Indy Chamber Wins Top Award for Communications

(INDIANAPOLIS) - The Indy Chamber has been named one of 13 Communications Excellence Grand Award winners by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives (ACCE), an Alexandria, Va.-based association that represents more than 8,000 chamber of commerce professionals, and 1,300 chambers of commerce, around the world. The Indy Chamber now qualifies to compete for the Best in Show award, which will be announced July 18 at the ACCE Annual Convention in Des Moines, Iowa.

ACCE’s Awards for Communications Excellence program, sponsored by Golden Openings, Inc., is designed to showcase top communications and marketing work of chambers of commerce and similar organizations. Several thousand award entries have been submitted since the launch of the organization’s Awards for Communications Excellence, which is now in its thirty-fourth year.

The Indy Chamber was named a “Grand Award” winner for its newly-revamped IndyChamber.com website, launched in January 2018. The new IndyChamber.com features a synchronized online member directory, improvements to user experience, and a content-driven approach to membership engagement and new member sales.

"The fundamental reason any chamber of commerce exists is to connect businesses to the type of progress they seek," said Joe Pellman, Director of Marketing and Communications for the Indy Chamber. "We really took this ideal to heart as we began to craft an online experience that complements our work in the Indianapolis region. We believe the new IndyChamber.com provides a platform for our current and future members to learn and grow one connection at a time."

The Indy Chamber worked with locally-based Design On Tap to create their new online presence.

"The Indy Chamber wasn’t a typical Design On Tap prospect, but after discussing their vision for membership and retention, we both knew we had an opportunity to craft a true buyer journey," said Joel Smith, Founder and B2B Product Strategist of Design On Tap. "Bringing our customer insight experience with B2B software to the table, we worked together to incorporate a really valuable asset for both sales and marketing. We couldn’t have done it without Indy Chamber’s data-driven approach and gut for experimentation."

A panel of communications and marketing professionals from five U.S.-based chambers of commerce evaluated entries, which were organized by category — based on the chamber’s annual budget — and entry type: advertising and marketing, campaigns, digital and publications. Judges awarded 13 Grand Awards out of more than 150 submitted entries in 2018. Winners of the Grand Award go on to compete for the Best in Show, which recognizes the best piece across all categories. The winner of the Best in Show will be announced at the ACCE Annual Convention in Des Moines, IA on July 18, 2018.