01732 759725 24 EVENTS ...continued PRINTIT AWARDS As Editor of PrintIT Reseller and Chair of the PrintIT Awards judging panel, I am often asked to give feedback on award submissions. Winners often ask me to share what the judges said, so they can maximise promoting their success, and those that made the shortlist but didn’t ultimately win, naturally want to know ‘why did we not win and what can we do to improve our chances next year?’ In the same vein, not everyone who enters makes the shortlist. I understand that disappointment and again I am always happy to explain why. The first thing I always say is don’t let it stop you entering next year – you’ve got to be in it to win it – and I stand by that. Whilst disappointing, there are many reasons why some entries don’t make the cut. The competition is fierce, year on year the quality and calibre of award entries continues to increase exponentially, and the judges have to review and rank each submission carefully against the entry criteria to create a shortlist – after all it wouldn’t be a shortlist if everyone made the cut! Judging process The PrintIT Awards are based on merit, and with that in mind, I thought it would be useful to explain how our judging process works. After the closing date, our judges have access to all of the entries received in the categories they will be judging. As we receive an exponential number of entries, it would be an impossible feat for each judge to review every single entry across all 30 categories. So, the panel is spilt into three groups and allocated a set of award categories to review, these are carefully crafted to ensure we leverage the experience and expertise of each judge. Our judges individually review and score each entry against set criteria including but not limited to how well the entry line ups against all of the award criteria; structure, presentation and clarity; and if all of the requested information including testimonials is included. The judges also provide their feedback and comments on each entry. Individual scores and comments are collated and combined by group, which serves as a reference point for judging day. Then on judging day as Chair of Judges, I host three, twohour-long sessions during which each group of judges meets to discuss and debate their findings. These sessions are always insightful, the merits of each entry are fully discussed, and each individual judge voices their views. The decisionmaking process is thorough and transparent, in the event of a tie, the group re-reviews submissions and collectively makes decisions. At the end of each session the group unanimously agree on which entries should be shortlisted and the overall winners in each category. Announcing the shortlists It's also important to point out while we publish the shortlists shortly after judging day, the winners in each category are kept tightly under wraps. Each group of judges naturally know who the winners are in the categories they have judged, but we don’t share the results with the other groups. In fact, the only person (apart from the guy who makes the trophies) who knows the full set of winners right up until when they are announced on the awards evening is me! Last issue I shared my top tips to write a killer submission and I would urge you all to read these carefully before crafting your entries. And in closing, I’d like to wish you all the very best of luck this year! Michelle Ryder James Teather, Former Group Commercial Director at Dataquest, Sales Director at CCE James is the former co-owner of the Managed Print Division of CCE which was acquired by Dataquest Group in 2019. He has racked up 20 years of industry experience, the latter ten of which he spent leading MPS corporate sales into FTSE 350 and Fortune 500 companies at CCE and then the Dataquest Group through to 2022. James now pursues all things property. He is a professional property investor and sourcer and offers his experience, services and contacts to busy professionals who are seeking to create financial freedom through property. David Tulip, Managing Director, Network Group David Tulip has now been in and around technology for 35 years, having started out programming in 1986. Today he serves as both Managing Director of Network Group and its trading arm Technology To Go (TTG). David feels privileged to be to be involved in something that resonates so deeply and complements his skillset as a connector and networker; Network Group is the leading community of Technology Service Providers in the UK&I. A truly engaged peer community of approaching 100 Member companies, who are in turn responsible for 100,000+ managed endpoints and circa $250m annual revenues. David brings the benefit of a broad view from his MSP community and the customers they serve. Key dates 2024 Entries close Friday July 19 (5pm) Voting closes Friday September 20 Judging Day Monday September 2 Shortlists announced Monday September 9 Voting shortlists announced Monday September 30 Awards Dinner Tuesday December 3 Editor’s Comment
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