Day 306 May 17

Church of Ireland Communications Competition 2017 Results Announced

The winners of the Central Communications Board’s 2017 Communications Competition for the best newsletters/magazines, websites, innovative use of social media and videos by parishes, dioceses and church organisations were announced today, Saturday 6th May, by the Most Revd Pat Storey, Bishop of Meath and Kildare and Chairman of the Central Communications Board, at the General Synod held at the South Court Hotel, Limerick.

The competition was run by the Church of Ireland Press Office but externally and professionally judged. This year, the prizes in the website and social media and video categories were very generously sponsored by Ecclesiastical Insurance.

There was praise for all the entrants for their efforts in communicating within their own contexts in each category, with convincing evidence of communication work of a high standard across the island. Constructive feedback is available for all entrants – please get in touch with the Church of Ireland Press Office.

Print Publications

In the Parish magazines/newsletters category, there were, once again, many excellent entries in various different formats, either for weekly or monthly publication:

• 1st Prize: Naas Union – Union Focus

The judging comments stated: ‘This has great content with a good mix of news and short articles and a good design. The Bible readings at the back of the magazine are particularly enjoyable’

• Runner–up: Groomsport Parish – Contact

‘This has interesting content with enjoyable book reviews and a “prayer room” feature. It is well laid out with an engaging design.’

• Highly Commended: Ballydehob – Your Parish in Profile

This was singled out for praise for being ‘very reader–friendly with an engaging design’.

In the Diocesan magazines category –

• 1st Prize: n:Vision (Dioceses of Derry and Raphoe)

The magazine stood out for possessing ‘A great and spacious design’ and for being ‘highly interesting and informative’.

• Runner–up: Aspire (Meath & Kildare)

‘Again, a superb design. The magazine is topical with timely articles – the content is well pitched for its A5 format.’

• Highly Commended: Connor Connections (Connor)

‘A clean and spacious design with good photos and news stories.’

• Highly Commended: Clogher Diocesan Magazine (Clogher)

‘A strong design with good use of photos and informative news and well laid out.’

In the Other/Affiliated organisation magazines category –

• 1st Prize: Cathedral Digest (St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast)

‘Strong layout, good amount of news and some interesting articles. Good ratio of words and pictures for an A5 size. An enjoyable read.’

• Runner–up: Focus (Mothers’ Union)

This was praised for its ‘interesting news at the back of the publication’

Websites and Social Media

A wide variety of examples were entered for the websites category the external judges looked for innovation, freshness, quality of design and layout and outreach potential.

In the Parish websites category –

• Winner: Holy Trinity Killiney (www.htkilliney.dublin.anglican.org)
‘The quality of presentation is excellent: warm and inviting with a good welcome to introduce the church and a good balance of people and buildings/geography. The content is helpful and informative and it is easy to navigate. In terms of outreach potential it provides a strong invitation (despite a slightly complex domain name.’

In the Diocesan websites category –

• Winner: Meath and Kildare (http://www.meathandkildare.org/)

‘The quality of presentation is fresh and modern with clear navigation, good use of images and a clear, strong logo design. The content provides lots of good information with key areas highlights. In terms of outreach potential it provides a good ‘About Us’ section to draw in visitors along with helpful resources and a strong website domain name.’

In the Other/affiliated organisation websites category –

• 1st Prize: St Anne’s Cathedral, Belfast (www.belfastcathedral.org)
• Runner–up: St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin (www.stpatrickscathedral.ie)

The judging comments were that both St Anne’s Cathedral and St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin were excellent and that it was very hard to choose between them!

St Anne’s has ‘a good, clear solid design to reflect the cathedral status, a strong colour scheme, vibrant high quality photos and clear navigation. It has helpful, clear, tailored information and it is aimed at the visitor and worshipper alike. It also loads well on an i–phone.’

St Patrick’s Cathedral Dublin shared the same qualities as St Anne’s and was particularly praised for the ‘excellent use of video on the homepage along with its live video stream’.

Social media, videos and blogs

Here, the competition was looking to see how churches, church organisations and members engaged with innovative developments in social networking.

Most Innovative Use of Social Media (Parish):

• 1st Prize: Drumcliffe Twitter

This is ‘Visually strong and appealing with a personal touch and updated regularly. It is outwardly focused with over 800 followers and good use of retweeting’.

• Runner–up: St Patrick’s Ballymena Facebook

Praised for: ‘A good use of photos and video to show church life; numerous tabs; regular updating with over 650 followers, open to visitors but inwardly focused and a good explanation under ‘parish and clergy’ in the ‘About us’ section.’

Most Innovative Use of Social Media (Diocesan):

• Winner: Dublin & Glendalough Facebook

‘This is especially commended for being visually strong with high quality photos. It is used extensively, updated regularly and has numerous tabs. It has over 700 followers and links well back to the diocesan website.’

Most Engaging Blog was won by the Dean of Belfast, the Very Revd John Mann (http://belfastcathedral.org/news/deans-blog), described as ‘Regular blogging with a clear and consistent approach and nice length of blogs and good sharing options’.

Finally, in a new category – and the CCB would welcome further entries in future competitions from across the island – the winner of the short videos category is:

• St Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin

The judging comments were: ‘This video demonstrates excellent proficiency in aerial work and use of multiple framing and edit techniques. Those involved have clearly developed great skills in film making and direction, and the edit has been put together with consideration and care. The choice of opening shots create an almost cinematic feel to the piece, and lead the viewer through the journey. The shot choice is beautiful, really making the most of such an inspiring place, and the piece gives the viewer the feeling as if they were really a visitor in the space … Overall this video is beautiful and a worthy winner of this year’s prize.’