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How to prepare a winning CIHT Awards nomination

The CIHT Awards are now officially open for entries. We’ve got some insider’s tips on writing a killer nomination.

By TP Progress team

CIHT Awards

Get the recognition you and your organisation deserve.

This year’s CIHT awards ceremony takes place on 7 September but – here’s the crunch date – the deadline for nominations is Friday 22 April. In case you’re putting off the task of writing your awards nominations, here’s a quick checklist to inspire you and give you some focus.

Be prepared: review the guidelines of the specific category you are entering and revisit the entry criteria and rules. Proper research –such as the old exam adage “read all of the paper first” – will keep you focused and make sure you meet all of the necessary requirements.

Be confident: the only obstacle to entry is not doing it. No qualifying project is too big or too small and the application process for the CIHT Awards has been made as simple as possible to make sure that many initiatives and people are recognised.

Be prompt: the best time to start something is when it’s at the front of your mind. Get the admin out of the way so you can see how easy it is to apply. The application can be saved and revised up until the deadline, but you need to make the first move sooner rather than later.

Be focused: make sure you address the assessment criteria. Don’t fill your entry with the contents of existing sales and marketing materials singling out the important relevant technical content.

Be entertaining: tell a story, make the entry something that people will enjoy reading and keep people’s attention. Make sure it has a beginning, middle and end. The CIHT Award criteria lets you write your entry in this way, with clear sections on Initiation, Execution and Evaluation. When you’ve finished writing it, read it back. Then read it again!

Be specific: each entry needs to respond to the criteria for the category it is entered into for the best chance of success. Each category within the CIHT Awards is judged independently from others, so entries need to reflect that category. Too often, entries fail to address the criteria or expect the judges to infer certain pieces of information.

Be creative: provide additional materials to support your awards entry. Images, videos and PDFs with extra information are all encouraged, as long as they stay relevant to the theme and add value to the overall entry. These elements might not be taken into consideration during the judging process but they can provide a better overall picture of the project

Be proud: don’t be afraid to share your entry with others, to get a second, or even a third, opinion. Ensure you circulate your entry with others involved in the project before submission. A good trick is to approach someone not familiar with the work – or even with the profession – to read the entry from one or more steps removed