What’s the Big Deal About Clarion Awards?
The AWC Clarion Awards have been around for 49 years – one of the longest running awards programs in our industry. Winning an AWC Clarion Award is nationally recognized and prestigious. Every year we receive entries from big nationally recognized communications organizations (Oprah Magazine, GBH in Boston, Cherokee Nation, The Wall Street Journal, Sports Illustrated, Mother Jones, Glamour Magazine, Inside Edition) all the way across the board to free-lancers and the self-employed.
Why Should I Enter the Clarion Awards?
Do you have a colleague who has won a major professional award? Do you ever wish you had an award or two to add to your resume?
A major industry award like a Clarion:
- validates you and your work
- makes you feel like what you are doing is worthwhile
- raises your own self-esteem
- earns you the respect of others
- raises your company’s profile in the community
- raises your employer’s view of your performance.
It’s time to get the recognition you deserve! So what are you waiting for?
Is My Work Award-Worthy?
Do you have doubts? Some of those winners are pretty high profile! Don’t think you haven’t done something important and award-worthy this past year, because you have! Take a look at what you’ve done in the past year. You have plenty of time to enter. The final deadline for this year’s entries is midnight on April 18, 2022!
There are over 100 categories to reflect all the different ways professional communicators fulfill needs in our society. Each entry in the AWC Clarion Awards is judged on its own merit and awarded points accordingly. Excellence can occur anywhere from a major national news network to a church newsletter. The way AWC Clarion Awards are judged puts everyone on an even playing field.
Tips for a Winning Award Entry
At AWC, we love to hear the stories of the work you have done and we love to recognize and celebrate your excellence! True to form as a nurturing and supportive organization, AWC offers tips on how to increase your chances of winning. These tips were compiled by long-time AWC members, program managers, and judges Pat Meads and Sheryl Liddle. The Tips presentation is reviewed and updated annually.
Category Changes
Every year we evaluate our categories and we did some updating including:
– Best Special Event – virtual
– Best Special Event – in-person
– Best Special Event – hybrid
– Online Media – four categories of Zoom and similar video conferencing platforms – education, entertainment, business, and community.
– Brochures, Custom & Special Publications – we added four subcategories for fiction and non-fiction books, self-published or published.
How Do You Enter the AWC Clarion Awards?
Clarion Award entries are all online at https://www.womcom.org/clarions. Clarion Awards are open to all communication professionals and students – you don’t have to be a woman or an AWC member to enter, so tell your co-workers and other communication professionals about this opportunity.
AWC members get a discount on registrations.
Do you have more than one project you’d like to enter? Bring it on! We’ll give you an additional discount on multiple registrations from the same organization or individual!
AWC Clarion Award Timeline
- April 18 Final Deadline
- Mid-July Winners announced
- September Awards Presentation at AWC National Conference
Congratulations on This Significant Step in Your Career!
Win or not, the act of entering a national prestigious awards program is a significant step in your career development. The fact that you have read this article means that you are thinking “Yes, I am a communications professional and I could win recognition on a national level.” Completing an entry gives you a chance to analyze your own work and discover your strengths and weaknesses. It may raise some issues that you hadn’t considered before. It will help you become a more well-rounded professional. So, congratulations and good luck on your AWC Clarion Award entry!
About the Author
Peggy Fleming is retired from her position as Director of Communication and Engagement at West Bank in West Des Moines, Iowa, but not retired from being a professional communicator. A member of the Association for Women in Communications, she currently serves as co-chair of the AWC Clarion Awards Committee and on the board of the AWC Advancement Fund. An AWC Clarion Award winner, Peggy is a graduate of Drake University School of Journalism and Mass Communications. She previously served six years on the AWC National Board of Directors and has held various leadership positions within the AWC Greater Des Moines Chapter and on the board of Social Media Club of Des Moines.
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