A special, special day – reflecting on the 10th UnAwards

A few days on and I still have a lovely warm glow from the incredible 10th annual UnAwards.

by Darren Caveney

I spent last weekend wading through lovely messages and chatter on social and email, reflecting on the love, celebration, connection and atmosphere at the UnAwards 2025.

I’ve said it many, many times before but I’m so fortunate to be able to run and host the UnAwards. Plus, it’s a great excuse to unleash the velvet once a year. But this year featured an all-new number. More on that later.

I always say that the UnAwards is the best work day of the year. I’m biased but it really is. The feedback from many of you is that you love it too.

Thank you to everyone who made it possible and who came along and supported it.

What a room-full of talent we had in the 141 capacity audience.

Here are some reflections…

Glorious winners

24 winners were crowned, and 31 entrants gained highly commended status. From a mammoth near 600 entries that’s a huge achievement.

A few honorable mentions…

Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service grabbed 7 (seven) shortlistings, winning one category, as well as boss Jack Grasby becoming the first man EVER to win the best guest post UnAward.

The National Crime Agency picked up a double, with wins in Best use of evaluation and research, and best use of behaviour change.

NHS England picked up best low cost comms UnAward in a category which saw a staggering 65 entries.

Local Government were the big winners with 11 UnAwards, including best comms team for Telford and Wrekin.

Clare Abbotts of Staffordshire County Council won best comms professional, and James Bird of Ealing Council best young comms pro. What a talent.

And Eva Duffy picked up the prestigious Lifetime Achievement UnAward, presented by past winners Fran Collingham, Ruby Bhattal and Jayne Surman. Eva looked happy, it was lovely to see.

You can see the full winners’ list here.

Well done to everyone.

But the most important thing to me – always - is that, whether you won or nor, or entered or not, you had a fun day. I hope we delivered on that outcome.

New faces

Over half of the audience were there for the first time. I just love that. If that’s you, please let me know how you found it.

Attendees travelled from Scotland, Wales and England.

Many attendees have been to the UnAwards multiple times. There were a couple of 9-time attendees in the room – Ian Curwen and Luke Williams - plus ever-present 10-star Adrian Stirrup. That’s quite a record.

Smile…

We had a new photographer this year, who took so many snaps her battery ran out! You can find the official pics HERE.

Tunes and Fusion

Ben Capper and Mark Gardner did us proud with the music – over 250 of you had requested songs to be played, and so each of the 24 winners walked on to their own favourite tune.

What’s the film, Darren?

During the past couple of weeks almost every conversation I seemed to have with a comms person centred on the choice of film for the UnAwards!

I think some people were more excited about learning the identity of the secret movie choice than the actual UnAwards and ceremony itself, which I love and which makes me smile.

My friend Andrew Walked has written about the film, better than I could, in a great UnAwards post HERE.

A new look

So many people fed back on how much they loved the new look branding for the UnAwards this year. I know I did. Huge thanks to the talented Alan Oram and Alive with Ideas.

Saul Bass-inspired, each winner’s certificate was a very cool poster based on a well known movie. I would love one on my wall.

The finest threads

Talking of a new look, I was spoiled rotten with a brand new velvet jacket - handmade in India, courtesy of sponsor Ruby Bhattal. As well as a WBC style boxing belt, courtesy of Alan Oram. My kids will be mortified by the posed pout on my photograph 😂

A lovely surprise

At the end the was an unplanned (to me at least) takeover where some naughty people surprised me with an UnAward on my own, a cup and a very touching video featuring all sorts of friends and colleagues I know from the industry. Thank you for this - I had no idea and it was lovely moment.

What next?

Well, I’m looking forward to reading through the entries as I haven’t had a chance to look at yet, and with some down time looming in a couple of weeks.

The vast majority of the 593 entries this year will go into an updated new COMMS:FILES – surely the largest new treasure trove of commsy goodness anywhere and all free to access and browse.

And pencil in Friday 4 December 2025 for the 11th annual UnAwards. We have big plans for it already.

I will again organise the UnAwards Winners Masterclass for the spring when we will get as many winners as possible into the room for the best free learning day of the year.

Giving

Each year the UnAwards supports a charity and this year it’s one which is important me and a loved one – the Epilepsy Society. A wonderful charity which offers support and help often not available elsewhere. If you would like to support them you can do HERE. Thank you.

Saying thanks…

Thank you to everyone who entered. Finding the time to enter can be tricky I know but it’s always a useful exercise and opportunity for self-evaluation and reflection, in my experience.

Thank you so much to everyone who came to the big day. I hope you enjoyed it. That’s always the aim.

Thank you to the army of 35 judges for their hard work and skills.

And special thanks too to the official UnAwards 2025 partners and sponsors: CAN Digital, Alive with Ideas, Orlo, e-shot, the Local Government Association, Perago, Letterbox Distribution, Seashell Communications, Grey Fox Communications and Marketing, Whetstone Communications, the Behaviour Change Network and Ruby Bhattal Coaching and Consultancy.

And finally

I came to realise a couple of years ago that the UnAwards is absolutely not my event. It’s the community’s event. And a big team are responsible for its success. It would be nothing without the people who make it happen and elevate it sky high with a hell of a lot of love and enthusiasm

And it’s STILL the best work day of the year. This one may have been my best ever 🖤

Darren Caveney is creator and owner of comms2point0 and creative communicators ltd and organiser of the UnAwards.

10 x top tips to win an UnAward

Here are some valuable lessons and insights from past winners, judges and sponsors

by Darren caveney

Thanks to everyone who attended the recent webinar - How to win an UnAward.

We heard top tips and insights from past winners, judges and sponsors on how to get shortlisted and win an UnAward.

It was fascinating to listen to their insights, and my top 10 takes from the session were:

1.  Know your metrics (and include them) – Don’t be vague here, the judges are looking out for evidence of SMART objectives

2.  Include testimonials – Can you include testimonials from the your audiences on the work you have delivered?

3.  Data is your friend – what data was your work based on? Make sure you include them in your entry.

4.  What is creativity? Creativity comes in many forms. We tend to think of creativity as the visual elements but think more widely about it, for example where you creative with your use of data?

5.  Use the EAST framework when it comes to behaviour change work.

6.  The AMEC evaluation framework is a great resource and way to shape your work and entry content.

7.  Check out COMMS:FILES for inspiration and examples of previous entries.

8.  Can AI help you with your entry?

9.  Be creative with your entry. Comms people are creative writers so write your entry form creatively. One past winner shared that their entry included references to David Bowie and The Matrix.

10.  And, finally, don’t be scared to enter. So many people say that they “haven’t done anything good this year”. This isn’t true. Every team has done good and important work. Give it the chance to flourish and be noticed.

If you missed the webinar it’s really worth a listen - here’s the recording of the session.

The UnAwards close on 30 October, midnight, and are never ever extended.

Here’s the dedicated UnAwards website with everything you need to craft and enter your winning submission.

Good luck.

Darren Caveney is creator and owner of comms2point0 and Creative Communicators Ltd and creator of the UnAwards

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UNAWARDS 2024 TICKET SALES ARE LIVE

Tickets for the UnAwards 2024 ceremony are LIVE. Don’t leave it too long to grab yours…

by Darren Caveney

The 9th annual awards will be held at’s iconic home - the Everyman Cinema in the Mailbox in Birmingham - on Friday 6 December at 9.30am for a 10am start.

Tickets will cost just £30 + vat and are on sale now.

Please remember it’s always a sell out so please don’t be slow to buy

You can buy your tickets HERE

ALL NEW WEBINAR: HOW TO WIN AN UNAWARD

Winning an UnAward is a very special thing.

But how can you win one?

Find out exactly how by getting the inside track from past winners and current judges in this special new webinar.

by Darren Caveney

There’s plenty of time left to get your entries in to the 9th annual UnAwards.

I’ve seen first hand the difference an award shortlisting and win can make to an individual and to a team. Even an organisation. I truly believe that they’re a very important part of what we do.

External, independent recognition makes us feel good, yes, but it’s also an important endorsement that what we do makes a real difference and is considered to be good practice.

They look pretty good on the CV too.

I see brilliant work every single week on my travels around the UK working with teams.

But some teams are convinced that they haven’t done anything good enough to enter.

I disagree – everyone has delivered good and valued work in the past 12 months.

Now is the time to showcase your work – no one else will do this for you

It’s absolutely a time to be selfish and to spend some time on you and your work and to get an entry in, and see how far it can go.

The phrase “in it to win” is much over-used but it does however still ring true.

So what’s this new webinar?

It’s a one-ff chance to hear from past winners and current judges who will share their trade secrets about what has gone in to an UnAward win and, importantly, what the judges look for.

You can pitch in with questions to our extra special panel too.

Who is on the panel?

• Alan Oram – judge and director at Alive with Ideas

• Mandy Pearse - experienced award winner and judge

• Laurel Chilcot-Smithson - strategic communications manager at Hertfordshire Council

• Lindsay Coulson – experienced award winner

• Hannah Yorke - social and digital consultant at Orlo

• John-Paul Danon – judge and commercial director at CAN Digital

• Alex Waddington - owner of Whetstone Communications

• Chris Elias - communications lead at Perago

Plus, some previous winners and others involved in this year’s UnAwards.

When is it?

Wednesday 9 October – 12 noon - 1pm.

We thought it might be a good time at the end of the week to put work away and join a short, fun webinar aiming to inspire you for the final two weeks of the entry window.

Fancy it?

We’ll do it on Teams and you can register below.

if you can’t be there we’ll make the recording available.

But try to be there – it will be a fun hour that might just help you get an UnAward win.

REGISTER HERE

Darren Caveney is creator and owner of comms2point0 and Creative Communicators Ltd and creator of the UnAwards