2008VirtuosoGala

On a hot and humid June evening, local business communicators joined together to beat the heat at the cool 2008 Virtuoso Awards Gala.

More than 140 public relations professionals, communicators and graphic designers celebrated communication excellence at the Lamplighter Inn in London. This year, IABC London received over 85 Virtuoso submissions and handed out 38 awards over the course of the night.

IABC London President Malcolm Ruddock kicked off the event by recognizing the winners of the Chapter Management Awards. The awards recognize the leadership abilities, management skills, creativity and teamwork of outstanding volunteer chapter leaders worldwide. Several 2006-2007 IABC London board members received three awards of merit for their contributions to the community.

The lucky winner was revealed for the IABC London contest for a trip to IABC’s international conference in New York City. Jamie Gill, a recent graduate of Fanshawe College’s Corporate Communications program was declared the winner and will participate in networking events and workshops from June 22 to 25 in the Big Apple.

For Virtuoso attendees, there was a never a dull moment with Gala Emcee Johnny Gardhouse. Johnny tickled the funny bones of all guests with jokes ranging from Canadian politics to ‘moose sightings’ in Western provinces.

Johnny also announced all the awards given out in the Communication Management, Communication Skills and Communication Creative divisions. Multiple award winners included Honey Design, London Health Sciences Centre, Surge Communications and The University of Western Ontario.

The Best of the Best award winners were also recognized for 2008. The Marketing Communications team at Fanshawe College was acknowledged for their work in the Communication Management category. In the Communication Skills category, Betty Dann and Kathy Burrill were awarded for their publication for St. Joseph’s Health Care. RedRhino Communications was recognized for a fundraising piece developed for Orchestra London in the Communication Creative category.

The event concluded with many communicators networking and mingling with others and offering their congratulations to colleagues on their award-winning submissions.

A lot of hard work went into this event to make it such a successful hit with attendees. Melissa Beilhartz and Jen MacRae, Directors of the Virtuoso Awards and Gala were recognized for their efforts. The Virtuoso Awards was the perfect way to end a successful year for IABC London.