And the award goes to....

First the really good news.

I... well, Junkk.com, well...RE:tie just got shortlisted for the finals of the Fillip grant.

That means we already have a little bit of money to spend on IP, and are in the running to get a lot more to secure the concept worldwide. The money itself is great, but the fact that this was against a hundred other great ideas, and the consequent PR value that alone will carry, is a real boost.

And it also reminded me that a nice framed award arrived recently (pictured). No money, but a welcome bit of recognition.

The whole awards gig is a heck of an industry, and almost a job here in its own right (like I don't have a few others). And the whole thing has got me to pondering.

I guess I/Junkk.com/RE:tie are doing pretty well, but it's really playing the odds, and in some ways the whole thing has become a bit of a turkey shoot.

I currently have about a dozen, all with deadlines at the end of this month, to complete.

Some are free; some have fees attached. Some are a matter of a few paras; some require extensive form-filling and attaching of acres of guff.

Which are worth the effort, and/or investment of money (I don't have) on top of time?

The Focus Green Hero mentioned a few blogs back is a no-brainer. Quick, free and easy.

The Green Awards I am being chased on are equally easy to decide. No way! I entered last year and paid a lot to do so because I figured we were in with a good chance. It was not to be. Now I know creative awards, and this was/is the pits. For a start the categories I entered for got 'adjusted'. Then when I saw what won it was obvious what was at play, and judging merit was not high on the list. I was tempted to have a go as it seemed near fraudulent, but there are only so many windmills one can tilt at.

The there's the EAST awards. These look worth it as they are free, though the effort aspect is quite heavy.

There's even one called Home Business Award, which looks worth a punt, as I have a business and it's at home. Can't lose. Well...

The latest is Green Challenge, and I haven't even had time to go through that yet.

All I really need to get on the Junkk.com AWARDS section to share around, but time is really not with me on doing all this as well as that... and that. I am so desperate for help on admin, though the blog support I am getting really helps keep the site 'live' hourly, and is much appreciated.

Money is always good. And exposure often even better. Look how my winning the Gold in Geneva spun out. But sometimes I figure just getting under a judge's nose can be worth it, depending on who they are.

For instance, there is a major effort to produce an ecoTVC from an outfit called Current TV, and I am chatting with a local chum from a video company about entering. Imagine getting seen by the judges listed there. Tricky though, because one has to try and figure what a celeb thinks is 'good' vs. what might actually be doing the best job. Not always the same thing. So you often have to second guess the judges or the award organiser agendas more than doing what's best.

And that, sadly, is what awards are really all about.

STOP PRESS: Fancing going Japanese?: Cool the Earth

And I have just 3 days left to submit for all this lot. Sheesh.