We’re delighted to have been recognised with a Gold Quill Award from the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) for employee engagement for our work on REA Group’s annual employee kick-off event.

REA Group is a leading international media company that owns and operates property portals. Its head office is in Melbourne, Australia and it has approximately 1,500 employees in Australia and Asia with a market capital of AUS$6bn.

The CEO, who joined in August 2014, introduced an annual global kick-off event for employees. Water Cooler is currently supporting the event for the third year running.

Last year’s kick-off event was titled Welcome Home. Its objectives were to celebrate the year just gone, get on the same page for the year ahead, get together as one team and provide employees with a ‘sugar hit’.

Working closely with REA’s fantastic events and comms team, Water Cooler was responsible for the event theme, look and feel, agenda, content development and delivery and measurement.

The agenda was fast-paced and high energy with a maximum session time of 20 minutes (other than the CEO and guest speakers) to ensure the audience didn’t get bored. It was a mix of entertainment, interactive demos, guest speakers, Q+A, video and Ted Talk style presentations. Most sessions were delivered by employees, rather than the executive team.

Feedback from employees told us that the event exceeded all of its objectives.

When reviewing the award submission, the judges commented:

“Your entry demonstrates strategic and creative thinking that reflects your audience and business needs.”

 “You demonstrated high-quality writing and production. You followed a clever approach to communicate that which is appropriate for your audience. Your plan clearly engaged employees and would stand out in their minds.”

“Your results exceeded your objectives resulting in a meaningful impact on the business. The work of you and your team is clear, consistent and clever, communicating key messages in powerful, emotional way.”

 Lynn Barter, ABC, MC, chair of the IABC awards committee describes The Gold Quill Awards program as celebrating business communication’s best practices.

“Each entry is evaluated on its own merits against IABC’s Global Standard of excellence in communication. Winning a Gold Quill recognizes exceptional work, innovation and creativity.

“Gold Quill winners represent a global community executing their responsibilities ethically and to the highest standards of the profession.  These exemplary practitioners deliver high impact results for their organizations and clients, taking communication to the next level.”

For more information on the Gold Quill Awards, including the full list of winners, go to http://gq.iabc.com.

About the Gold Quill Awards:

For more than 40 years, IABC’s Gold Quill Awards have recognized and awarded excellence in strategic communication worldwide. The Gold Quill Awards honor the dedication, innovation and passion of communicators on a global scale with a focus on achieving solid business outcomes.

Posted on April 19th, 2017.  0 Comments

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