The Importance of Awards

James Britt, October 2009

A few months ago I was sitting with one of my staff working on our entries for the 2009 MPRC Golden Arrows when a friend walked past  the conference room. He stopped to ask what we were doing. I told him and his reply was, huh, like that really helps your business. I've thought about that comment a lot. I kept thinking he could be right. It does take a lot of time to put an entry together, at least two hours. It's sort of fun though, providing us with an opportunity to look back at the accomplishments of the year, something that otherwise I doubt we would take the time to do.

This year, for the 2009 awards, we filed four contest entries. Almost an entire day's work. At last Thursday's  MPRC annual meeting and Golden Arrow award presentations, we brought five prizes back to the office. Four Gold Awards and the top prize of the night, Best of Show.

In the past four years, gBritt has earned eighteen MPRC Golden Arrow Awards. We're very proud, not just because of the awards, but the tangible and intangible value they deliver.

If you've gone through the award process, you get it. At worst, you end up with terrific case studies to use in new business proposals and content for your site. At best, current clients really enjoy knowing their PR firm is award winning and maybe most important of all, it feels good. It's an energy boost, which we all need. G and I started some time ago looking for bright spots every day. It started out as a joke after a deluge of negativity this fall. Standing at the MPRC award ceremony with Amanda, Debra, Liz and Gillian, when they named gBritt PR as Best of Show, we saw one major bright spot.

Since starting gBritt eight years ago, we have earned awards from MPRC and kind words from our clients and from the groups with which we volunteer.  It feels good to be recognized for our hard work, dedication and focus on supporting our clients in all of their endeavors.

One last thought, a very important one. My kids (11 and 9) still really don't understand what we do but their excitement and pride on our behalf is also an honor. So failing everything else mentioned above, if it helps demonstrate the value of working hard it's good for my kids, and absolutely worth the effort.