Category Award Programs

Thank you for joining us in recognizing business communicators from across Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky for their professional achievements and brand campaigns.

About the Event

IABC Nashville broadcasted the 2020 Music City Gold Pen Awards on November 2 on Facebook Live. Danielle Breezy, Chief Meteorologist from WKRN-TV Nashville News 2, served as emcee, and singer-songwriter and American Idol semi-finalist Sarah Lake was the musical guest. A total of 36 awards were presented in categories ranging from change communications to nonprofit campaigns. Photos from the awards celebration are posted here.

From Our President 

“It is an honor for our chapter to recognize these communications professionals for their outstanding work and campaigns,” said Mollye Dietrich, IABC Nashville president. “From internal communications teams to public relations agencies, this year’s group of winners displayed the very best in business communications throughout Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky and are paving the way for our region to be recognized as one of the nation’s top locations to be a communications professional.” 

Congratulations To Our Award Winners! 

The award winners represented a range of industries, including strategic communications, public relations, non-profit, marketing, media relations, healthcare, and more. The teams at GSH Media and Keycom both took home numerous awards for their work in media relations, nonprofit campaigns, publications, audio/visual, social media programs, and special events. Words By Joe Diorio received the Best of Show award for the writing entry “A Few Words About Words” receiving the highest score out of all submissions. This year’s award winners and categories include:

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Thank you to all that attended our July professional development event, “Write to Win: Mastering the Art of Awards Submission Writing.” We hope you enjoyed some of the key takeaways to help take your awards entries to the next level. A special thanks to IABC Southern Region, IABC Atlanta, Kansas City IABC, and IABC South Carolina for their support in making this event happen!

In this hour-long workshop, we learned how to avoid common pitfalls and ways to make your entries stand out in front of judges, including:

• Identifying common mistakes and writing problems
• Understanding judges and what they are looking for
• Proactive planning to avoid late deadlines
• Crafting entries that tell a story and demonstrate results

Panelists:
Alison Shuman, Vice President of Awards, IABC Southern Region, Vice President of Finance, IABC South Carolina
Eric Berrios, Vice President of Professional Recognition, IABC Atlanta
Maliha Khan, Vice President of Communications and Director of Awards, Kansas City IABC

Moderator:
Kellie Davie, APR, Vice President of Awards and Communications, IABC Nashville

We are thrilled that the presenters have provided us with slides from the presentation, which can be downloaded in the link below. Also provided is a recording of yesterday’s workshop, just in case someone you know missed it.

Webinar Recording

Download Presentation

Download Workshop Exercises

Are you entering award nominations for your organization, but not getting the results you deserve? The problem could be the way you are filling out your application. Successful award entries take time, strategy, and dynamic storytelling.

Join us on Wednesday, July 22, for an in-depth panel discussion on award writing best practices with some of the International Association of Business Communicators’ (IABC) professional recognition leaders. Learn how to avoid common pitfalls and ways to make your entries stand out in front of judges. This workshop will include:

• Identifying common mistakes and writing problems
• Understanding judges and what they are looking for
• Proactive planning to avoid late deadlines
• Crafting entries that tell a story and demonstrate results

These best practices will prepare you to submit any type of award entry, regardless of industry and award type. This online event is free for IABC members and non-members.

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WHAT’S NEW THIS YEAR

NEW CATEGORY: DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION IABC has now added Category 17: Diversity and Inclusion to Division 1 – Communication Management. Entries in this category should highlight campaigns or programs of work aimed at building a culture of inclusion for an organization, with internal or external stakeholders (or both).   Learn More

2020 IABC NASHVILLE LEADERSHIP AWARDS IABC Nashville is proud to support three Leadership Awards designed to honor outstanding communicators in our region. These awards are designed to recognize members for their outstanding achievements and positive impact on the profession and IABC Nashville. Categories include: Rising Star: Salutes a young, dynamic leader who is shaping the future of IABC Nashville. Communicator of the Year: Recognizes a communication leader who demonstrates exceptional leadership, management, and communication skills. Hall of Fame: Lifetime achievement as an outstanding communicator whose contributions have raised the standards of professional communications. Nominate Today

NEW SPONSORSHIP LEVELS Sponsors of the Music City Gold Pen Awards gain visibility and recognition from the region’s top business communicators. Showcase your company to event attendees by becoming a sponsor and reach a group of decision-makers and influencers in the business community.    Become A Sponsor

JUDGING PARTNERS A BIG thank you to our official award partners, IABC Atlanta and KC IABC, for providing judges for the 2020 Music City Gold Pen Awards. As part of this partnership, members from IABC Nashville will be judging the KC Quills and Golden Flame Awards.   Learn More About IABC Atlanta Learn More About KC IABC

We hope you will consider entering your best work! If you have questions regarding the 2020 Music City Gold Pen Awards, please reach out to Kellie Davie, APR, Vice President of Awards and Communications, at kdavie@keycompr.com. Good luck and thank you for your support!

Kellie Davie, APR,  is the managing director and founder of Keycom, a marketing communications firm in Nashville dedicated to providing businesses with the creative strategies they need to reach their goals. Kellie also serves on the IABC Nashville board of directors as Vice President of Awards and Communications. 

Thank you for joining us in recognizing business communicators from across Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky for their professional achievements and brand campaigns.

About the event

We presented the 2019 Music City Gold Pen Awards on August 28 in Nashville. Danielle Breezy, Chief Meteorologist from WKRN-TV Nashville News 2, served as emcee and presented 38 awards in categories ranging from internal communications to nonprofit campaigns. Photos from the event are posted on IABC Nashville’s Facebook page.

From our president 

“It is an honor for our chapter to recognize these communications professionals for their outstanding work and campaigns,” said Sarah “Birdie” Loeffler, IABC Nashville president. “From internal communications to public relations agencies, this year’s group of winners displayed the very best in business communications throughout Middle Tennessee and Southern Kentucky and are paving the way for our region to be recognized as one of the nation’s top locations to be a communications professional.” 

Thank you to our sponsors! 

This year’s event was sponsored by Keycom, a lifestyle marketing communications firm, and Tracy K. Johnson from Camera Sutra Stud.io photography.

Congratulations to our award winners! 

The award winners represented a range of industries, including strategic communications, public relations, non-profit, marketing, media relations, health care, and more. The teams at Keycom and McNeely, Pigott and Fox (MP&F) Strategic Communications both took home numerous awards for their work in change communication, community relations, government communications, communication research, nonprofit campaigns, media relations, corporate social responsibility, and special events. This year’s award winners include:

• Kerry Burke, Cigna
• Jacob Burns, MP&F Strategic Communications
• Nancy Cooper & Dr. Forbes Walker, Aries Clean Energy
• Kellie Davie, Keycom, Nashville Fashion Week
• Julie Davis & Sharon Harper, Brookdale Senior Living
• Laura Haynes, MP&F Strategic Communications, First Bank
• Drew Ruble & Carol Stuart, Middle Tennessee State University
• Genma Holmes, GSH Media
• Jessica Hopson, Lovell Communications
• Sarah Hunt-Blackwell, MP&F Strategic Communications
• Paul Ladd, World Christian Broadcasting
• Birdie Loeffler, NDC, Inc.
• Sara Salisbury, MP&F Strategic Communications
• Julia Stump, Volkert
• Millie Wert, MP&F Strategic Communications