I believe in rewarding hard work. I believe in recognition, where recognition is due. I think the harder you work, the bigger the payoff.
But I do struggle with industry awards. There are hundreds of them these days, and I wonder, do they add any value. For me, when I attend one, I’m most excited just to see what everyone has been working on. Digital Marketing Awards are my favourite, you get to see all the amazing campaigns various brands and agencies have been working on. That’s inspiring. And winning is fun, who doesn’t like a pretty trophy or new thumbnail to add to your site.
But I take issue with marking something as the “best”. Best Ad. Best Campaign. Best Site. Is not the very concept of ‘the best’ somewhat ill-defined, and very subjective when it comes to the creative arts (digital media included)? Unless you are using hard metrics (data!) to determine ‘the best’, I just don’t buy it.
That said, I do believe in encouraging those who are working hard to be their best. I do believe in inspiring a community of people to continue to work hard, even if the thanks seems minimal at times. I do believe in helping people fuel their passions. And if an awards ceremony helps with that, then maybe that is ok.
I recently had the utmost honour in attending this year’s Blog Awards Ireland, where I actually got to pass some of that encouragement on to a community I simply adore. I had some thoughts which I share in the video below.
Do let me know what you think.
https://player.vimeo.com/api/player.js
Blog Awards Ireland 2018 from Ashville Media Group on Vimeo.