SIPF Awards Present Exciting Opportunities
Question: What did all of the winners of last year’s SIPF Editorial and Marketing Awards have in common?
Answer: They entered.
On Sunday, Oscar hosts James Franco and Anne Hathaway will at some point review the nominees for Best Picture. They’ll say that one film traces the huge ascent of Facebook, another finds a future king and his speech therapist overcoming their obvious differences, another follows a 13-year-old girl’s quest for revenge in the old west, and another focuses on a boxer’s final shot at glory, and so on.
Yes, it’s awards time of the year, and SIPA is no different. Brochures detailing the 2011 SIPF Editorial Awards and 2011 SIPF Marketing Awards, including everything you need to know to enter, are now up on the SIPF website. The deadline for entering is Friday, April 1, 2011—not that far away. Winners receive $500—let me repeat that, winners receive $500!—recognition in numerous SIPA publications and a walk down the proverbial red carpet at the June 7 Awards Luncheon.
Having read closely all the winners from last year, I can tell you that SIPF award winners share some of the drama of the Oscar nominees. Nobody cut off his arm to save his life, but one winning article actually did lead to changes that affect the physical lives of many people. Here are some of the descriptions of the winners from 2010:
– The uncovering of a defect in titanium alloy from a Chinese factory makes for huge changes in medical devices;
– Vice President Biden and Defense Secretary Gates clash during a secret National Security Council meeting;
– Recent crashes highlight risks that come with medical helicopters;
– A company actually talks in depth with young people about perceptions of their industry (the distribution field).
Not every winner turns heads for its newsmaking value. Some winning entrants are just very well-executed—like the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database—or well-positioned in its field—InvestorPlace Media’s Profitable Investing—or simply very successful in what it set out to do.
RFS2 & RINs Forum from OPIS won a well-earned first place SIPF Marketing Award in the Best Non-Print Effort. This group showed that in the right circumstance, conference marketing can survive and even flourish when you remove the mailing piece (the largest expense) and use email marketing. One email effort contained a five-question quiz, another a teaser story on the arrest of a biofuels chief operating officer in an alleged scheme; and still another delivered a to-the-point list of exactly what attendees would learn at the event. With no mailing piece, the group designed a five-part email series to promote an event that garnered 70 attendees and revenues of $112,440—spending a measly $2,075 in marketing expenses.
“Winning first place in SIPF’s Marketing Awards last year was an honor,” said Dawn M. Lewis, senior marketing manager for OPIS, who led the winning effort. “It is especially nice to be recognized by an outside body, where your work is compared across a larger peer group by independent judges. The accolades I received from my supervisor and co-workers after getting the award are something I will always remember.”
Categories for the editorial awards this year include: Best Spot-News or Exclusive Single-News Story; Best Investigative Reporting; Best Interpretive or Analytical Reporting; Best Instructional Reporting; Best Financial-Advisory Product; Best Single-Topic Product; Best Reference Publication or Directory; Best Interactive Content. The two marketing awards are for Best Print Effort and Best Non-Print Effort.
Check out the Editorial and Marketing brochures today and send an entry or two (or three!) in. It can really pay off for you and your company.
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