I will never forget my first Clarion Award! I was communications director for the Illinois Comptroller’s office and we revamped our constitutionally mandated monthly fiscal report with a new look, bright colors and graphics, and articles on state revenues, expenses and programs that the average person would understand and want to read. I decided to enter because the new “magazine” was so different, and so much better than it was before. To my delight, we won “Most Improved Magazine-External Publication.”
I was new to the Association for Women in Communications but well aware of the Clarion Award. Network news programs like Dateline NBC would note their award-winning work, and Dateline often mentioned “recipient of the prestigious Clarion Award.”
Now I was one! I went to my first AWC National Conference in Portland, Oregon to accept it and participate in the winner’s reception. I was so honored to be a part of that, to stand with my entry display board between Southern Cooking magazine and Time Magazine, which won in other categories. Meeting and talking with other award winners was a great experience. 
Winning a Clarion changed how I looked at my own work. I had won awards as a news broadcaster, but had recently changed my career course, having become a mother and wanting a more traditional workday. I was building a new communications career and the Clarion gave me a huge confidence boost, confirming that I could transition those skills to other communications and media, including print publications.
I now lead the national educational non-profit Energy Education Council, and we do a lot of multimedia education for the public. We enter the Clarion Award program every year. Our team is so proud when our work is recognized with a Clarion!
Whether you have entered in the past or have never entered, I hope you consider entering the 2019 Clarion competition. It is one of the most affordable award programs to enter, so it doesn’t cost much to try it.
We all need to know how our work stacks up with our peers and it’s a great confidence booster when your work is recognized as being of high caliber. It is also a nice addition to your resume. So, think about what you’ve done this year and enter today!
The Clarion Awards Early Bird deadline is March 4, and the final deadline is April 8.
About the Author
Molly Hall is Executive Director of the Energy Education Council (EEC), a national nonprofit whose members include hundreds of utilities and others dedicated to creating a safer, smarter world. Prior to EEC, Molly spent 14 years as a broadcast news journalist, then was spokesperson for a large electric and natural gas utility.
A long-time member of AWC, Molly has held several leadership positions in the Springfield, Illinois Professional Chapter, and is currently the chapter President.
