It's contest deadline day!

I've been fooling with these state contests since .. gasp, 1992 ... and it always is a happy day. Why? It's interesting to go back and see the good work you (or, more importantly to me now as a manager, my staff) did in the last 12 months.

I have some other random thoughts about contest entry strategy that I can share later, but here's the No. 1 rule: Read the rules.

 

I could tell you how to win a contest, but in reality, it all depends on what mood the judges are in that day.

 

It's always happy fun when the boss tells you it's contest deadline day ... six hours before deadline ...

 

Yep. I worked at a Virginia weekly once, and judging one year was done in Wisconsin. A picture of a cow was among the photo winners.

Best advice: Enter all you can. I have placed in two spot news/spot sports categories with entries I sorta thew into the mix at the last minute, just to help fill out what we thought was a weak category in our own entries. You never know.

 

At my shop, they care a lot more when you don't win than when you do. Still, those little certificates look good on the office wall.

 

Don't get too worked up, Brett. You won't win.

 

We entered a bunch of stuff from our sports staff in the RI Press Association Awards. I'm actually kind of excited as I think I might have a shot at a nomination for at least one of the stories but, since I've never been nominated, I'm trying not to get too ahead of myself.

The thing that sucks is they don't do a "Best Sports Section" award. I think we'd win, hands down, every year just for the amount of local stuff we put out and the quality of the layout/photos/stories. Is this typical? I've heard some states do a section-type award. I'm trying to get RI to change it. ANy advice would be awesome. Thanks.

 

I also put in for a couple things - no sports though, since all I really did in that area this year was college coverage. However, I also find a couple things kind of annoying about RI, that is, if I'm correct and not speaking out of my ass:

1) You have to be endorsed by the paper you work for. i.e. No freelancers. Or, in my case, when I was laid off in September 2008, there was no way in hell my in-depth multimedia stories, which I had done two of, would be entered by my former chain. Same thing goes for a nice package I had done on a local girls' team winning the state lacrosse championship.

2) There is only a category for best columnist, and not best column. Must write at least one per month to be eligible.

3) Not much for sections outside of "special" ones, as you mentioned.