 centimetres) on all sides.

Use tabs in the binder to separate and label different sections of your entry (entry forms, work plan and work samples). Be sure all sections are clearly identified.

Consider using plastic sleeves for print materials and photos, and re-sealable plastic pouches for DVDs, CDs, videos, etc.
Label all the elements of your entry, in the event they become separated.
Once you complete your entry, label the binder or folder with the name of your entry.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE AWARD

People’s Choice Award – OVATION CATEGORY EXCELLENCE WINNERS!
All IABC/Toronto members will be eligible to vote on-line for the People’s Choice OVATION Award. The award will recognize the Work Plan that appeared to be the most successful.

•	All OVATION Category Excellence winners will be eligible for the People’s Choice Award
•	Only winners who included a 100-word summary with their original Entry Form will be eligible
•	No fee is required

The Category Excellence winners’ 100-word summaries will be posted in April, (after OVATION Awards judging has been completed), and IABC/Toronto members may vote on-line. The People’s Choice OVATION Award will be announced at the OVATION Awards Gala.

2008 OVATION AWARDS FEES AND DATES

All entries and payments must be received (not postmarked) by the following deadlines. No refunds will be given if your work plan and work sample are not received on time. Faxed copies and emails of your entry are not permitted.

EARLY BIRD
Entries received on or before Wednesday, February 13, 2008
• IABC member: $100
• Non-member: $130

ON-TIME
Entries received after February 13, 2008 but no later than Thursday, February 21, 2008
• IABC member: $125
• Non-member: $155

LAST MINUTE
Entries received after February 21, 2008 but no later than Thursday, February 28, 2008
• IABC member: $150
• Non-member: $180

Notification of Winners and GALA EVENT

End of March 2008 – Results to be mailed to all 2008 OVATION entrants
May 29, 2008 – GALA, Awards Presentation

Winners will be featured in IABC/Toronto’s Communicator newsletter and posted on the website http://toronto.iabc.com following the Gala.

Scoring Guidelines

Judges score both your work plan and your work sample.

A final score of 5.25 to 5.74 is needed to win an Award of Merit.
A final score of 5.75 to 7 is need to win an Award of Excellence.

For Communication Management entries, which reflect a full range of planning and management skills, the work plan and work sample are each worth 50 per cent of the score.

For Communication Skills entries, the work plan is worth 40 per cent and the work sample is worth 60 per cent.

For Communication Creative entries, the work plan is worth 25 per cent and the work sample is worth 75 per cent.

B) SELECT AN APPROPRIATE DIVISION AND CATEGORY:

The Division and Category must be clearly labeled on the submission.
A complete list of Divisions and Categories, with indepth decriptions, can be found by downloading the 2008 OVATION Awards Call for Entries.

C) WORK PLAN:

Your Work Plan describes the program or project, objectives, implementation and results, enabling judges to understand the thought process leading to the Work Sample you submit.

Your plan should be

Typed pages on 8.5" x 11" paper, with 1/2 inch margins and a minimum font size of 10 points throughout.
A maximum length of 4 pages.* If you choose, fewer pages can be submitted for Communication Skills (3 pages) and Creative (2 pages)for all categories.

NOTE: All Work Plans that exceed the maximum of four (4) pages will be automatically disqualified.

All Division Work Plans MUST include the following 6 project subheadings:
(All of the above information must be listed at the top of your work plan and not on a separate page)

Entrant’s Name:	The project leader or person responsible for the majority of the development, management and execution of the entry. If more than one person contributed significantly to the project, include a detailed description of the role of each. (These names will be used on the award/certificate.)
Organization’s Name:	The name of the organization the entrant represented while the project was being implemented.
Division/Category
Title of Entry
Time Period of Project:	The time period may extend anytime between 2005 to 2007. If the entry is a multi-year campaign/program, only the materials related to the measurable (and/or achieved) results documented for this time period will be considered. An entry may be re-submitted if it meets the proper time period noted above and was not a winner in last year's OVATIONS program.
Brief Description:	Provide a one- or two-sentence description of your entry.

Along with the 6 project subheadings, the Communication Management and Communications Skills work plans MUST provide CLEAR details/answers under the required headings below:

Business Need/Opportunity:	What business need or opportunity did the entry address and how did it affect theorganization? (1) Clearly describe the issues the organization faced, (2) Outline any impact these issues had on performance, reputation, image, profits, participation, etc., and (3) Highlight any formal or informal research findings supporting your analysis of the need or opportunity
Entrant’s Role in Project:	Describe the role of each entrant in the project's development, management and implementation.
Intended Audience:	Describe the target or primary and any other audience(s) in terms of the key characteristics (needs, preferences, demographics, etc.) factoring into developing the solution.
Goals/Objectives:	In terms of response to the need(s) described above, what communication goals and objectives were articulated, and how did they relate to the business objectives or strategies? Goals describe what the project was designed to accomplish. Choose one or two key goals to describe in detail, orienting them to your organization's future needs and outlining how they are to be measured (often they're financial, but not always. Objectives should be specific, realistic and measurable, examining outcomes like quality, time, cost, percentages, quality, "reach" or other criteria. How directly do the objectives address the stated need, and how are they to be measured (see below)?
Solution Overview:	What solution was developed and why? Summarize the project, program or campaign and describe the rationale for the chosen approach. Describe the projected impact expected on the business need or opportunity. The solution should demonstrate your thought process, imagination and approach to problem solving. How effective was the program/campaign or project in meeting the stated business objectives? How effectively was the program implemented in terms of budget, time and other resources?
Implementation and Challenges:	Describe the challenges you faced, in terms of implementing the project (include budget, time, technical equipment and other required resources), regardless of the size of the budget. (1) Show how you made efficient use of money. (2) Discuss timeframes and/or any other limitation or challenge you faced when either selling or implementing your ideas. (3) Note any special circumstances and discuss how they were addressed. (Judges look for flexibility and the capacity to resolve problems and negotiate solutions.)
Measuring/Evaluation:	What steps did you take to measure your project's results? Link every result to one or more objective and show results that are valuable, thorough and convincing. Measurement should (1) demonstrate outcomes, as well as outputs and outtakes, (2) be quantifiable to the date of the submission (where you're measuring results in terms of behaviour and attitude changes, include the progress you have made to date in achieving those changes.) (3) examine such outcomes as quantity, time, cost, percentages, quality or other criteria, and (4) contribute directly to addressing the stated need. Include the criteria you used to evaluate the results against the objectives and, therefore, the project's success in meeting the business need or opportunity.

Along with the 6 project subheadings, the Communication Creative work plan MUST include CLEAR details/answers under the following required headings:

Project Summary:	Provide an overview of your project, outlining the business need or opportunity your creative solution addressed.
Intended Audience(s):	In addition to describing the intended primary and any other audience(s), (1) describe any audience research you conducted and (2) specify the key characteristics (needs, preferences, demographics, etc.) that factored into developing the solution.
Objectives:	What were the creative objectives of your project, in terms of targeted outcome, and how did they contribute to organizational business need or opportunity?
Key Messages/Theme:	State your most critical key messages or themes and describe how they were most critical to convey.
Creative Rationale:	Tell us why you did what you did: Summarize the creative solution that supported it and describe how it demonstrates insight and imagination.
Results:	In what way did you achieve your project's objectives by addressing the business need or opportunity? (1) Discuss your budget, resources and time frames and show the efficient use of each. (2) Demonstrate the effectiveness of your creative solution by showing increases in sales, traffic, participation or other quantifiable outcomes.

D) WORK SAMPLE:

The Work Sample includes the materials supporting and illustrating your communication program, representing the scope of your work and portraying the solution you have described.

It can include the actual materials identified in the Work Plan, such as communications programs, publications, videotapes, photographs, media releases, etc. But be selective. If your communication program is large, rather than sending every item it includes, pick examples (clips, photos, etc.) that best represent your entry.

Make sure materials are properly labeled with your name, your organization and the award category you have selected. Submit the work samples in formats the judges can easily handle and review:

Electronic and interactive work samples should be viewable on Windows or MacIntosh equipment and/or software.
For websites, 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 and/or password.
If access may be a barrier to evaluation, or if the site may change after submission, consider submitting a "tour of the work sample" (5 minutes or less) on a CD-ROM.
Submit colour photos (8"x10") of large, heavy or bulky samples, like bulletin boards, displays, sculptures, etc.
Videotapes should be in NTSC standard.

NOTE: Because of time pressures, judges are required to watch only 1 minute of video. To make the best use of this time, be sure to include all important details in the opening (first 60 seconds).

Frequently Asked Questions and Answers:

What will disqualify entries?

•	Entries or entry fees are received after the entry deadline or sent to the wrong address
•	Entry submitted in wrong division or category
•	Entry form incomplete or inaccurate
•	Entry must fit into a 1 inch/2.5 cm binder
•	Payment, where required, is insufficient for the number of entries, including the same entry submitted in more than one category
•	Work Plan exceeds the page limit
•	Work Plan is not clear or does not follow submission guidelines
•	Work Plan or Work Sample missing or incomplete
•	Work submitted is not your own
•	You are a member of the OVATION Awards 2007 Committee

Can I resubmit an entry? You may submit as many entries as you wish, as long as you were directly involved in the production of the work and it did not win a 2006 OVATION Award of Excellence or Merit.

Can I submit the same entry more than once? Yes, but not more than once in the same category. You must pay the entry fee for each category entered and submit a separate entry form with each entry.

How many entries can I submit? You may submit as many different entries as you wish. Remember that separate fees and entry forms apply for each entry.

Do entrants receive feedback? Entrants will receive a one-page evaluation with scores and brief comments from our judges for each entry submitted. Evaluation forms will be mailed by June 2007.

Will I be notified if I have won an award prior to the OVATIONS Gala? All entrants will be notified regarding the decision of the judges in April via e-mail, phone or fax. The People’s Choice OVATION Award, the Business Awards and Other Awards will be announced at the 2007 OVATION Awards Gala to be held in May 2007.

How will the winners be recognized? Winners will be presented their award at the OVATION Awards Gala evening. Winners will be featured in an issue of the IABC/Toronto Communicator newsletter and on the IABC/Toronto website.

We do not want our Work Plan made public. Is there any way to keep this information private? On the second page of the entry form you can elect to keep your entry private due to proprietary interests

Do we have to disclose information regarding the client’s budget? Yes, if you do not provide budget information you will be penalized in the marking process. Ensure you check the confidentiality box on the entry form.

How are the entries judged and awards determined? The OVATION Awards Committee recruits senior level practitioners to serve as judges. A team of two judges use standardized criteria to evaluate each entry. To advance as finalists, entries must score at least 5.25 out of 7 possible points. Finalists in each category may be re-evaluated by a second tier of Blue Ribbon Panel judges, which may be composed of IABC Fellows, Accredited Business Communicators, and other senior leaders in the communication profession. Entries receiving a score of 5.75 and above receive an Award of Excellence. Those with a score ranging from 5.25 to 5.74 receive an Award of Merit. All judges’ decisions are final.

Is there a limit to the number of OVATION awards presented? No, there is no limited and entries do not compete against each other.

How are entries scored? Winning entries must meet clearly stated objectives, show originality and demonstrate results based on measured outcomes. Judges consider how well a program is conceived and executed, how appropriate the chosen strategy and objectives are in relation to its desired results, and how outcomes are measured and achieved.

In terms of scoring, entries in the Communication Management division, the work plan and work sample are each worth 50 per cent of the score. For entries in the Communication Skills division, the work plan is worth 40 per cent and the work sample is worth 60 per cent of the score. In the Communication Creative division, the work plan is worth 25 per cent and the work sample is worth 75 of the score.

If I have won another IABC award for the same submission, does it mean I will win automatically? There is no guarantee that an additional IABC award would be forthcoming. The information related to previous IABC awards will be helpful to judges to evaluate the project in terms of its overall effect on communications in the specific area of competition.

Do the judges really pay attention to details such as the permitted font size and the length of the work plan? Yes. If you get these details wrong, you will be disqualified.

What happens to the entries after the competition is completed? Materials will not be returned to entrants unless requested on the entry form. Instructions on the process of returning entries is outlined in the Call for Entries. Entries not returned become the property of IABC/Toronto.

How do I submit oversized material? Take 8 x 10 in. photos and include them in the 1 inch binder. You may also add a CD disk.

I have several testimonial letters, but they mention the name of another awards program. Do I need to get authors to slightly "reword" these letters to mention OVATION Awards? Insert ellipses (...) to acknowledge that the quote is not in full.

Must testimonial letters be signed? Email testimonials are acceptable provided that the sender's name, the date, etc. are visible. An electronic signature is acceptable.