Author: Dont Panic

What does being a sponsor at a Don’t Panic Event mean to you?

Your in-kind support of the digital community shows you care about the same things they do. In relation to our events, that is the recognition and reward of creativity, innovation and tenacity that digital achieves to be outstanding.

In return for your care and support you get…

1. Direct access to a specific, digital audience who are guaranteed to want to engage with you and your products.

1. Opportunity to shape your consumer attitudes. Your support will ensure your audience has a positive attitude towards your company. Your association with Don’t Panic also sends the message of ethical, fair and transparent – it is our award motto.

1. Media exposure and coverage from the Awards industry and related commerce. Your branding will appear on websites and social, but also on email marketing and related news and blog posts. You can even guest blog for an event, if you want to!

1. The chance to differentiate yourself from your competitors who don’t support the industry. Your relationship with your market becomes personal and the emotional value of that is exponential as it begins the journey to ‘trust.’

1. Increased reach from word-of-mouth marketing. Your positive interaction and promotional materials allow you to reach beyond the award ceremony and networking opportunities. Don’t Panic offer longevity for your sponsorship. If you get your sponsorship in early then from the moment a website is launched to the relaunch the following year, your name will be associated with the Awards. You are not only connecting to the shortlist and winners, you are connecting to the wider digital community.

There are many more reasons to and benefits from sponsoring an award or two and there are many ways to get involved, from sponsoring a whole event, award category or even an award game or activity, which incidentally go on during virtual events too.

Don’t Panic run 28 digital awards around the world, your relationship with Don’t Panic reaches a global audience by association.

Talk to Helen Barkley, Managing Director to discuss exactly what Don’t Panic can offer, including bespoke packages with opportunities to host webinars or demos, or perhaps you have some ideas of your own on how to join the community and party. Telephone: +44 1706 828855

Last year, Don’t Panic took Awards virtual, because there was no reason to cancel the celebrations of the digital community, we are proud to be a part of. The role out of vaccines in the UK have enabled us to plan going ‘live’ with the remaining 2021 UK Awards and, if like us, you are ready to get back in front of a living and breathing audience then now is the time to join us.

What does being a sponsor at a Don’t Panic Event mean to you?

Your in-kind support of the digital community shows you care about the same things they do. In relation to our events, that is the recognition and reward of creativity, innovation and tenacity that digital achieves to be outstanding.

In return for your care and support you get…

1. Direct access to a specific, digital audience who are guaranteed to want to engage with you and your products.

2. Opportunity to shape your consumer attitudes. Your support will ensure your audience has a positive attitude towards your company. Your association with Don’t Panic also sends the message of ethical, fair and transparent – it is our award motto.

3. Media exposure and coverage from the Awards industry and related commerce. Your branding will appear on websites and social, but also on email marketing and related news and blog posts. You can even guest blog for an event, if you want to!

4. The chance to differentiate yourself from your competitors who don’t support the industry. Your relationship with your market becomes personal and the emotional value of that is exponential as it begins the journey to ‘trust.’

5. Increased reach from word-of-mouth marketing. Your positive interaction and promotional materials allow you to reach beyond the award ceremony and networking opportunities. Don’t Panic offer longevity for your sponsorship. If you get your sponsorship in early then from the moment a website is launched to the relaunch the following year, your name will be associated with the Awards. You are not only connecting to the shortlist and winners, you are connecting to the wider digital community.

Don’t Panic run 28 digital awards around the world, your relationship with Don’t Panic reaches a global audience by association.

There are many more reasons to and benefits from sponsoring an award or two and there are many ways to get involved, from sponsoring a whole event, award category or even an award game or activity, which incidentally go on during virtual events too.

Talk to Nicky to discuss exactly what Don’t Panic can offer, including bespoke packages with opportunities to host webinars or demos, or perhaps you have some ideas of your own on how to join the community and party.

Obviously, there is the Event! Live or Virtual.

Don’t Panic have already announced their first live event, now the scientists are showing Covid-19 who is boss. The UK Social Media Awards will be live in London on the 8^th July 2021, and you are invited. Our Global Awards remain virtual, for the time being and your link to the events can be found on the relevant individual award’s event page or on the Don’t Panic Twitter account @dontpanicprojects. In fact, you are always invited to any of our events, live or virtual, each is a celebration of outstanding work and they are not only open to shortlist nominees, but they are also open for networking opportunities, sponsorship partners, award newbies, campaign partners and anyone else who wants to show collective support to the digital industry – no-one needs an excuse to party! And we excel at live and virtual parties!

But, other than the party, what other benefits are there?

Our blog ‘In these times of trouble, is award entry a nice to have, or essential?’ covers all the practical aspects, but to really persuade you we thought we would let our 2020 Winners share what being shortlisted and winning really means to business and their people.   

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Aimclear – Winner: US Search Awards

Marty Weintraub, Founder & Creative Director

“Such validation from our treasured industry peers certainly brings us great pride, but more importantly assures clients and prospects that we’ve earned our place among the best search and digital marketers in the world. A US Search Award speaks volumes about quality, innovation, and leadership.”

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Memetic – Winner of Content Strategy of the Year: UK Content Awards

David Lewis, Founder

“Winning this award is a validation that marketing is not always about who is the loudest, but can also be about who can best articulate business transformational ideas and raise the standard of discussion in their industry.”

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Rise At Seven – Retail Content Campaign of the Year: UK Content Awards

Carrie Rose, Co-Founder & Creative Director

“Nine months after we launched the agency we were hit with the COVID-19 pandemic and I’m incredibly proud that despite this we’ve continued to grow rapidly and deliver award winning work for our clients – it’s a true testament to our amazing staff, well done everyone!” 

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Major Tom – Winner Retail/eCommerce Campaign: Canadian Search Awards

Victoria Samways, Marketing & Brand Manager

“We always strive to do better than we’ve done before. Committing ourselves to improving our skills, networks, and client relationships is at the core of every decision we make. This award is a great motivator for our team to keep learning, growing, and improving our processes. We’re always wondering, what can we do next?”

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Wolfgang Digital – Occasional Winner: European Search Awards

Alan Coleman, Founder & CEO

“Our team finds entering the awards exciting and occasionally winning an award hugely rewarding. Our clients draw great confidence in the standard of the work we are doing together when it is listed among the top digital marketing on the continent. The night out itself is always brilliant craic (Irish for fun) and among the most eagerly awaited dates in the Wolfgang diary. For me, the most magical part is that moment when a team of winners stands on the stage clutching their trophy, as European Champions. A career-high for any marketer.”

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Don’t Panic believe awards are the most cost-effective form of marketing money can buy, but with the rise of social proof, what better, than industry recognised judges who give their seal of approval and award accolades that can be trusted and brandished whenever and wherever to demonstrate your prowess. You don’t have to take our word for it – our social proof is our winners!

Don’t Panic have a range of awards across the digital industry that celebrate excellence across the world. If you are proud of the work that you have created, we want to shine a light on it and support your business growth and future prosperity – that’s why we do awards!

Don’t Panic Events are Award organisers who deliver awards that are ethical, transparent and highly respected. Our Awards truly value the expertise, creativity and innovation that digital industries around the world deliver on a day-to-day basis.

Ethical and transparent

Our Awards are judged by international leading, industry experts who understand the digital industry which means Award accolades are not only industry recognised but they are legitimate and can be trusted by clients, business partners and employees. Our Awards are driven by merit and judged by peers. They are not a popularity contest!

Judges follow a robust, two-step judging process that involves pre-scoring of all entry forms and examination of any supporting materials. Scores for each question on the entry are combined to give an overall score and the highest scoring entries determine the Shortlist. Judges meet to discuss in detail the highest scoring entries and agree, although this can sometimes become heated, an overall winner.

Confidential

Our judges agree to our judging code of conduct to ensure confidentiality and to provide peace of mind for entrants. All judging discussions are confidential, and material will not be shared with anyone outside of the judging panel before or after the ceremony. Judging papers will not be shared with any third parties and will be deleted immediately after the judging period. Judges can only access entries they have been asked to score.

Progressive

We are passionate about Awards and their need to reflect excellence. In 2020 we began working in partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University and David Edmundson-Bird, Principal Lecturer in Digital who is our Judging Panel Chair of Standards. David and Don’t Panic will be working together on continual improvement – in the design of categories and criteria as the digital landscape advances into the future, the development of the judging process that can be applied objectively to ensure consistency and with the selection and coaching of judges. 

From Sept 2020 anyone entering a Don’t Panic owned award receives qualitative feedback on their score, alongside honest constructive feedback from the judges. Each awards scheme has several Head Judges who are responsible for reviewing and approving feedback before it is given to ensure validity and authenticity, agreed by the panel.

Community

Don’t Panic have been delivering Awards for over 15 years with the intention of shining a spotlight on the digital industry. We welcome feedback from our entrants: if you cannot see an award category that suits your work let us know, our team and the judges will look into it; If you have problems with entering, let us guide you through the process; if you feel you can help us ensure the future of Awards is valid, respected and trusted then talk to us. We are in this together.

Don’t Panic are proud to display the Awards Trust Mark, an independent accreditation programme which validates the ethical process operated on all their awards.

Awards are essential – we have already established that.

But what about the ceremonies?

11 months ago, Don’t Panic were forced to postpone the upcoming Award ceremonies due to COVID-19 – it was a very, very sad day.

Nicky Wake, MD and the Don’t Panic team decided very quickly that cancelling permanently was not an option. In our mind the Search, Content, Biddable, Dev and Social agencies, in-house teams and businesses that enter in, and benefit from Don’t Panic run awards, were continuing to deliver incredible, brilliant and outstanding work despite the pandemic, so we would too. Award recognitions, rewards and celebrations were even more deserving than ever.

Like many companies the key to survival was adaptation. We took our first steps into the virtual awards world with the Global Digital Excellence Awards back in June 2020. It seems so long ago! From that first event we have traversed the world with the Search Awards Series, the Content Awards, the Social Media Awards and launched several Global Awards virtually. In total 25 virtual events to date and counting.

What can you expect from a Virtual Awards?

Our Virtual Awards vary depending on location, time zones and entries. All Award categories are announced live with an online build up, so the anticipation and excitement can be felt in the virtual ether. Some awards have filmed production with your celebrity host coming live to you in your living room/study/bedroom/makeshift office and others have animation based production where your host introduces the awards and judges make the winners announcements via video clips. Either way the awards are your chance to come together and live the moment, socially distanced of course.

From a business perspective you can expect all the usual ROI: Pre- and post-event marketing opportunities, industry and client recognition, new business, new talent, motivation and the accolade itself which can be purchased via our online trophy shop, will be sent to you by special delivery, instead of being handed over in person.

From a social and personal angle? Well, here is where we have had to hand it over to you… We have encouraged you to get together via social mediums; we have suggested dress up and dress down themes; we have recommended fine dine, takeaways and nibbles (who wants to cook anyway); we have advocated Champagne, cocktails and cocoa (with marshmallows and cream), we have ordered your participation in events via social walls or social media and we have demanded you share your party with your compatriots.

And we salute you! We have seen you make celebrations of your own in the virtual world we live in and we have loved what you have shared. Thank you for making our virtual awards journey so much fun.

With the vaccine roll out taking place across the world and with positive news on the horizon, we are already working on future live events across the UK where you can expect a return to the fun and frivolity associated with Don’t Panic events. And when the world opens again we look forward to delivering awards internationally and celebrating your win in person.

As leading culture guru Peter Drucker stated ‘culture eats strategy for breakfast’

Often it is big business that promote their Company Culture and when we say promote, we mean shout very loud and use it to their advantage. They shout because they understand the growing power of company culture as viewed both internally by employees and externally by their competition and by their existing and future clients. Company Culture recognition says we care, we are ethical and we are trustworthy – what is not to love about us?

The Telegraph and The Times newspapers have been keen to get in on the ‘business culture’ act too with their ‘Happiest Places to Work’ and ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’ articles. Articles which are based upon the feedback of employees who are asked to complete confidential surveys! And are most likely encouraged to complete said ‘confidential surveys’ by managers and directors!

Our Company Culture Awards are different.

When we first announced we were getting involved in Company Culture Awards and why we would approach them differently, our contacts across the business community wanted to help us build and drive the project forward. Experts passionate about the workplace and its impact on individuals, teams and whole businesses came forward to offer advice and guidance and have become a judging force of nature, cultural of course!

Our Company Culture Awards are judged by leading industry experts, who are working within organisations with the people, and they understand how VOI measures employee satisfaction, retention and productivity and how mental health and wellbeing can impact ROI. They understand the importance of health and wellbeing initiatives, development and training programmes, and reward schemes and environments. They work with and in companies, large and small, and recognise what is needed to make businesses not only ‘happy places to work’ but environments where individuals grow, develop and live successfully.

The Award categories have been designed with culture at their forefront and the criteria developed to engage with how culture is defined and measured. There are categories across all elements of business culture, from mental health and wellbeing to reward and recognition and they welcome even the smallest of businesses who are getting it right.

Great leaders make great culture, and our judges, leaders themselves, understand exactly what ‘great culture’ looks like.

Our Company Culture Awards are industry recognised, valuable above just popularity and they provide opportunity for assessment and improvement.

Awards – Can you afford not to enter? 

This year has seen such changes across the awards industry. We have been unable to come together with our peers to celebrate what makes digital, social and search great and the parties have gone virtual. 

That said, as much as we love the physical event, the bonding, the glitz and glamour, our awards are so much more than just that.  

Our Awards are based upon the ethos of rewarding innovative, creative and exceptional work that has made an impact on and to business and that has achieved outstanding ROI. This work continues to take place, and dare we say it thrive, and we intend to keep on rewarding and celebrating no matter what the world throws at us. 

We all know and recognise the benefits that come with being shortlisted and winning accolades.  

• Marketing opportunities before and after the announcements 
• Attracts new clients who are drawn to and seek success 
• Openings for new business partnerships and collaborations 
• Appeals to new talent who want to join a successful agency 
• Industry and staff recognition that gives moral a boost 
• Entering and judges feedback provides SWOT analysis for future campaigns 

These benefits are why we pride ourselves on our industry expert judges and robust two-step judging process which ensures the validity and value of our awards – they are awards the business and customers trust.  

Today social proof, the wisdom and feedback of others (qualified and sadly un-qualified) and influencer stamps of approval guide us to what we engage with and purchase. If it wasn’t the case Twitter would not be popular or Which or Trustpilot or, the travellers’ favourite, Tripadvisor, we could go on and on. Good reviews, high ratings and recognition are all key to growth and an Award communicates perfectly how successful a business is and why consumers should engage.  

Entering our awards is the most cost-effective marketing, recruitment and recognition investment you can make. Pre and Post event the Awards advertises your business on their website and social reaching new audiences previously untapped by your business. This along with the benefits above is, why entering awards is, excuse our phrasing a ‘no brainer’! or why you cannot afford to not enter our awards.  

We offer exclusive multiple entry offers and early bird discounts. We recently sent an invoice to a company entering 4 Global Social Media Awards – their invoice, which included 1 free entry, was just £774.00. If they had met the early bird deadline it would have been even less! The ROI from this investment across their entire business is unmatched.  

Our Awards include the Agency, Search, Social and Content Awards series, as well as the Company Culture Awards and more.  

We believe Award Accolades are essential and so should you. 

For details of all our awards click here or contact our dedicated team of award experts who will help you with any questions, advise on which awards and categories best suit your business and guide you through the entry process. 

David Edmundson-Bird is Principal Lecturer in Digital at Manchester Metropolitan University and an expert in the field of all things innovative and creative across the Digital landscape including marketing, social and interactive.

‘I have been working in the Digital Award business for over 12 years and have to admit that some of the judging practices I have encountered have been murky and destroy the real validity that the digital profession deserves’, he says. ‘We at Manchester Metropolitan University form an integral part of the digital business community and want to add our support to the change that needs to happen in respect of the ethos, respect and trustworthy nature of awards currently available to digital organisations in the real world who demonstrate great practice.’

Currently many awards are simply a popularity contest and no constructive feedback is provided to help businesses moving forward.

Therefore, David Edmundson-Bird has just been appointed Chair of Standards at Don’t Panic Events across our 22 digital awards.

David wants all digital awards to have validity so that employees, business partners and clients can trust the system. ‘We want to build an objective, fair process that judges can apply objectively to all entries that will ensure consistency irrespective of the entry. We also want to provide entries with feedback that will scaffold ongoing innovation and improved best practices that can be shared and celebrated in the future. Awards should be driven by merit and be judged by peers.’

Nicky Wake, Managing Director of Don’t Panic tells us ‘we have a robust two-step process for judging industry innovation, creativity and marketing and from September 2020 all entries will receive constructive feedback to help improve business and to improve future award entries. I believe we are unique in the business as our judges are key influencers, peer nominated and highly regarded in the digital field, our awards therefore are ethical, transparent and legitimate – real awards that add real value to business. Working with David will enhance the kudos of our awards and ensure the public know they are worth the paper or trophy they are written on.’

If you are contemplating entering an award then Don’t Panic awards are the ones that reward business merit and add real value.