Speaking of prestigious industry awards…
I’ve been an avid reader and a big fan of Environmental Leader for many years. The outlet is one of my go-to publications when I am working with technology teams and executives who can tell stories in the energy efficiency, green IT and sustainability sectors.
I also look at a wide variety of Environmental Leader content when I want to create or help validate an idea for an industry trend story and when I am researching a potential new sustainable ICT positioning opportunity for one of my clients.
I’ve worked proactively with many top-notch journalists at the outlet over the past several years including when I helped place this story based on ODCA news announcing how enterprises can measure and control data center CO2 emissions.
The story was incredibly well received by communities and target audiences around the world. Equally as important, the coverage set the stage for involving ODCA in the Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards program.
The Environmental Leader Product & Project Awards reminds me of the IDDYs, a global awards program I launched when I was working in the digital identity management, security and privacy sectors.
One major difference in the programs is the fee required to apply for an award. Environmental Leader charges a fee to submit a nomination. No fees were associated with the IDDYs.
The fee was a bit of a sticking point when it came to my client teams deciding on whether or not to apply for the Environmental Leader award.
After managing the IDDYs for four years, I understand why award programs sometimes charge an application fee. I know first-hand how much time and how many resources can go into making a global annual awards program successful.
I also know that the ROI can be significant from a communications and public relations point of view when an organization wins an award that is sponsored by a highly respected media outlet.
These are some of the reasons I was in favor of paying the application fee for an Environmental Leader award.
But I was also in favor of paying the fee because I wrote the press release and messaging that led to a feature story in the top-tier outlet.
I knew the content was of the highest quality and – based on my experience working in the global awards industry – also knew that an ODCA submission would have a very good chance of winning.
The eventual win opened the door to another round of significant coverage in Environmental Leader and provided the organizations involved with a variety of new short and long-term positioning opportunities.
When it comes to demonstrating communications and public relations ROI, the Environmental Leader award was an all-around win. – Russ DeVeau