By Nature, Awards Are Valued and Forever
I saw a new play this week called “Photograph 51” from Theater J—a Washington, D.C. company up for five Helen Hayes Awards this spring (our equivalent of the Tony or Olivier Awards). The play revolves around British scientist Rosalind Franklin, who conducted “crucial research” that led to one of the most significant discoveries of the 20th century—the double helical structure of DNA.
Many say that her x-ray pictures directly helped James Watson, Maurice Wilkins and Francis Crick win a joint 1962 Nobel Prize for their work in DNA. Born in London in 1920, Franklin died of ovarian cancer in 1957, leaving open the question of whether she too would shared the Nobel Prize had she lived. “Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA,” by Brenda Maddox, written in 2002, showed “a woman of fiery intellect and fierce independence whom some saw as haughty, though to family and close friends she was warm and devoted.” Maddox had previously won the Whitbread Biography Award and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for her biography of D.H. Lawrence.
Awards.
Be it the Nobel Prize, Helen Hayes, Tony or Whitbread—or yes, in the issue at hand for us here at SIPA, the SIPF Editorial Awards and Marketing Awards—awards are valued by the people who win them and the people who read about you winning them. We may get our fill early in the year with all the film accolades that get passed out, but you know what? They hold great merit and are forever. No one can take away the publication awards that I’ve won—and they will always mean a great deal to me.
Tomorrow, April 1, is the submission deadline for you to enter the 2011 SIPF Awards. The categories are far-reaching, so you can enter a single-topic product, a reference directory, a single-news story, interactive content, your best marketing efforts and much, much more; basically, if you did something good in 2010, there’s most likely a category in our awards that you can enter.
In my year and a half here, I have been so impressed by the quality of content and format delivered by SIPA members. I was fortunate to have to read the 2010 winners for a few articles I needed to write, and knew right away that there was a very high level that my work had to live up to. Reporters were breaking stories, analysts were breaking down very complicated situations in finance or mortgage or medicine, experts were adeptly forecasting the year ahead and copywriters were putting out some of the snappiest and original marketing copy that I had seen. And I am sure your 2010 work was no different.
Two weeks ago, I had the honor to serve as a judge for the best of the best in the association world. What struck me was that while some categories had tons of entries, others did not. Some people, perhaps myself included, thought that, “Oh, they get so many entries in the best this or that category that it’s not even worth it for me to enter.” Or “I’m sure there is so much other great stuff out there.” Well, there may be, but I didn’t see it in a couple of the categories I was judging—and we won’t see it here either unless you submit it.
Rosalind Franklin had an amazing scientific career; several major institutions and awards have been named in her memory. But it is her exclusion from that Nobel Prize (and good writing) that gives drama to “Photograph 51.” Help inject some drama of your own into the lives of SIPF judges by entering your good work and making their decisions even more difficult. And the more good work on display only helps SIPA as a whole.
So help SIPA, help your company and help yourself.
Enter the SIPF Editorial Awards and Marketing Awards today! (or tomorrow!)
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