As voting concluded in the Best Construction Blog competition, the campaigning and voting for the Ontario Construction Report‘s 2009-2010 Readers‘ Choice Awards has moved into high gear. Unlike the Best Blog competition, which is international in scope, the Readers’ Choice Awards is a much more regional competition; closely tied to our long-established publications in Ontario, including Ottawa Construction News, The GTA Construction Report and Northern Ontario Construction News.
Daniel Smith proposed the Readers’ Choice Award concept about three years ago, and it has proven to be a successful marketing resource for several contractors, engineers, architects, suppliers and consultants in Ontario. The rules are simple: There are no fees to be nominated, no cost to vote and finalists receive free publicity in OCR and online. (If some of this seems similar to the Best Construction Blog competition, you are correct: In fact the Best Blog competition can trace its roots to the OCR Readers’ Choice competition.)
You likely can discover similar competitions in your own community. Is it worth entering and then encouraging supporters to vote for you? I think so, especially if there are no fees associated with the contest. (Some marketing companies set up competitions where fees need to be paid either to use the results or to win. I’ve noticed that businesses which are savvy about marketing indeed enter and support these fee-based competitions, treating their participation as an advertising expense, though I find the idea of paying to win this sort of contest somewhat unsavory.)
An alternative competition model involves independent judges. Often associations co-ordinate these, with modest entry fees. Finally you can find hybrids. A good example is the Greater Ottawa Home Builders‘ Association annual Housing Design Awards competition. Independent judges select the finalists in several categories, but the local daily newspaper sponsors a public competition for the People’s Choice Award and that finalist ultimately obtains the most significant public recognition and marketing value.
