Golden Flame 2026

1. 1. Learn to create a strategic entry demonstrating analytical thinking and creative implementation. 
   2. Fine-tune your skills with expert feedback from senior professionals. 
   3. Build a business case for an increase in your communications budget. 
   4. Document a best practice.
   5. Build a portfolio of work that opens doors to job opportunities, new clients, and a stronger résumé. 
   6. Inspire your team by bringing them together to produce show-stopping work. Then share the glory when it’s complete. 
   7. Show your employer and client that your work is considered among the best in the region. 
   8. Make a name for yourself in the communications profession and position your career for advancement. 
   9. Build your personal reputation as a thought leader and open up speaking and publishing opportunities. 
   10. Walk away with a trophy to proudly display and declare, “I’m an award-winning communicator!” 

• To be eligible to win, all work must have been implemented, published or broadcast between January 1, 2025 and the day of submission. 
• If a long-term strategy was developed prior to January 2025 and hasn’t previously been entered, it is eligible for entry. 
• If you entered your work in 2025 and didn’t win an award, you may revise and re-enter your project. 
• Entries that have won a Golden Flame award in previous years may not be resubmitted. 

• You must upload your entry and pay the registration fee before the deadline. Full payment must be received for all entries before or on the closing date to be eligible for evaluation. 
• Work plans for Divisions 1, 2 and 3 are limited to four pages using a font size no smaller than 10-point and margins no less than 0.5 inch (1.27 cm). A template is available on the Gold Quill Awards website. 
• For Division 4, Communication Skills, you will need to submit a brief entry form on the awards entry website. 
• Work done for IABC at the international level is not eligible for this program. 

• Any element of the project violates the IABC Code of Ethics. 
• It is obvious the entrant did not play a role in the project. 
• The entry depends mainly on syndicated, borrowed, reprinted or stock material. 
• If the electronic files contain viruses, if they disable or require disabling of any part of the computer system used during evaluation, or if evaluators cannot view work samples using the instructions provided. 
• You are a consultant submitting work done for a client without their express permission. 

1. Choose the divisions and category combinations you want to enter. You may enter multiple categories within one division. And you may enter the same project, or parts of a project in different categories. 
2. Write your work plan (or fill in the online form, for Skills Division entries). 
3. Prepare your work sample. 
4. Review and submit your entry. You have the opportunity to revise your entry up until the deadline. 

• Programs or strategies targeted at employee or member audiences 
• Includes programs creating awareness and influencing opinion or behavioral change, which may focus on ethics, morale, internal culture or change management 
• May involve improving employee understanding and alignment with business direction, improving face-to-face communication, preparing employees for change, integrating organizational cultures caused by an acquisition or downsizing via internal brand ambassador program or a program to inspire pride in the organization 

• Local, regional, national or international programs or strategies that profile strategic communication as a driver in improving employee engagement 
• Entries must focus on the communication elements of these programs, which could include the contribution to program development and promotion through various communication vehicles and channels 
• May include employee recognition and employee volunteer programs, such as programs that benefit charitable or philanthropic causes or recognize employees’ organizational contributions or achievements 

• Programs or strategies targeted at internal audiences and related to communication of health and welfare, savings and pension, stocks and compensation, or recruitment and retention initiatives 

• Communication strategies that support organizational change 
• May be directed at internal or external audiences, or both 

• Programs or strategies that focus on improving awareness, understanding and behaviors related to safety issues within an organization 

• Programs or strategies that help leaders become more effective communicators, improve the quality of leadership communication within an organization, or improve leader knowledge and the ability to use communication as a business driver 
• Tactics may include tool kits with speaking notes, games or other tools that help leaders communicate a specific topic, and special publications with information and support for leadership communication 

• May include various activities designed to sell products, services, destinations, organizations or ideas to external audiences, and is generally delivered through a variety of communication vehicles and channels 
• Strategic advertising campaigns designed to build brand awareness, influence opinion, motivate audience behaviors, or sell products and services 
• Strategies for new brands and the repositioning of existing brands in relationship to internal and external audiences 
• May include brand characteristics and attributes, changes to corporate identities and design solutions that address the challenges of brand communication (must be more than a logo redesign) 

• Strategies or ongoing programs targeted at customer audiences that educate, inform, engage or otherwise connect the organization and its employees to the customer 
• Programs may influence reputation, brand awareness and loyalty, and market position 
• May include relationship management, experience standards or appreciation programs, but must be focused on communication and marketing elements 

• Strategies or ongoing programs that use the news media as the primary channel to reach target audiences and seek to influence awareness, understanding and opinion or motivate action 
• Should demonstrate the quality of media coverage and its impact on the organization – quantity of media stories alone is not considered a valid measurement in this category 

• A one-time or an ongoing program that enhances stakeholder understanding of issues affecting business operations within the community served 
• Seeks to build trust and credibility with stakeholder groups generally through consultation and other communication-based activities 
• Tactics and supporting strategies may include formal and informal meetings, town hall discussions, workshops, presentations, open houses, and electronic or printed material 

• Short- or long-term programs that influence the opinion or actions of government bodies or agencies 
• May seek to create awareness, or influence the attitudes and behaviors of decision-makers toward the organization or industry 

• Entails strategies, tactics and tools used to share financial data and recommendations with investors and other interested parties 
• •Includes investor relations functions that integrate finance, communication, marketing and securities laws compliance to enable effective two-way communication between a company, the financial community, and stakeholders 

• Programs targeted at external and/or internal audiences that address trends, issues or attitudes that have a significant impact on an organization, such as labor relations, crises, mergers, acquisitions, public policy or environmental concerns 
• Programs may demonstrate proactive planning and preventative action during an extraordinary event, or show the actions taken to address trends, issues and interest group attitudes that have a major impact on an organization 

• Programs or strategies that communicate social responsibility and encourage positive actions while building awareness and reputation and positioning the organization as a good corporate citizen 
• May be targeted to multiple audiences and influence share price and customer loyalty, retention and recruitment, operational efficiency and increased sales 
• Generally long-term and focused on enhancing the well-being of communities and populations through causes such as the environment, energy sustainability, food safety, economic stability, employment, poverty reduction, literacy, education, health, cultural preservation, and indigenous and heritage protection 

• Programs and strategies specific to government organizations at the municipal, state, provincial, regional, federal, national or international level 
• May be targeted to one or more audiences, and include internal, external or integrated communication strategies or programs 

• Programs recognizing the particular challenges of the nonprofit sector 
• May include multiple internal or external audiences 
• Promotes nonprofit organizations or causes 
• May be paid projects or pro-bono projects donated to the client by an organization, agency or consultancy; entries will generally have a small budget or none at all 

• Entries to any category in this division submitted by a student 

Entries in this division recognize the importance of research and measurement as a foundation for strategic communication work and a competency that’s integral to success throughout the career of a communication professional. 

• Formative research conducted during the initial stages of the strategic communication planning process that benchmarks internal audience opinions or behaviors, profiles the marketplace or internal communication environment in which the organization operates, aligns best practices against organizational needs, or informs strategic direction for internal communication programs 
• May include audience analysis, competitive benchmarking, secondary research related to best practices, program or product test markets, and reputation or brand studies 

• Entries to any category in this division submitted by a student 

• Training or educational programs delivered to an internal or external audience to help improve their communication competencies 
• For internal audiences, this may include supervisor/manager/leader training in communication skills, presentation skills and employee ambassador development, in addition to media training, speaker’s bureau training, and other communication disciplines 
• For external audiences, this may include presentations for conferences, university classes, seminars or workshops, as well as media and executive coaching 

• Entries to any category in this division submitted by a student Division Communication Skills 4: Entries in this division recognize the importance of research and measurement as a foundation for strategic communication work and a competency that’s integral to success throughout the career of a communication professional. 

• Describe the context for your program or project. 
• Clearly state the communication challenge or opportunity. 
• Provide an analysis of your target audiences. 
• Demonstrate high-level goals and measurable objectives stated as outputs or outcomes. 
• Provide insight into your strategic approach. 
• Highlight your budget. 
• Provide an abbreviated tactical execution plan. 
• Discuss any challenges that you faced during planning and execution. 
• Demonstrate collaboration with stakeholders, if appropriate. 
• Provide measurable, meaningful results that are aligned with your stated objectives, and audience and business needs. 
• • Ensure your work plan refers to your work sample and assists the evaluators in navigating through your entry and finding the examples that best illustrate your work. 

• Upload JPEG or PDF files. Maximum file size is 5MB per piece. A maximum of five pieces can be uploaded with your entry. 
• Video attachments may be hosted on a video site such as YouTube or Vimeo. 
• Provide website URLs to the publicly accessible campaign or active URL of a landing page. Please ensure any applicable user names and passwords are provided and active. 
• Please do not upload any further written material as the judges will not consider it. The written component of your entry should be fully explained within the provided form fields.

This division includes marketing and communication elements that showcase technical skills such as editing, writing, design and multimedia production. Entries in this division are generally tactical in nature.

• Planning and execution of a special or experiential event for an internal or external audience
• For internal audiences, this may include employee appreciation events or events that mark a significant occasion such as an anniversary, internal conference or meeting, or a celebration or special retirement
• For external audiences, this may include conferences, workshops, anniversaries, official openings, product launches, road shows and customer events 

• Online communication vehicles that are produced for internal or external audiences 
• Electronic and interactive communication channels such as websites, intranets, online stores and microsites 

• Communication vehicles produced using sound, images, video, film, slides, CDs or a combination of these elements 
• May include video, audio, PowerPoint or other presentations, and films (does not include advertising commercials) 

• Engages internal and external audiences in conversation through social media 
• Encompasses tools and practices that allow individuals and groups to collaborate and share knowledge and experiences online 
• May use conversation-enabled publishing platforms such as blogs and podcasts, social networks such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, democratized content networks such as wikis and message boards, content-sharing sites such as YouTube and Flickr, enterprise social networks such as Yammer, Slack and Jive, and virtual networking platforms 

• Material in which the news media is the primary communication channel 
• May include, but is not limited to, editorials, interpretive/expository articles, news releases, and feature stories 

• Material written primarily for use by an organization to inform or educate employees or external stakeholders 
• May include recurring features or columns, magazines, newsletters, internal or special publications, standalone features, speeches and presentations, executive correspondence, scripts for corporate use, writing for an intranet, internal publications, technical writing, and annual and special reports 

• Material written to persuade customers, consumers, employees or stakeholders to adopt a point of view or to purchase goods or services 
• May include commercials, advertising, marketing or sales promotion material, advertorials and writing for the Web 

• Material written to promote nonprofit organizations, including IABC regional and chapter events 

• Books (fiction and nonfiction), educational material, scripts for theatrical use, and other writing projects not covered above 

• Entries to any category in this division submitted by a student 

1. Describe your organization. 
2. Why was this project undertaken? 
3. Who was the audience for this project? What do you know about the audience? 
4. List up to three key measurable objectives for the project. How well did the project meet the objectives? 
5. List up to three key messages for the project. 
6. Describe the resources (budget, time, other) available for the project and how effectively they were managed. 

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