The results are in, and we are thrilled to announce the winners of the Humor Corporate Awards 2024! These individuals and teams have shown exceptional creativity and dedication to making the workplace a more enjoyable and humorous place.
Watch the 2024 Corporate Humor Awards Winners Show video recap to see the winners!
Corporate Humor Awards – Organization Awards
The organization awards are for organizations who improve the workplace with a humorous culture. These nominations are themed by the 5 core skills of work from the Humor That Works book.
Works with a Smile (Humor and Execution) Award Finalists:
- Slack – Putting out great release notes and having a humane approach to support tickets.
- Euston Station – A playful approach to a corporate message
- Ice Cream Shop – Interacting with their customers in a fun way
Works with a Smile (Humor & Execution) WINNER: Euston Station, London
What the judges liked – “I think that any time someone can find humor in a potentially frustrating situation, it works well.” Julie Vick
Funny Innovator (Humor and Thinking) Award Finalists:
- Bakery Scan – AI that was going to be used for croissants can also be used for cancer.
- THIS – A great way to solve the problem of needing more characters to fill up a vegan burger label.
- Orange – Creating a great ad supporting gender equality ahead of the Women's World Cup 2023.
Funny Innovator (Humor & Thinking) WINNER: Orange
What the judges liked – “Finally, a use of AI that I actually like! This is incredible - a fun way to highlight the French women's team while addressing the gender biases that exist in sports.” Carlos Greaves
Mark as Always Read (Humor and Communication) Award Finalists:
- DOT – Creating an effective and humorous sign to slow down the traffic.
- Readwise – Spicing up their walkthrough guide with memes.
- ABC – Only by using humor can you convince viewers to learn about the history of CAPTCHA
Mark as Always Read (Humor and Communication) WINNER: ABC
What the judges liked – “The balance between being informative and entertaining is so difficult to get right, and this video nails it!” Carlos Greaves
Everybody Loves Them (Humor and Connection) Award Finalists:
- Wander Club – Delightful post purchase confirmation email.
- NFL – NFL allowing football players to introduce themselves with levity.
- Pearson – The use of Friday Fun Day, fun committee and other humorous initiatives at work.
Everybody Loves Them (Humor and Connection) WINNER: Pearson
What the judges liked – “The description of Friday Fun Day uses humor to build relationships” C.K. Steefel
Lincoln Leadership (Humor and Leadership) Award Finalists:
- NPR – Using photographs to challenge harmful stereotypes.
- Coffee Shop – Coffee shop created a fun moment for customers entering the shop.
- Peppercomm – Investing in comedy as an onboarding task for employees.
Lincoln Leadership (Humor and Leadership) WINNER: Peppercomm
What the judges liked – “This feels like a really unique and fun way to help employees team build and to set the tone for a positive work environment.” Julie Vick
Corporate Humor Awards – Individual Awards
The individual awards are for individuals who add humor to the workplace in their own way. These nominations are themed by the 7 humor personas from the Humor That Works personality assessment.
The Humor Enthusiast Award Finalists:
- Tucker Lindgren – Great example of things we take for granted but is actually pretty impressive.
- Ian McConnell – Creating the song highlighting all of the simple things he likes.
- Jonathan W. – Self employed person gives themself the employee of the month award.
The Humor Appreciator WINNER: Jonathan Warrington
What the judges liked – “Sometimes you need to cheer on your coworkers even when you only co-worker is you! What a great way to make self-employment more fun as well as entertaining for the rest of us.” Carlos Greaves
The Humor Curator Award Finalists:
- Laurie Lawrence – Using humor in email signatures.
- Gary Ware – His Friday posts on IG consists of great memes from around the internet.
- Rajiv Satyal – Sends a regular newsletter and includes funny things in the P.S.
The Humor Curator WINNER: Laurie Lawrence
What the judges liked – “Laurie not only writes her own-liners, she shares them with everyone. And they're so chortle-worthy, people email her just to get a fix. I'd be addicted too.” C.K. Steefel
The Humor Inventor Award Finalists:
- Cathy Kuntz – Making an intentional effort to infuse humor in the most mundane tasks at work.
- Andy Kuc – Incorporates humor into his work day directly with his colleagues.
- Geoff Greer – Great longform satire piece about a "gas car" review.
The Humor Creator WINNER: Andy Kuc
What the judges liked – “I like the idea of sprinkling humor into a report and livening up something that may not be the most exciting to write.” Julie Vick
The Humor Entertainer Award Finalists:
- Anthony Vincent – Using heavy metal music for motivational ideas.
- Prof. Matthew Weathers – Professor has very clever presentation to keep his students engaged.
- Paul Oscincup – Funny work related humor (and he's a humor speaker.)
The Humor Performer WINNER: Prof. Matthew Weathers
What the judges liked – “Every teacher should take notes from Prof. Weathers. He not only made his lesson clever, the joke had an arc that built to the Star Wars Blaster finale erasing the smudge and engaging every student. I'd study physics if I had this professor.” C.K. Steefel
The Humor Engineer Award Finalists:
- Frederic Hortault – Making regular communications at work more enjoyable.
- Erin Azar – Great tips on how to motivate yourself to do something you don't want to do.
- Luis von Ahn – TED talk from Duolingo founder about gamifying language learning.
The Humor Engineer WINNER: Erin Azar
What the judges liked – “Self-motivation is so difficult. Tricking yourself ito going for a run this way is both hilarious and genius.” Carlos Greeves
The Humor Advocate Award Finalists:
- Margot Escott – Applied improf for Mental and Physical Health Challenges.
- Cory Jenks – Focus on his advocacy, such as his applied humor and promotion of the value of humor.
- Greg Goya – Person who creates fun moments for people out in public.
The Humor Advocate WINNER: Cory Jenks
What the judges liked – “Cory gave them an Improv exercise that productd an instant, positive connection.” C.K. Steefel
The Humor Engineer Award Finalists:
- Frederic Hortault – Making regular communications at work more enjoyable.
- Erin Azar – Great tips on how to motivate yourself to do something you don't want to do.
- Luis von Ahn – TED talk from Duolingo founder about gamifying language learning.
The Humor Engineer WINNER: Erin Azar
What the judges liked – “Self-motivation is so difficult. Tricking yourself ito going for a run this way is both hilarious and genius.” Carlos Greeves
The Humor Skeptic Award Finalists:
- Madilyn Bailey – Musician that turned hate comments into a song.
- Tim Denning – A profound (if not humorous) reminder of what's important. Skepticism about the work grind.
- Ryan George – Humorous take on the idea that companies "care" about you.
The Humor Skeptic WINNER: Madilyn Bailey
What the judges liked – “I think anyone that can find a unique comedic spin on internet trolls is winning at humor. Julie Vick
Congrats again to the Corporate Humor Awards winners and thank you to everyone who submitted nominations!
These 3 esteemed humorists have selected 2024 Corporate Humor Award winners:
- Julie Vick - a writer who frequently writes humor and parenting pieces for places like New Yorker, Daily Shouts, McSweeney. You can find her on Substack here.
- Carlos Greeves - an afro-latino electrical engineer turned comedy writer. He is a contributor to The Onion, The New Yorker and McSweeney. You can find her on Substack here.
- C.K. Steefel - received her B.F.A. from new York University and is a happily married empty nester. She's still waiting for her kids to text her back. You can find her on Substack here.
