Live writing. Live judging.

Pitch It Live is the centrepiece of CopyCon International. Teams of working copywriters respond to the same challenge and pitch their work live to our panel of judges. The format makes the brief, the strategy and the craft visible — so we can see how different creatives respond to the same challenge.

The brief

The live copywriting challenge

Teams have less than 60 minutes to respond to the brief and assemble their presentation before presenting it to the judges. Judges question, respond and score the teams against four criteria.

The audience gets to watch the judging and deliver their own verdict.

The format

How it works

Teams: Teams of copywriters, led by trainers. The teams will be assembled randomly from conference attendees. Each team is helmed by a conference speaker or workshop host.
The brief: Audience-led challenges. During day 1 we’re gathering ideas from the audience. On day 2, the audience votes on their favourite.
Judges: Three working copywriters or commissioners, briefed to act as the client side of the table. They have not seen the responses ahead of the show.
Pitches: Up to 5 minutes per team. Headline + concept + a worked-up example. Slides allowed. Live demos welcome.
Verdict: Judges deliberate and return with their results. Audience hears the reasoning. One team is the Community Champion. One team wins the inaugural LUMEN award.

What the judges look for

Four judging criteria

Strategic Clarity. Does the response address the actual problem in the brief, or just the surface request?
Copy Craft. Is the writing demonstrably good – line by line, not just at the headline level?
Brief Alignment. Can the team articulate why this response, and not another?
Pitch Performance. Did the team sell – and defend – their vision?

Each criterion is scored by each judge, in private, before deliberation.

Awarded for the first time

The LUMEN.

The inaugural Pitch It Live prize. Awarded to the team whose response best answered the brief – in strategy, in craft, in defence, in distinctiveness. The first name on a list we hope to lengthen every year.