The Gold Quill awards have long been established as the pinnacle achievement for professional communicators around the globe. Each year they attract hundreds of high-quality international entries from across the industry, showcasing the demonstrable impact that communicators can deliver for their stakeholders.
For 55 years, the Gold Quill Awards has set the standard, raised the bar, improved lives, and built legacies that not only fulfilled and inspired professionals all over the world, but also delivered impact and grew the body of work in our profession.
IABC/Calgary warmly congratulates our member, Barbara Munro, on receiving the prestigious Gold Quill Award in April 2025. Ghalib Sumar, Co-Director of Member Communications (Newsletter and Blog) for IABC/Calgary interviewed Barbara on her accomplishments, and we are pleased to share this with all of our members.
IABC Member since: 2009
Current Position: Communications Manager, Calgary Co-op
LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/barb-munro/
Caption: Barbara poses for a picture after receiving her Gold Quill Award at the IABC World Conference in Vancouver.
Q: Can you tell us how you got into the communications profession, where your career has taken you, and what your best piece of advice is for others in the profession?
A: I started my career working in television as a commercial writer producer. As we know, the television industry is rapidly changing and shrinking, and I was lucky to avoid multiple layoffs, but after skirting yet another layoff at Global television, I finally decided to make the jump to the “other side” and took a 10-month maternity leave contract at Heritage Park in the position of Communications Specialist. I ended up staying there for 13 years and became the Communications Manager, leading the digital engagement team. I then moved to Calgary Co-op in 2021 as a Corporate Communications Advisor, then Communications Manager, leading the Member Engagement Team.
My best piece of advice? Never stop learning! The media and communications landscapes are constantly changing, and it’s critically important to stay on top of those changes. I take courses all the time, and I am always open and eager to learn new things!
Q: What is the best part of having a career in communications? What advice would you give to someone who is new to the field?
A: I’ve really enjoyed the diversity of the different roles I’ve had. At Heritage Park I was primarily working with Travel Media, did a lot of live television segments, event planning and got to do a lot of writing for our member publication and weekly e-newsletters. At Calgary Co-op I’m primarily in a corporate communications role, and get to work on a lot of internal communications projects, and build my experience in crisis communications. Advise for someone new? Push yourself to try new things and get out of your comfort zone. I stayed at Heritage Park for so long because I loved what I was doing there, but I knew I was missing out in other areas of expertise, so moving into a totally different role has provided me with valuable experience in internal communications and crisis communications.
Q: What motivated you to apply for the awards? And can you tell us more about the award you have won?
A: I won a Gold Quill award of merit for my work on launching a new membership program and member-exclusive app to our 3800 employees. The app launch was a massive undertaking that our team worked on for well over a year, and the actual launch to employees was an 8-month process, which was then followed by a separate member launch. We were really proud of the work we did on the launches, and thought they were award worthy. We originally applied for a Silver Leaf award and had combined the internal and external launches into one submission. After not winning, but receiving valuable feedback on that submission, we attended an IABC Calgary open board meeting where Nekolina Lau presented Crafting Gold Quill Presentations that Shine, took the feedback and learnings from both, and submitted two new, separate Gold Quill submissions for the employee and Calgary Co-op member app launch.
Q: What advice would you give to someone who aspires to win a Gold Quill Award one day?
A: Detail, detail, detail! The judges are really looking for specific details on your submission. Make sure to include any research you conducted, your budgets, your KPIs and results and share examples of your work. Our plan included a poster campaign, employee contests, a dedicated webpage for employees only, two videos- one promotional to get them excited about the app and the other educational, countless in-person meetings and emails and lots of follow up. I shared examples of all of this, our budget, the research and reasoning behind why we did what we did and the outcomes.
Q: Any last words? Or something you want to share with the IABC/Calgary membership base?
A: I am writing this on the plane, returning from attending the IABC World Conference in Vancouver, where I just picked up my award. It was an inspiring trip, with lots of great information, insight and networking with other communications professionals from around the globe. Although I’ve been an IABC member for many years, I never really embraced the benefits of membership until this year. I recommend other members get involved with the chapter and take advantage of all the great learning opportunities provided through your membership.
We thank Barbara for taking the time to share her remarkable story with us and deeply congratulate her and her team on winning a Gold Quill Award in 2025!
To learn more about the Gold Quill Awards, please click here.
