From the MEA Chair: 15 February 2023
By Michael Firman
It seems the business events community has descended on Melbourne for AIME this week and it’s been great to catch up with colleagues and network on the show floor. What has struck me this year is the quality of stand design and creative ideas on display at the show. Our industry is well and truly back and firing.
Behind many of the wonderful displays and creative ideas is always a team of dedicated industry professionals who curate, design and deliver their creative concepts on behalf of their business or for their clients. These industry professionals often work unseen in the background while their manager, their clients or their sales team take the glory for all their hard work.
With MEA’s National Awards program on the horizon it’s a great opportunity to show these hardworking teams that their work is valued. Award submissions are a great way to show gratitude and make people aware that good work will be rewarded.
But why is it that many businesses don’t enter? For some, the thought of drafting an award submission conjures up images of a burdensome application process that absorbs a large amount of time and effort for your organisation, with little trade-offs. Others seem to have a fear of disappointment, meaning they struggle to write an entry in case it’s not successful.
There are some very good reasons to submit for an award and it’s not just about acknowledging your team and all their work. While winning an award creates a buzz among employees, it can also lead to a rise in engagement and productivity knowing that their hard work is recognised. Bragging rights is something to savour.
For the business, winning an award can lead to increased customer awareness and recognition. It creates confidence with customers, increases credibility and generates trust and loyalty with your brand.
And in an industry like ours, recognition by the industry means far more than just an acknowledgement of great work. An industry award judged by peers that leads to a win recognises your work and provides a benchmark for the industry’s best. This qualifies your company’s reputation as an industry leader and can act as an industry endorsement adding value to your sales pitch.
So how do you write an award winning submission? Well I guess the first step is to make the decision to submit an award in the first place and decide which category best rewards your achievements. But don’t leave the decision to the last minute because a scramble will always lead to disappointment.
The key to a great submission is research. Use the criteria as a guide to question everyone involved in the project, that way you can be sure to include the requirements the judges are looking for, as laid out in the award submission information. The judges will want to know the challenge faced, the solution proposed, how the work was successfully carried out, and the results.
If you ask lots of questions of the people involved in the project, gather feedback and research the impact on delegates or the community, the more you can show the judges you have a clear and compelling purpose and the right attributes to deserve the award, the easier it is to compile a winning submission.
Finally, always ask someone else to review your submission before you enter to seek objective feedback about how compelling your story is.
Putting together an entry often takes time so think about who you will put in charge of writing it. This could be a team member who worked on the project, or an internal or outsourced communications or marketing team that can do all the research and ‘heavy lifting’ for you if you’re tight on time.
Applications for MEA’s National Awards close on the 28th February, so there’s still time create your own award winning submission. What are you waiting for?
