A breed apart: Ragan’s Employee Communications Awards winners

More than 350 entries made this year’s awards phenomenal. Did your entry emerge victorious?

Employee communications is an extraordinary field, and communicators are an extraordinary bunch.

You meld creativity and information, and your cleverness must only enhance the message, never obscure it. You write and edit, craft and tweak, select images and crop them—always with your audience in mind.

Maybe you wonder whether your tireless efforts are appreciated. Rest assured, they are—and here’s the proof: this special edition of Ragan.com toasting the best of the best, the winners of Ragan’s 2011 Employee Communications Awards.

We received hundreds of sterling entries in dozens of categories for online and print publications and other bands of the communications spectrum. (The quality and quantity of the submissions have raised the bar for future years, so keep the 2012 awards in mind as your brilliant ideas flow.) Please help us celebrate all our winners by reading the summaries of why they took home top honors in their respective categories.

We extend special congratulations to our top finishers and honorable mentions, as well as our profound admiration for all the talented professionals whose stellar work made our judging so very difficult.

Thanks to all our entrants for participating, and for being part of the Ragan community.

Annual Reports

Honorable Mentions

  • Diakon Lutheran Social Ministries
  • NYU Langone Medical Center

Employee Annual Report

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • Factset Research Systems, Inc. Children's Hospital Colorado

Publications

Honorable Mentions

  • NYU Langone Medical Center - NYULMC2, "The History of AIDS at Langone Medical Center in the l980s"
  • Ohio University - Compass, "Appalachia Rising"
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - CDC Connects, "The Filming of the Movie 'Contagion' at CDC Headquarters"

Article Series (Print Publication)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation - The Sikorsky Source, "Global Clean-Up Day" Consolidated Edison Company of New York - Con Edison Times, "Following in the Footsteps of Thomas Edison" Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) - Flash, "Branching out"

Best Design (Electronic Publication)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • UC Irvine Healthcare - Discover UC Irvine Healthcare NYU Langone Medical Center - NYULMC2 Jones Lang LaSalle - This Week at Jones Lang LaSalle

Honorable Mentions

  • Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation - Source, "Going ... going ... GREEN!"
  • NYU Langone Medical Center - NYULMC2, "Going Up: New Elevator Tower Soon to Begin Rising"

Design (Print Publication)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • FM Global - Globalink A.T. Still University of Health Sciences - Student Recruitment Series

Honorable Mention

  • U.S. Department of Labor - Frances

Employee Magazine (Print)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • FM Global and Affiliate Companies - Globalink Avnet Global - Perspective Constellation Brands, Inc. -Behind The Label Northwestern Mutual - Columns Omaha Public Power District - Flash DaVita, Inc. - DaVita Magazine Kohler Co. - People MD Anderson Cancer Center - Messenger The MITRE Corporation - MITRE Matters

Employee Newsletter

WINNER

Honorable Mentions

  • UC Irvine Healthcare - Discover UC Irvine Healthcare
  • NYU Langone Medical Center - NYULMC2

Employee Newsletter (Print)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • Champion Technologies - OneWorld Georgia Power - The Citizen National Institute of Standards and Technology - NIST Connections SkyWest Airlines - SkyWest In Print

Honorable Mention

  • NYU Langone Medical Center

Executive Letter (Print)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • Western Connecticut Health Network

Feature Article (Electronic)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - "Cyber Security, CDC's Other Virus Hunters" American Airlines - "Parading the Dream of Diversity" Premier Global Services, Inc. - "Japan Speaks Out About Historic Earthquake" Northwestern Mutual - "10 years later: Remembering 9/11" and "A lasting legacy"

Honorable Mention

  • Avnet, Inc. - "Times Are Changing" Franciscan Alliance - Regional Rounds, "Miracle on Main Street" Georgia Power - The Citizen, "Making it Personal" U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (NE District) - "District team reaches around the world to assist in African dam rehabilitation"

HR Publication (Electronic)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • Jones Lang LaSalle - People Connection

Honorable Mention

  • International Paper - Infinite Possibilities

Interview Profile (Electronic)

WINNER

Interview Profile (Print)

WINNER

Long Feature Article (Print)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • Emirates - "Celebrating three years of flying the Airbus A380" Cash American International - "Bringing Honor" Rockwell Collins - "Refueling innovation" NW Natural - "Blue wants you to be cozy and comfortable" Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation - "Sikorsky SEAHAWK® Helicopter at HEART of JAPAN RESCUES The Story of Operation TOMODACHI

Most Improved Design (Electronic)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • Tennessee Valley Authority - InsideTVA Children's Hospital Colorado - Children's Post

Most Improved Design (Print)

WINNER

Honorable Mentions

  • Rockwell Collins - Horizons
  • Duke University - Duke Today Working®Duke
  • Pernod Ricard/Infopress Group - Horizontes

Photography (Print or Electronic)

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation - Commercial Links

Honorable Mention

  • Allscripts Healthcare Solutions - "Fast action by Allscripts team member helps save boy from river"

Intranet

Honorable Mention

  • U.S. Department of Treasury - theGreen Enterprise Intranet The Clara Abbott Foundation - The Clara Abbott Foundation

Honorable Mention

  • Yahoo! - Backyard

Honorable Mention

  • Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center - BIDMC Today, "Unsung Heroes"

Social Intranet

WINNER

Value to Employees

WINNER

Honorable Mention

  • ESPN.com - HR Connection inVentiv Health - inFuse Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island - Inside Blue Pedernales Elective Cooperative - Power of Community

Traditional Media

Honorable Mention

  • Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center - "Behind the Badge"

Honorable Mention

  • Beth-Israel Deaconess Medical Center - "BIDMC Interpreters Lead Medical Mission to Africa" Aurora Health Care - "Access Aurora" Province of British Columbia - "Aboriginal Relations Resource Centre (ARRC)"

Honorable Mention

  • TriNet Group - The Headliner

Social Media

Honorable Mention

  • The University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

Community Building - Intranet

WINNER

Honorable Mentions

  • Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc.
  • INTEL

Honorable Mention

  • Esurance Inc.

Community Building - Video

WINNER

Honorable Mentions

  • Home Instead Senior Care
  • Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond

Honorable Mention

  • Aurora Healthcare

Honorable Mention

  • Springfield Clinic

Honorable Mention

  • INTEL - GoMyBen

Speechwriting