This year’s IoIC Awards shortlist is of a quality never before seen, says chief executive Steve Doswell. The growing professionalism and quality of work in internal communications has been a yearly trend, resulting in a shortlist of an unusually high standard.

The Awards, which are comprised of 42 categories in eight sections will take place on 27 September at the Park Plaza Riverbank in London. The programme was amended this year as well, to address recent developments in the industry.

The entry fee was decreased to encourage more entries, despite the still-lagging economy and two new classes of awards were instituted: mobile communications and multi-digital channels. Awards chair Louise Birkett says the latter was developed by the 30 under 30 group who recognised the need to integrate digital into a comms programme to reach disparate audiences.

“Because communications practice is at such a high standard, there are very very fine margins that distinguish the entries chosen to win awards compared to the rest of the pack. We’ve seen that trend over time as professionalism has grown, but this year it has presented our judges with their greatest challenge thus far. I’m confident that the choices they have made are the right ones,” Doswell says.

This year’s shortlist features a diverse range of industries and entries. Words & Pictures, a Leeds-based comms agency, was nominated in three categories including the prestigious Best agency award. Creative director Andy Holt says, “We're delighted to be shortlisted for a number of awards at the IoIC conference this year. The IoIC awards night is an industry-leading event. It's an honour for the entire team at Words&Pictures to be recognised for creativity, innovation and expertise in several areas, but especially in the Agency Team of the Year category.”