Business awards are about much more than a party and recognition from one’s industry peers. Well planned and delivered awards programs play an invaluable role in benchmarking one’s company within an industry and provide excellent marketing opportunities. Tour Hosts has been closely involved in the planning and management of awards nights for our customers. We have managed AIPM (Australian Institute of Project Management) Awards for the past four years and it has been a showcase for the profession of project management where the industries and companies are varied – ranging from environmental projects, infrastructure, information technology, business and telecommunications to construction and education.
The marketing spin-off from a prestigious award can be considerable and the investment in time for the submission process can be highly cost effective. Also, the actual submission process for most awards is an opportunity to take stock of a particular event, conference, project or piece of business managed, and analyse why it worked and what we could have done better. It’s an important evaluation and learning experience encouraging growth in companies and the individuals who run them.
We’ve discovered that managing awards nights and, more importantly, promoting the awards process to the individual companies within any industry is a complex process. The prestige of the award has to be created and the value has to be real. We work closely with an association to get the mix just right – the marketing and public relations both pre and post award. It’s essential that the most appropriate media be identified ahead of the event and that this is followed up with editors after the event.
Successful meetings are a result of close collaboration between the volunteer organising committee and the professionals such as ourselves who run the events. Our Platinum Award for the 4th International Skull Base Congress from Meetings & Events Australia (MEA) was an opportunity to revisit clients and suppliers to celebrate and hopefully to initiate new business ideas and relationships. It’s been a very successful win for us and it’s a win for the entire team that took part in the congress and the awards process.
 Roslyn McLeod is the founder and managing director of Tour Hosts, a Sydney-based conference and event management company.
<< Top
|