You owe it to yourself and your team to enter the UnAwards18. It's free and easy to do and you still have plenty of time to do it. So no excuses, right?

by Darren Caveney

The UnAwards exist to recognise and celebrate the amazing work I know happens in teams all across the UK.

Now I’m lucky because I get to work closely with a lot of you.

And one of the trends I spot – regularly – is the slight belief that somehow your work isn’t as good as other peoples. And then you go and show me something brilliant that you have delivered.

I absolutely believe that everyone has done at least one great thing in the past 12 months.

It doesn’t always have to be the show-stopper campaign, the smart social media content or the funny video.

Don’t forget other important categories such as:

- Best use of email

- Best collaboration

- Best use of research/evaluation

- Best crisis comms

- Best comms team

- Best small team

- Best young comms pro

- Best work by an agency

This year’s theme gives you all a chance to shine. And it’s this:

It’s the work which made a genuine difference, which nailed it creatively, which met its objectives, which could measure and prove its success. Work which changed something for the better. And captured your audience’s attention in a crowded, cluttered world.

Whether you’re a team of one, a medium-sized team who’s taken some financial hits and trying to keep pace, or a large team with big expectation on your heads, it still comes down to delivering stand-out communications which delivered results.

Along with great planning, good use of research, brilliant execution, measured outcomes, and big slabs of creativity, it’s often the teams who do it differently and set the creative standard who make their comms, pr, marketing and digital work fly highest.

Some reasons why you ‘might’ not enter…

In truth, I know that some teams are a bit brow-beaten. Some have been put under increasing pressure to deliver with smaller resources. Some individuals I have spoken with aren’t even sure if they do work which is worthy of an entry.

My answer to this is simple: Be proud of the great things you do and give yourself a chance of being shortlisted by entering your work.

Nothing bad can come from it, only good things can.

It’s really important to feel confident in your work. But if you’re in a team which has taken quite an internal beating it’s completely understandable that confidence gets knocked. The UnAwards are an opportunity to redress the balance – to remind yourself that you do good things, work which makes a difference to people.

There’s a truism that will never go away and it’s this:

“No one else internally is likely to shout about you and your work. You need to do it yourself.”

Of course nobody likes a show-off but putting your work forward to compete with the rest is a really good way to tackle this issue. I've seen the difference an award shortlisting or a win to can make to a comms pro, a team, even an organisation.

There has literally never been a more important time to shout about your work than right now, especially for those facing another round of annual cuts to budgets, and morale in some teams in need of a small boost.

I know you’re busy. Everyone is. But the people who get on - and get noticed - manage their time so that they give themselves an hour to nail a really strong award entry. You owe it to yourself and your teams.

So enter the UnAwards18 and let the judges decide whose work stands out.

OK, I’m in – how do I enter?

Easy. You simply complete a short word document form and you email it to us. That's it.

You can find the entry (and nomination) form HERE.

What are the categories?

There are 18 categories to choose from so absolutely something for everyone.

Can I enter more than one category?

Yes, absolutely.

And don’t forget you can put your entry into more than one category. So, for example. if you have delivered an effective campaign with great research, strong use of social media, backed by brilliant evaluation but with no budget there are literally four categories you could enter right there. All on the same entry form too.

So make the next thing you do, right now, putting an hour in your diary asap to get the ball rolling with a brilliant entry or two.

Darren Caveney is creator of comms2point0 and organiser of the UnAwards

Want to soak up the atmosphere of the coolest comms, PR, marketing and digital event of the year in person? UnAwards18 tickets are priced at just £20 + vat each. See, I told you the UnAwards were really accessible.

Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis and it always sells out so please don’t hang around.

You can grab yours here.

Image via The Library of Congress