So this happened last night…

Last night I had the honour of being named Outstanding Independent Practitioner at the Chartered Institute of Public Relations’ Excellence Awards.

Putting myself forward took a lot of courage, and I’m delighted to have been recognised by my peers for doing what I absolutely love.

I’ve recorded a short video message, which you can find below.

 

Working as an independent practitioner is a privilege and a joy.

I take the trust my clients place in me incredibly seriously and have the pleasure of helping practitioners and their organisations achieve communication excellence through our work together.

More than 650 public relations professionals from over 120 agencies and organisations gathered at the Artillery Garden at the HAC, London for the 33rd instalment of the CIPR Excellence Awards.

Thank you to the CIPR Awards team for putting on a spectacular event.

BBC’s Mock The Week Comedian Andy Parsons hosted a lively ceremony, which saw Third City and Wellcome Trust’s inspiring #OutsmartEpidemics campaign crowned winner of the Best of Use of Digital and STEM Campaign categories.

Former CIPR President Sarah Pinch led the room full of practitioners in a standing ovation of applause to recognise our public sector colleagues for their tireless work in light of the recent terrorist attacks.

You could hear a pin drop as she spoke. Thank you Sarah for leading such an important moment and doing the right thing.

Outstanding Young Communicator
Congratulations to everyone who was recognised for their hard work last night, especially Anne-Marie Lacey of Filament PR (pictured) for winning Outstanding Young Communicator.

I’ve asked Anne-Marie to blog for me, and am looking forward to sharing her story soon.

You can see the full list of winners at the end of this article. Congratulations to the internal comms pros at The Sovini Group and British Steel for winning your categories.

The awards in numbers:

  • 550 entries (approx.) received from public relations teams, consultancies and individuals across the globe
  • 125 shortlisted (approx.) public relations campaigns, teams, consultancies and individuals
  • 170 panel interviews (approx.) of shortlisted entrants – marking out the CIPR Excellence Awards as the most rigorous and demanding awards in the sector
  • A team of 88 judges – made up of senior industry leaders
  • Only 29 winning public relations campaigns, teams, consultancies and individuals at the 2017 CIPR Excellence Awards

The judges for my Outstanding Independent Practitioner category said:

“Through All Things IC Rachel has seen impressive business success in a short space of time. She is an outstanding contributor to the industry, promoting and sharing best practice across a wide audience of practitioners, encouraging others to share and learn.

She invests in conventional CPD as well as ‘learning every day’ by interacting with her community. She sees long term results from working with clients to positively change cultures and build employee brands, resulting in an ongoing stream of new business.” – CIPR Excellence Judges. 

Full list of CIPR Excellence Awards 2017 winners

  • Corporate and Business Communications Campaign: Engage – Bell Pottinger and Ripple, Making waves in Europe
  • Internal Communications Campaign: The Sovini Group, The Sovini Games
  • Consumer Relations Campaign: Taylor Herring and UKTV , The Real Mr. Darcy – A Dramatic Reappraisal
  • Public Sector Campaign: Essex Police and Essex County Partners, Reflect – Domestic Abuse campaign
  • Corporate Social Responsibility Campaign: The Playbook , Seeing Is Believing for Standard Chartered
  • Public Affairs Campaign: Connect, #ForAccessibleHomes
  • Not-for-Profit Campaign: Cifas, Data to Go
  • Healthcare Campaign: Red Consultancy, Zookeeper Zoe Eye Check Storybook
  • Integrated Campaign: Cifas, Data to Go
  • Global Public Relations Campaign: MHP – Engine and NHS Blood & Transplant, Missing Type International
  • Issues, Crisis or Reputational Management: Exeter City Council, Cathedral Green Fire, Exeter
  • Automotive Campaign: Performance Communications, Fiat Professional Tradesman Trials
  • Low Budget Campaign MHP and Laithwaite’s Wine: Chateau Peckham, Changing of the Vines
  • STEM Campaign: Third City and Wellcome Trust, Let’s #OutsmartEpidemics
  • Arts, Culture or Sport Campaign English Heritage: 1066 – Year of the Normans
  • Construction, Property or Infrastructure Campaign: Copper Consultancy, Beauty is in the eye of the gasholder
  • Education Communications Campaign: Loughborough University , #LboroFamily’s Golden Ticket
  • Best Use of Media Relations: Stand Agency and Anchor Trust, SU4SD – Standing Up 4 Sitting Down
  • Best Use of Digital: Third City and Wellcome Trust, Let’s #OutsmartEpidemics
  • Best Use of Social Media: Newcastle City Council, Channel Shift
  • Best External Publication: Up North Communications and Byker Community Trust, Byker News Tenants’ Newsletter
  • Best Internal Publication: British Steel, Steel Matters
  • Best Event: Tin Man, The Ben 10 (Rust) Bucket List for Cartoon Network
  • Outstanding Young Communicator: Filament PR, Anne-Marie Lacey MCIPR
  • Outstanding Independent Practitioner: All Things IC , Rachel Miller FCIPR
  • Outstanding In-House Public Relations Team: VisitScotland
  • Outstanding Small Public Relations Consultancy iseepr
  • Outstanding Mid-Sized Public Relations Consultancy: Dynamo Communications
  • Outstanding Large Public Relations Consultancy: M&C Saatchi PR

Here’s the official video from the night (I’m in it at 1min30sec):

Further reading on my blog 

Five top tips from an awards judge – guest post about the recent IoIC awards judging.

How to become a Chartered PR Practitioner

How to communicate your personal brand.

Want to work independently?
I’ve shared some advice here: How to work as an independent practitioner – includes the presentation I gave at #EuroComm17 in March:

Thank you for stopping by,
Rachel.

Post author: Rachel Miller

First published on the All Things IC blog 7 June 2017.

Comments

  1. Kath Lavelle says:

    Belated congratulations on this fantastic achievement. As someone who has made the recent move from external communications to employee engagement and internal communication allthingsIC has become a-must-visit resource for me and given me confidence when delivering strategic advice to the organisation. Thank you for all the insights, information and tips.

  2. Thank you very much Kath. Am so happy to read that my website is helping give you confidence. You’re welcome, feedback like yours encourages me to continue, Rachel.

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