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Why Recruiting Industry Experts as Awards Judges is Important

Here’s a quick question: What are your awards judges good for?

If the first and only answer that comes to mind is selecting winners, try again! Awards judges actually serve several different purposes for your program and selecting winners is only one of them. And in fact, several of these functions, though indirect, can provide big benefits for your program.

Finding the Right Judges Can Influence the Success of Your Program

If you were told that the right judges could be a critical factor in making your program successful, would you believe it? Of course you would! But why?

Awards judges’ most direct influence in the success of your awards is making sure the entrants with the best application and work are chosen as finalists and winners. The other way they can influence your program is through their expertise. By having an industry expert as an awards judge you’re not only guaranteeing that the most deserving entrant will be found and recognized, but also that more people in your industry will be drawn to your program through your judge’s reputation and expertise. This can lead to more submissions, as well as higher-quality submissions.

Essentially, getting industry experts to judge your awards attracts additional attention to your program, while simultaneously encouraging entrants to step up their game.

Make Industry Leading Experts Your Focus

So why is it worth the extra time and effort to recruit industry-leading experts to judge your awards? There are a several clear reasons, including:

• Added Legitimacy – You want to establish your organization as a leader in your industry and by having judges that are industry leaders, you can do just that. This adds to the legitimacy of your program, generating new interest and therefore increasing submissions.
• Choose the Best Entrants – Transparency and fairness in judging is essential to keep entrants coming back every year. After all, entrants won’t return if they believe the best entries aren’t getting picked. Industry-leading experts offer a critical degree of consideration during judging, meaning that entrants can rest assured that the right winners were chosen.
• Maintain Focus During the Program – Good judges might become distracted by irrelevant matters or extraneous variables during judging. But the best judges who are established in their field can be trusted to keep the program focused on what matters.

Finding an industry-leading expert in your specific niche is the simplest way to add legitimacy to your organization and awards program, while generating interest and increasing entries as well.

Of course, there are countless other considerations you must make when it comes to awards judging.

Miriam Hancock

Miriam Hancock
Miriam is the Marketing Coordinator for OpenWater. When she isn't writing and designing content she paints and cooks for her own personal blog.

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