After much debate and many cups of coffee / tea, the Humor That Works Award board has selected the winners of the 2018 Corporate Humor Awards!
Check out the winners below (and see the Corporate Humor Awards Full List to learn why each organization and individual was nominated).
Corporate Humor Awards – Organization Awards
Best Onboarding Program – Humorous Beginnings Award
Finalists:
- Buffer – Three Buddies
- Medallia – Overcoming Fears
- Twitter – Yes to Desk
Winner: Medallia
Committee: While all three programs were great examples of onboarding, what we really liked about Medallia’s program is that it immediately shows new employees the company’s commitment to them as human beings, not just resources.
Best Training Program – Learned Me Good Award
Finalists:
- AmeriCorp – 80/20 Rule
- Cleveland State University – The Ultimate Happy Hour
- ramsac – ramsac business school
Winner: ramsac
Committee: The thing that really stands out about the training program at ramsac is that it focuses on helping employees become a better person, not just a better employee.
Best Marketing – The Funny Voice Award
Finalists:
- Cards Against Humanity – Everything
- The Hustle – Newsletter
- Who Gives a Crap – Website
Winner: Who Gives a Crap
Committee: What can we say, we’re suckers for puns and for companies who are doing something positive with their brand (like helping build toilets). Plus they take a topic that not a lot of people enjoy talking about and make it playful and casual.
Best Perk – Money Isn’t Everything Award
Finalists:
- Fizziology – FYI Travel
- Patagonia – Surf Opportunities
- Pinterest – KnitCon
Winner: Fizziology
Committee: This was a particularly challenging category because we enjoyed all three, but at the end of the day, encouraging employees to travel purely for inspiration is a really cool perk that we wish more companies would provide for their employees.
Best Recognition Program – Better Recognize Award
Finalists:
- Bank Newport – Wheaties Award
- Moncur – Peggy Doll
- SnackNation – Crush It Call
Winner: Moncur
Committee: What really makes Moncur stand out is the Peggy Instagram account. It takes a somewhat common award idea (e.g. the Stanley Cup) and adds a social and personal element to it for each award winner.
Corporate Humor Awards – Individual Awards
Humor and Communication – Mark as Always Read Award
Finalists:
- Judi Clements – Training Programs
- Jennifer Luke – Star Wars Presentation
- Anthony Solimini – Stand Up Class
Winner: Anthony Solimini
Committee: Many of us on the committee believe that stand-up comedy is one of the hardest forms of public speaking you’ll ever do, which makes it a great training ground for other forms of public speaking. For Anthony to help people conquer the challenge in a fun way is a great example of using humor in communication.
Humor and Relationships – Everybody Loves Them Award
Finalists:
- Rita Abdallah – Positive Workplace Change
- Neen James – Happy Little Aussie
- Jason Neenos – Can I Help You Attitude
Winner: Rita Abdallah
Committee: What we appreciated about Rita’s work is not just that she provides a valuable training program to her organization, but that she goes above and beyond when people need assistance in bringing that training to life in a real way.
Humor and Problem-Solving – Funny Innovator Award
Finalists:
- Cliff Alexander – Video Innovation
- Rob May – Complex to Simple
- Team Psycho Sisters – Exoplanet Discovery
Winner: Team Psycho Sisters
Committee: The thought of playing a video game that actually helped real-life space exploration was just too good for our committee not to award. The intersection of the virtual and the reality is a great model for helping solve other tough challenges.
Humor and Productivity – Works with a Smile Award
Finalists:
- Nicholas Demore – Sexy Safety Demonstration
- Jeff Gifford – Personalized Attention
- McDonald’s Drive Thru Guy – Diddly Do Attitude
Winner: Nicholas Demore
Committee: Collectively, the people on the committee have sat through thousands of safety demonstrations on planes and never once have we enjoyed one as much as the one Nicholas Demore shared.
Humor and Leadership – Lincoln Leadership Award
Finalists:
- Casey Davis – Satiric Resource
- Barry McAlister – Go-to Humor Guy
- David Murray – SVP of Fun
Winner: David Murray
Committee: This was the hardest award for the committee to decide and it was very close among all three very deserving candidates. Ultimately we chose David Murray for the wide variety of ways he uses humor and the ingenuity of the Wheaties Box Award used to celebrate overcoming failure.
Congrats again to the Corporate Humor Awards Winners and all of the finalists! Every one of them is helping to make the world a funnier, more productive, and happier place and we applaud them! And checkout the Corporate Humor Awards Full List to learn why each organization and individual was nominated.
