Carmen Collins

Ragan's 2020 Top Women in HR Awards honorees are exceptional female professionals who are leading the charge when it comes to performance management, diversity and inclusion, organizational development, talent recruitment and retention, training and development, corporate leadership and so much more.

#Engagement101 recognises people from all walks of business: the boardroom, HR, Internal Communications, Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurs. Each one has made a significant contribution to the development of Employee Engagement.

Some inspire action, some educate, some recognise, some have influence via social media. Some rip up the old and create new ways to engage people. But all of the 101 are passionate about Employee Engagement.

We have compiled this list with… Show more

#Engagement101 recognises people from all walks of business: the boardroom, HR, Internal Communications, Finance, Technology and Entrepreneurs. Each one has made a significant contribution to the development of Employee Engagement.

Some inspire action, some educate, some recognise, some have influence via social media. Some rip up the old and create new ways to engage people. But all of the 101 are passionate about Employee Engagement.

We have compiled this list with contributions from all around the globe. The #Engagement101 will be updated every year to take account of changes in the discipline and to recognise the people who have contributed something new.

https://www.ee-awards.com/engagement-101/2019-2/ Show less

https://www.ragan.com/awards/ace-awards/2018/winners/social-media-professional/

Judges comments:
"Carmen's leadership and focus on driving results should earn her Communications Professional of the year. Well-thought out and measured programs, excellent results focusing on key objectives. I especially applaud her for making the decision to end the snapchat campaign - although it was gaining traction and garnering results, she had the insight to recognize that the results were not tied to business objectives. This notion is often forgotten in the age of social media and… Show more

Judges comments:
"Carmen's leadership and focus on driving results should earn her Communications Professional of the year. Well-thought out and measured programs, excellent results focusing on key objectives. I especially applaud her for making the decision to end the snapchat campaign - although it was gaining traction and garnering results, she had the insight to recognize that the results were not tied to business objectives. This notion is often forgotten in the age of social media and I celebrate her instilling it and staying true to strategic results."

"I have many conversations on the value of social media in B2B marketing. I love how Carmen has taken ownership of the social space and leveraged the platforms in smart and savvy ways that truly benefit Cisco. I especially like the idea of employee ambassadors. Organic and brilliant. I could learn a lot from her."

"Carmen takes a disruptive approach to comms, effective and inspiring. She appears to lead from behind, allowing subordinates to shine."

"An innovator in her field and on behalf of her organization, she and her team continue to raise the bar in the corporate communications industry." Show less

Carmen Collins was the brains behind the successful WeAreCisco Snapchat program, which featured daily employee takeovers in the spring of 2016 and had immense growth and recognition in 2017.

Collins shook things up with 2018's Summer of Interns, which involved handing the “keys” of the account over to interns with zero marketing and very little corporate experience. In all, the program numbers included 32 interns, 239 Snaps, 90,000 total views, 12,000 total minutes viewed and “Swipe up… Show more

Carmen Collins was the brains behind the successful WeAreCisco Snapchat program, which featured daily employee takeovers in the spring of 2016 and had immense growth and recognition in 2017.

Collins shook things up with 2018's Summer of Interns, which involved handing the “keys” of the account over to interns with zero marketing and very little corporate experience. In all, the program numbers included 32 interns, 239 Snaps, 90,000 total views, 12,000 total minutes viewed and “Swipe up to apply” doubled.

While the intern program was a success, Collins saw the writing on the wall — audiences were moving away from the platform, and the intern ambassadors were heading back to school — so she retired the Snapchat account and shifted her focus to Instagram Stories and Live videos.

Utilizing the Snapchat program mold, Collins launched Facebook and Instagram Live with employee ambassadors as “culture contributors.” Employees were provided with administrative access and guidance/structure from Collins—letting them be their authentic selves.

More than 35 percent watched live videos on Facebook with sound on (3.5 times the average). Other numbers include nine live streams, with 17,000 minutes watched and a 20.4 percent view-conversion rate. For Instagram, in just the first quarter of FY19, there was a 61% increase in live viewers and a 92 percent increase in 24-hour replays.

Collins also created and storyboarded a low-cost and high-impact social-first recruiting video. The video only focused on visuals and flashed descriptive words (no voiceover, as they play automatically in silent mode), allowing for easy to engagement on mobile newsfeeds .

On LinkedIn alone (as a promoted post), the video influenced 3,489 company/career page visitors and 8,093 job viewers in just the first few weeks. Across all channels, it has accumulated almost 20,000 views. Show less

It's been a prosperous year for Carmen Collins and her team, who have garnered over 30 awards in 2018 for their innovative work.

Collins is the creative force behind the WeAreCisco Snapchat initiative, which has enabled employees to share their unvarnished, genuine experiences about what it's like to work at Cisco.

The award, which memorializes the late founder of the Social Shake-Up, honors an individual who has demonstrated an unyielding desire to connect people and encourage the sharing of social media marketing wisdom.

Many organizations have employee advocacy programs. Cisco’s employee ambassadors have formed “a tribe of like-minded people who feel like they’re now part of a larger initiative.” That transformation was carefully managed by Carmen Shirkey Collins. The social media effort encompasses Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and blogs, each playing its part in a broader strategy to introduce prospective employees to the organization’s culture and its focus on innovation. Collins has also… Show more

Many organizations have employee advocacy programs. Cisco’s employee ambassadors have formed “a tribe of like-minded people who feel like they’re now part of a larger initiative.” That transformation was carefully managed by Carmen Shirkey Collins. The social media effort encompasses Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat and blogs, each playing its part in a broader strategy to introduce prospective employees to the organization’s culture and its focus on innovation. Collins has also introduced special events and activities to the mix, like Star Wars Day (May the 4th), a campaign that delivered stellar results (and even involved a partnership with NASDAQ). Show less

http://www.prnewsonline.com/go/2017-digital-awards/

Thanks to hard work and creativity, the name Carmen Shirkey Collins has become synonymous with digital communications and has led to her crowning as a Digital Communicator of the Year.

Collins is the social media lead for Cisco's Talent Brand team, and manages a team of four full-time employees. In fact, Collins has led the @WeAreCisco social media channels for Cisco's Talent Brand team from a time of few followers and even… Show more

http://www.prnewsonline.com/go/2017-digital-awards/

Thanks to hard work and creativity, the name Carmen Shirkey Collins has become synonymous with digital communications and has led to her crowning as a Digital Communicator of the Year.

Collins is the social media lead for Cisco's Talent Brand team, and manages a team of four full-time employees. In fact, Collins has led the @WeAreCisco social media channels for Cisco's Talent Brand team from a time of few followers and even fewer engagements to a portfolio of channels that not only have grown exponentially with a follower base, but those followers bring engagement with them, meaning quality has grown with quantity.

In the last year, Collins has spearheaded the creation of the award-winning WeAreCisco Snapchat account, which features an employee takeover each day. She has also overseen a talent brand content strategy built entirely of user-generated content (in this case, employee-generated content), driven a #LoveWhereYouWork #WeAreCisco social media contest for a 75,000-person organization and partnered with the NASDAQ to show off employee culture for #Maythe4th (Be With You). She has also shown that not only can social media brand the culture at the top of the funnel, but it can also drive traffic to the careers site.

Collins has also taken managerial responsibility for four team members across the globe, from China, Bangalore, Israel and the U.S., and is also a new-grad rotational HR team member and an HR summer intern. Show less

http://www.prnewsonline.com/2017-pr-people-award-winners-announced-by-pr-news/

In 2017 Carmen Collins became the manager of Cisco's talent brand social media team globally, with reports in China, India, Israel, Ireland and the U.S. Additionally, because the talent brand team attracts internal interest, she also developed four stretch assignments and manages those employees to help them learn a new part of Cisco’s business.

Launched as a pilot in the spring of 2016 and a… Show more

http://www.prnewsonline.com/2017-pr-people-award-winners-announced-by-pr-news/

In 2017 Carmen Collins became the manager of Cisco's talent brand social media team globally, with reports in China, India, Israel, Ireland and the U.S. Additionally, because the talent brand team attracts internal interest, she also developed four stretch assignments and manages those employees to help them learn a new part of Cisco’s business.

Launched as a pilot in the spring of 2016 and a full-fledged program in the summer of 2016, the WeAreCisco Snapchat channel was Collins’ brainchild. Each day is an employee takeover, to meet the talent brand’s mission of personal connections with talent. Not scripted. Not controlled. It’s a raw view of Cisco’s culture aimed squarely at the demographic that expects it that way.

Collins also created the WeAreCisco Snapchat ambassador group, which she manages (they call her their “Lead Unicorn”) by sharing metrics, best practices and motivation. The Snapchat account grows with almost no budget thanks to the ambassador program that Collins built. Plus she partnered strategically: the WeAreCisco Snappers took over the NASDAQ Snapchat account for National Techies Day in October 2016.

In the last 12 months, the program has doubled unique daily views, and the 60% to 70% completion rates are way above industry average research. The ambassador program has grown from 20 to almost 80, representing Cisco’s global employees. The program earned three award wins for best use of Snapchat in 2017.

In February 2017, Collins spearheaded the second annual #WeAreCisco #LoveWhereYouWork contest for employees to share—on their personal Instagram and Twitter channels (to increase reach and awareness)—why they think Cisco is a great place to work. This directly served Cisco’s talent brand's mission of making personal connections with future talent. Show less

www.StevieAwards.com/HR

Named Highly Commended in this category for leading Cisco's Talent Brand social media.

An independent judging panel selected the winners and highly commended entrants.

For Talent Brand employee voice activations

For WeAreCisco Snapchat and social

PR News 2017 Digital and Social Media Awards - Best Use of Instagram for the @WeAreCisco channel. Honorable mention for Best Social Media Team and Best Use of Snapchat.

These are Tampa Bay’s most prestigious brands and agencies and they are finalists for the coveted Marketer of the Year awards. To be a finalist in a category, the entry must score at least 70 points out of 100, judged by the AMA Board of the Baltimore, MD chapter. The entry that scores the highest point total of all entries is named Grand Marketer of the Year.

These are Tampa Bay’s most prestigious brands and agencies and they are finalists for the coveted Marketer of the Year awards. To be named a finalist, entries must score at least 70 points out of 100 for their application, judged by the Board of the AMA in Baltimore, MD.

Cisco’s award-winning Talent Brand team launched the WeAreCisco Snapchat account in May of 2015 with daily employee takeovers, and caught the industry’s eye. Metrics (and press) followed, and the NASDAQ asked for Cisco’s employee takeovers to takeover its account (& Time’s Square) for Techie’s Day. Now with 4M minutes viewed & 2 job offers made in 7 months, it’s a go-to channel for employer brand. - See more at: https://na-pr.excellence-awards.com/winnerlist-2017-na/#sthash.u2HTEbYp.dpuf

For work by the Cisco Talent Brand team around a Snapchat/Instagram Stories Contest launched at the 2016 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women.

Since 2002, Potentialpark’s market research has provided knowledge and recommendations to employers, service providers and universities worldwide. For work in 2016, WeAreCisco's social media was ranked in the top 30 Talent Brand social efforts in the US.

Winner in the Best Use of Social Media category for the WeAreCisco channels.

The days of viewing employee communications as boring and unoriginal are long gone.

You showed us that with style, originality and a focus on creating value, employee communications can engage and inspire even the least motivated members of your team.

Your publications were informative and beautifully constructed. Your videos and interviews told unforgettable stories about your colleagues. Your… Show more

Winner in the Best Use of Social Media category for the WeAreCisco channels.

The days of viewing employee communications as boring and unoriginal are long gone.

You showed us that with style, originality and a focus on creating value, employee communications can engage and inspire even the least motivated members of your team.

Your publications were informative and beautifully constructed. Your videos and interviews told unforgettable stories about your colleagues. Your annual reports provided insights about all aspects of your organization.

Your creative storytelling added value to your internal content, you communicated on behalf of your executives with tact, and you developed intranets that increased collaboration. Show less

Honorable Mention for the Grand Prize for the WeAreCisco Snapchat Project.

The days of viewing employee communications as boring and unoriginal are long gone.

You showed us that with style, originality and a focus on creating value, employee communications can engage and inspire even the least motivated members of your team.

Your publications were informative and beautifully constructed. Your videos and interviews told unforgettable stories about your colleagues. Your… Show more

Honorable Mention for the Grand Prize for the WeAreCisco Snapchat Project.

The days of viewing employee communications as boring and unoriginal are long gone.

You showed us that with style, originality and a focus on creating value, employee communications can engage and inspire even the least motivated members of your team.

Your publications were informative and beautifully constructed. Your videos and interviews told unforgettable stories about your colleagues. Your annual reports provided insights about all aspects of your organization.

Your creative storytelling added value to your internal content, you communicated on behalf of your executives with tact, and you developed intranets that increased collaboration. Show less

Individuals who have been the driving force behind their brands’ or clients’ success in social media during the last two years.

Winner: PR News' 2016 Awards for Social Media Professional of the Year. http://www.prnewsonline.com/awards/2016-PR-People-winners/social

HROToday Best Use of Social Media Award for the Talent Brand @WeAreCisco team efforts 2015-16. http://www.hrotoday.com/association/2016-awards-winners/

Self published novel, The List, won an Indy award for best in the romance category.