It’s great judging #EVCOMScreens

05 Feb 2015

Our video expert has been busy judging this years’ inaugural EVCOM screen awards – Europe’s largest celebration of visual communications in the corporate and public sector. In this blog, Lorraine Hambleton, shares why she gets involved.

This is my fourth time of judging the EVCOM Screens Awards (previously known as the IVCA awards which represented the visual communications sector before merging with the live events association Eventia).

They recognise and celebrate excellence in effective business, television, film, video and digital media for corporate communication. To win an award is the highest accolade in the sector and brings national and international recognition.

Having previously entered and won an award, it’s an honour to be one of 100 judges again – leading communications professionals in production companies, agencies and clients.

It’s a fascinating process involving online scoring for a particular award category. It is a tough job and competition can be fierce – and emotional too. Last year the first film reduced me to tears and I shut the laptop for a while to compose myself!

Online scoring is then followed by an often heated and passionate panel session with fellow judges – all looking for originality, creativity and evidence of success. Finally, the top entries across all categories go through to a ‘Grand Prix’ review to find the best of the best.

It’s obvious why you’d want to enter your work – there is an element of pride and a great conversation starter with clients and colleagues after the big night. However, as a judge I love getting involved for a variety of reasons:

  • Talent watch – at CommsQuest we’re regularly on the lookout to partner with innovative people, including production houses
  • Networking – an opportunity to meet experts on the panel who are equally as passionate about making great films.
  • New perspective – every time I judge, I learn about at least one new topic or perhaps I’m familiar with a subject but see it a new light. Judging can be educational!
  • Inspiration – a chance to see how other experts approach a topic in an original way to move audiences to take action.

At the same time, judging helps reinforce some of the challenges that communicators are often faced with:

  • Integrated approach – video is not a standalone event. It needs to be planned in advance and integrated across a range of channels for maximum awareness. I was really pleased to see some innovative entries that used a range of technology and social media to drive engagement with audiences.
  • Measurement – if the film looks and feels good, that’s great. But evidence of success is critical for return on investment and demonstrate there has been a change in behaviour to meet business goals or challenges. Again, it was great to see some tangible successes in my category.

So in summary, it’s been a pleasure getting involved again. I was so impressed by the standard – compelling and engaging content all the way. I can’t wait to get in the room with fellow judges in my category to compare notes and find our deserving winners.

Was this article useful? Do you have a burning question about using video for the internal communications? Drop us a line.