your chance to learn from the unawards winners. for free

The UnAwards15 were my highlight of 2015. Having the opportunity to see the passion, creativity and results from some of the brilliant work taking place across the UK and beyond was quite a privilege.

by Darren Caveney

The UnAwards ceremony was a belter – well, I swear I heard someone say that on the day.

It was a unique event which placed an important spotlight on our industry and in a way which was accessible to everyone regardless of budget or grade.

After the event, many of you asked for the chance to see and hear more about the winning work.

So, with just one shake of a billy goat’s tail, we have organised an UnAwards Winners Masterclass.

Actually, that’s a lie. We have organised three.  This gives us the chance to take the Masterclasses around the country with regional events taking place in Leeds, Birmingham and London.

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it’s the most wonderful time of the year: unawards 2015

There was real celebratory feel about the UnAwards15, which we’re pretty pleased about because that’s exactly what we hoped to achieve.

By Darren Caveney

The UnAwards15 saw 140 colleagues from across the industry descend on the very cool Everyman Cinema in Birmingham last Thursday. The mood was one of big event excitement - Christmas party meets trip to a posh cinema mixed with lashing of great communicators celebrating one another’s work.

Holding the UnAwards at Christmas is deliberate too – we wanted to add a little festive sparkle to the proceedings.

We’re a tad biased but we felt the whole day was a little bit special.

Sitting watching the fabulous Planes, Trains and Automobiles with what felt like a great big group of pals was pretty amazing. The film had a whole bunch of relevant messages and takeaways (and if you have ever watched the movie remember – ‘never assume you are cuddling a pillow’)

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awards and getting out more

We staged the unawards and gave away 15 awards. It was an occaion to celebrate but also to connect.

by Dan Slee

There’s a good line about no-one listening to the Prophet in their own land.

I love it because it’s true.

My last job was working in an Edwardian Town Hall. It was as a proud declaration of civic pride built on hardwork and the town’s leather industry. On the outside there were gargoyles carved into the stonework and broad carpeted stairs that led to oak doors of meeting rooms. Inside those public rooms there were fire places and portraits of long forgotten dignitaries.

Visitors impressed would quietly tell me how it must be lovely to work in such a building.

I suppose it is, I’d tell them.

What happens day-to-day gets taken for granted and overlooked. It’s human nature.

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crisis comms: it's about people not processes

People often argue about the definition of what's a crisis and what's an emergency. That's maybe missing the point. This post highlights the really important thing - how it affects people.

by Christine Townsend

Having been asked to be part of the judging panel for the UnAwards is a real honour for me. Seeing colleagues and fellow comms people work hard in the public sector is always heartening and I'm proud to count myself amongst their number.

The crisis comms category sits comfortably with me as it's where my experiences lie. For once, I want to be comfortable and not challenged - this is something I'm enjoying doing without running on adrenalin, squinting at a screen, getting wet whilst plastic tape flickers in the background and I'm trying desperately to get reception on my mobile. I've had sleep, I've eaten a meal that consists more of a soggy sandwich and countless donuts and I'm ready to go. 

However, this made me wonder what a crisis really is and seeing the entrants has done exactly the opposite of what I was looking forward to - challenge me. Or rather, challenge my perceptions of what a crisis is. 

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#unawards15 – the shortlist

Well that was fun.

Yesterday saw the end of our public vote and the announcement of the #UnAwards15 shortlist. I went slightly bog-eyed watching it all unfold but we now know the runners and riders in all 15 categories.

By Darren Caveney

Over 140 entries poured into the UnAwards15 from across the UK and from as far afield as Norway.

Central government, local government, NHS, Police, Housing, Fire, Higher Education, third sector and the agency world all took part and our 14 external judges have had quite a task in getting down to our final shortlist.

The standard of your entries this year has been high. We know this because some of our judges are hard to impress, But impressed they were.

Our love and respect for this fabulous comms, PR, marketing and digital community, which we all exist in, just grows and grows and thank you so much for supporting the #UnAwards15.

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#unawards15: a public vote, the shortlist and attending one cool event

The #UnAwards15. It's a chance to celebrate some fabulous work and people across our industry. There's lots to tell you so read on...

By Darren Caveney

Wow.

We are just getting our breath back from working our way through the mountain of UnAwards entries we’ve received. And we thank each and every one of you for that.

The standard of your entries this year is very high and it has been fascinating looking through your work - the challenges you face and the creative solutions you have found to tackle them. We’re impressed.

We have entries from as far afield as Norway. And, interestingly, the top four most popular categories were ‘best creative comms’, ‘best internal comms’, ‘best use of video’ and ‘best low cost/free work’. The creativity and sheer breadth of your work has been a real treat to be able to delve into.

Shortlisting...

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the real reason why you should enter the UnAwards

There are several reasons for us running the UnAwards 15. Celebrating the work and efforts of colleagues across comms, PR, marketing and digital is right up there amongst them, of course.

But for me it runs a little deeper than that.

By Darren Caveney

We run the UnAwards to support and – in our own way - fly a flag for folks across the UK and beyond who are working in difficult circumstances and still delivering day after day. To sing for the unsung, to recognise the unrecognised.

I hear – and I hear it way too often, I’m afraid – of some less than great behaviours by some organisations and the way they are treating staff. To a degree this is to be expected with the enormous and ongoing cuts to the public sector – with 350k people leaving local government alone in the past five years there is unprecedented change taking place.

But this doesn’t excuse shoddy behaviour.

Lack of recognition has been a theme in much of the staff survey feedback I have seen over the years too. Sometimes your achievements will be appreciated by others, sometimes they’ll not be. That’s a fact of comms life, as it is in life.

And for me, part of the UnAwards is flying back into face of this and celebrating what you do and do well. We’ve been at, and are, at your coalface so we know.

So the real reason that you should enter the UnAwards is to celebrate you.

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know someone brilliant? nominate them and make their day

We know that a common complaint from comms folk, and others for that matter, is a lack of recognition for their work.

Whether it’s a brilliant campaign, managing communications through a crisis or just turning up every day of the year and being the best you can be it’s not a lot to ask to get the odd ‘well done’ or ‘thank you’.

But it doesn’t happen often enough and that is the ultimate reason behind the comms2point UnAwards 15. To shine a light on the colleagues proudly flying comms flags across the sectors.

by Darren Caveney

Now there’s only one thing better than being shortlisted for an award and that’s being nominated by someone else for an award. It’s a special thing.  It means you’ve caught someone’s eye, demanded their attention or impressed them with your creativity, doggedness, enthusiasm and skills.

Know someone like that? Then why not nominate them in the UnAwards 15.

All you need to do is complete this dead easy entry form here.

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top tips for success in the UnAwards 2015

We know many of you are working on your entries and nominations for the UnAwards 2015. We thought it would be useful to share some top tips on giving you the best shot at success this year.

By Darren Caveney

You have six weeks to work on your entries.  Sounds plenty of time doesn't it?  But the deadline will be here before you know it.

We’ve all left award entries until the last minute in the past due to other competing work demands. But is that what your best work this year deserves? No, course not.

So use the time wisely and have a think about which of the 15 categories are a best fit with the activity and projects you are most proud of. Grab a coffee, sit somewhere quiet for 10 minutes with a pencil and a piece of paper and begin sketching out your ideas or a small mind map for your entry. Focus on the best way to make it stand out from the crowd.

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the UnAwards are open

The comms2point0 UnAwards 2015 are now officially open. How can you enter? how can you nominate and how can you attend them? Here’s the lowdown…

By Darren Caveney

So you’ve delivered some great work this year which has made a difference. And you might just feel like it deserves a little smidge of recognition. Well you’re in luck because the comms2point0 UnAwards have arrived giving you the opportunity to show off your best work.

It might be a social media initiative which delivered amazing returns or it might be a shiny new website which has made your online business purr. How about a campaign which has made a difference to your residents, patients or customers. Or a good old fashioned piece of great storytelling.

Whatever you’ve created this year there’s almost certainly a category amongst the 15 in this year’s UnAwards.

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the UnAwards are back

Following their huge success and popularity in 2014, the comms2point0 UnAwards return on 3 December 2015, even bigger and better than last year but still remaining true to their original ethos.

By Darren Caveney

The UnAwards are our opportunity to showcase great work and celebrate a hugely creative and dedicated community.

Why ‘UnAwards’, you ask? Well they’re a deliberate alternative to the £300-a-pop, black tie, swanky London hotel event awards machine which exists in our industry. 

That’s not a slight on these events – if you have been to one of them, and won an award in the process, you’ll have felt pretty good about the whole thing.

But for many the cost has become prohibitive. This is making the awards landscape a bit, well, ‘exclusive’.

That’s not how we like to do things. We’re more Sundance Film Festival than Oscars Ceremony.

The UnAwards are accessible to the entire comms, pr, marketing and digital community and, importantly, will recognise the contributions of colleagues across the sectors for their creative endeavours over the past 12-months.

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mastering the art of campaigning

Campaigning. It’ll be one of the most talked about comms activities over the next few months in the run up to the general election. Battle lines will be drawn and those with the smartest, best executed campaign stand a chance of coming out on top in what is a tight and hard to call contest. Mastering the art of delivering great campaigns is a key skill in the armoury of any communicator.

By Darren Caveney

No matter how much digital has changed the comms and media landscape, the importance of a well-planned and effectively targeted campaign is still hugely important to communicators across all sectors.

That is why we are really rather excited to be hosting our first ever Campaigns Masterclass this month so that we can learn more – first hand – from six organisations who have deliver memorable and effective campaigns which have changed behaviours, created an impact and won some awards along the way.

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winning at the unawards

The inaugural comms2point0 UnAwards were a brilliant opportunity to showcase and celebrate the outstanding comms and digital work which takes place up and down the UK. And whilst you are all winners to us, here is the official winners roll of honour...

by Darren Caveney

Following an inbox-busting 202 entries from 150 organisations, our team of external, independent judges and comms industry experts had a fight on their hands to select the winners, But select they did.

And of course you played your part too in the public vote, which saw us receive almost 2,000 votes.

Social media was simply buzzing with UnAwards chat - in just seven days on Twitter the UnAwards reached 489k accounts with over 2.5m opportunities to see. Just statistcial outputs, of course, but impressive nonetheless.

Here's an UnAwards Storify courtesy of Emma Rodgers.

Huge thanks to everyone who played a part and supported the Unawards. We're keen to get your views on whether we should run them again in 2015 so do get in touch.

Here's the full list of winners:

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grab yourself an ultimate unawards ticket

So you've seen the build-up, you've entered the unawards and you've even voted in one of the four public vote categories. Now you could have a chance of being at the first ever comms2point0 UnAwards, taking place next week.

By Emma Rodgers

It sees the culmination of hours of hard work, by both us and all the entrants and has seen some cracking stats so far... 

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the comms2point0 unawards: the story so far

The inaugural comms2point0 UnAwards take place in December in Birmingham. Here's a quick update on the story so far, and details of how you can get involved...

by Darren Caveney

First off, we wanted to repeat our huge and genuine thank you to everyone who has shown interest, entered awards, talked so positively and shared the love for the inaugural comms2point0 UnAwards.

We are very, very grateful.

As a result, it means that you have created the most popular comms industry awards in the UK this year*

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