Last Thursday evening, over 300 in-house enthusiasts gathered to celebrate creative excellence at the 10^th annual IHAF Awards Show—a festive and fun experience! Attendees admired over 650 submissions displayed during the cocktail reception, anticipating which teams would win Gold, Silver and Honorable Mention awards.

As talented team after talented team was lauded for their work, the energy in the room intensified—nearing the announcement of this year’s Best of Show. In the end, the integrated campaign submitted by the in-house agency at Hallmark outshined the rest, as they accepted their crystal trophy with a mix of pride and humility.

The 40-person team at Hallmark serves as the in-house creative agency for one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United States. Their winning entry is a multifaceted campaign promoting the 2017 Hallmark Creative Leadership Symposium, themed “What Else?” Team Hallmark produced a variety of elements that our judges commended for being as highly imaginative as they were seamlessly executed across assorted media.

As the room erupted in applause, Hallmark's Creative Director, Sarah Kemnitzer and Account Manager, Alison Zaiden stepped forward to accept the award on behalf of their Kansas City team. “We feel privileged to work on this wonderful project each year, promoting creativity within Hallmark,” said Sarah. “Thank you so much for this honor.”

In addition to Hallmark, IHAF recognized the exceptional entries submitted by over 77 companies. All of this year’s award winners can be admired on our website. We hope you enjoy perusing the work and that it inspires your team to reach new heights.

Special thanks to Robert Berkeley and Express KCS for, once again, sponsoring this year’s Awards Show. Their commitment to IHAF and the in-house community is appreciated by all. We’ll be celebrating creativity again next year, with the IHAF Awards call for entries in the spring. We look forward to seeing you and to raising a glass to your team’s talent in 2019. Cheers!