PR In Canada

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Last year I won four PR awards, all for the same project. Impressed, aren’t you? Now you think I’m some kind of expert PR consultant, able to leap tall media crises in single bound, right? Well, of course that’s true, but it’s not my point.

I won four awards last year because I entered four award competitions (well, okay, I entered five but I didn’t want to take away my super status by telling you that right away). Preparing award entries takes time and energy, but it can really be worth it. Here are some tips for making award entering easier.

One project, many competitions

I knew that the project I’d done on childhood obesity for the BC Legislative Assembly was good. It was innovative, funky, and had good, measurable results. And I’d worked on it from planning to evaluation, which for a freelancer can be a pretty rare feat.

I researched what competitions were out there for my project and which wins would meet my goals, boosting my freelance work and my profile in our industry. I examined the various entry categories for these awards and chose the one where I thought I had the biggest chance to shine. My project encompassed a lot of things – media relations, writing, a website, and more, but the most unique thing had been the program I developed to consult youth, so I chose to enter in the Community Relations category.

Start local, then go big
Because of the timing, I started with an international competition. Not the best move. I should have started with a local award program, because these have less competitors and will give you experience in award entry writing, which you can then apply to the bigger contests. Yes, the international award is the one I did not win.

The hardest part about writing my entry was editing everything I wanted to say down to the four pages allowed. Getting right to the point makes for a very strong entry.

Get feedback before and after
Next I went a respected member of my local IABC chapter and convinced her to read over my entry and offer feedback. That was the smartest move I made, because she said that I had no hope of winning the way it was written. But she offered fabulous feedback, so I rewrote it and resent it to her. This time she said I was well on track. So I polished and sent it in.

While I didn’t win the first thing I entered, I did get written feedback from the judges, something most award competitions offer, and I used their comments to improve my next entries. With each award competition, I asked people with experience winning or judging awards to review my entry, and I made good use of their feedback.

It took a good deal of time to prepare my first award entry, but the next four weren’t too hard to do, since I already had the supporting materials assembled and an entry that only needed adapting.

Benefits of winning
Has winning four awards led to lots more work for me? Possibly. Clients are impressed by my list of hardware, and I enjoy more recognition from my peers. I also did a little self-promotion and sent notice of my awards to industry groups and local newspapers, and of course it’s on my website. If I was an employee, I think it would even help grease the wheels to a promotion or a raise.

Winning industry awards can be a lot like getting a compliment from your spouse – you have to ask for it first, so it’s not entirely without a catch. But I did gain a shelf full of statues and certificates for my office, bragging rights, and perhaps even super powers.

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