UpSkill webinars: A novel professional development series for students, early career and veteran communicators

By Mirko Petricevic, CMP®️

When is an awards program more than an awards program? When it can form a solid cornerstone for your professional development plan.

In short, that’s what IABC awards programs are. 

Winning an award feels great. But bringing our work up to an award-winning level takes skill. 

Fear not! IABC Waterloo chapter’s UpSkill webinar series is here to help!

If you’ve checked out the Gold Quill or Silver Leaf awards entry rules and have wondered whether all the effort is worth it, I say “absolutely.”

If you’re a veteran communicator with an established reputation and don’t feel the need for  extra recognition, the awards can be a valuable part of your ongoing professional development. 

Serving as an awards evaluator helps you: 

  • stay sharp; 

  • see some great work; 

  • pick up on tips of what to do — and not to do — in your own practice; and

  • log professional development points toward renewing your CMP®️ or SCMP®️ certification.

Our association’s award programs are structured like no other awards I’ve entered.

Entries are scored by two experienced evaluators who are instructed, through mandatory video training taken before being allowed to evaluate entries, to adopt the approach of a coach or  mentor rather than a judge on high.

“You are are not there to break hearts,” Dr. Amanda Attwell-Hamilton, a one-time Gold Quill Awards chair, tells prospective evaluators in the training module.

Whether or not your entry scores into award territory, evaluators provide their scoring rationales for each of 10 categories plus comments to help strengthen your entry for your next round of awards and up your skills.

Our series provides sage advice from IABC legends from Canada, the United States, South Africa and Australia.

All of our seven presenters are experienced award evaluators; most have served as award committee chairs; most are IABC Fellows; and four have authored chapters in The IABC Guide for Practical Business Communication: A Global Standard Primer.

It’s an all-star cast sharing their top tips for strong entries.

Each instalment explores a section or two of the Gold Quill work plan.

Some takeaways from UpSkill1: The problem with creating awareness, presented by former awards chair Maureen Healey.

  • IABC award programs are, at their core, professional development programs (OK. ’nuff said)

  • All the information you need to assemble a strong entry — including the rubrics used by evaluators — is available on the Gold Quill Awards website. Regional awards programs follow the same process and rubrics. But be sure to check local award program rules!

  • Start compiling your entry early. (It took me 20 hours to compile my first award entry.)

Some takeaways from participants in UpSkill2: Crafting award-winning stakeholder analysis, presented by Priya Bates and Shel Holtz.

  • Psychographics (attitudes/opinions/beliefs) of our audience are important — not just demographics.

  • Consider attitudes, opinions and beliefs of each stakeholder segment — especially in the context of change readiness.

  • Care about the outcomes that will impact your business strategy — don't just focus on all the metrics.

That said, our next webinar in the series will highlight how to set goals and objectives with the most relevant metrics.

Webinars are free for all IABC members, and just $10 for non-members. So, please spread the word to co-workers and your wider professional network.

For more information and registration, check out:

Mirko Petricevic CMP®️is a professional development director on the IABC Waterloo chapter board. He has twice evaluated Silver Leaf Awards and, for the first time this year, is serving as a Gold Quill Awards evaluator. Contact him at mirko@stonemirmedia.com or connect through LinkedIn.

IABC Waterloo