About AWC Judging
The AWC Clarion Awards entries are judged by professional communicators who have considerable experience in each category. As a judge, you can indicate which categories you would like to judge – and which ones you do not feel comfortable judging. For example, someone with experience in magazines will be assigned entries in the magazines categories; someone with experience in social media will judge entries in the social media categories. Here is the total list of 2022 categories.
Serving as a judge for the Clarion Awards is your opportunity to share your evaluation skills with AWC. You’ll get to go behind the scenes of impressive work as you review successful research, strategies, etc. The Clarion Awards application is designed to help entrants tell their story and present all the collateral data and materials so that our judges can make a fair and impartial assessment of each entry. You can get an idea of the caliber of work by checking out the list of last year’s winners here.
Applying to be a Clarion Award Judge
Click here for the application. Please complete and return to Caroline at the AWC office: [email protected] on or before April 12.
Requirements
- At least 10 years of experience in the communication field
- Ability to complete your judging by the required deadline
- Although the panel of judges is usually largely composed of AWC members, there is no requirement for membership. We often accept experts who are not members.
Judges Can Enter the Competition
You may think that if you have entered the Clarion Award competition this year you are disqualified from serving as a judge. On the contrary, you can do both! You will simply be assigned to different categories than the one(s) you entered. It’s worth noting that if you are not quite ready to enter your own work, judging will help you understand the process.
Timeline
You have six weeks to complete your judging.
| April 12, 2022 | Deadline to apply to be a Judge |
| April 18, 2022 | Deadline for Clarion Award Entries |
| May 6, 2022 | Judges will be notified of assignments. |
| June 17, 2022 | Deadline to complete your judging. |
Your Clarion Award Committee Co-Chairs
Pat Meads has a long history of involvement with the AWC Clarion Awards and is passionate about the program. She takes the lead in all aspects of the program including recruiting judges. In 2020, she rose to the challenge of the pandemic to create the first virtual Clarion Awards Presentation Event. Pat is an independent member, serves on the AWC Advancement Fund board, and is a former director of the AWC National Board.
Peggy Fleming started her connection with the Clarion Awards as a judge and won a Clarion Award of her own in 2019. She is a former director of the AWC National Board and served as the Clarion Awards Committee board liaison in 2021. She uses her marketing and social media expertise to publicize the Clarion Awards. Peggy is a member of the Greater Des Moines Chapter and currently serves on the board of directors of the AWC Advancement Fund.
