Note: This is the first in a series of posts about ASAE Gold Circle Award winners. But please, hold your applause until the end of the series!
Applause, accolades, awards. Esteem is the second highest tier in Maslow’s hierarchy of basic human needs. Whether we admit it or not, this is a craving we all share. And there are a plethora of awards programs out there willing to take our money in exchange for a chance to get the recognition we require.
One of my all-time favorite awards programs for association communications and marketing is ASAE’s Gold Circle awards. Maybe I love it because I don’t have to fill out the entry forms (only associations need apply). But I think I love it because it feels genuine.
I’ve served as a judge for several years, and I know that ASAE places great emphasis on awarding true excellence and innovation.
Although many of the entries are very good, often no awards are given in a category. ASAE is not looking for good or even very good. With a nod to Jim Collins, ASAE is looking for great. If you win a Gold Circle, it’s truly an achievement.
Take the Counties Work online video game created by the National Association of Counties (NACo). It was developed for grades 6-12, but personally, I think it should be a prerequisite for getting your name on the ballot for local office.
When you play the game, you learn about county services from law enforcement and transportation to libraries, parks and courts. As you run your county, you get input from your constituents, decide whether or not to raise or levy taxes, and try to stay within your budget.
Ok, so maybe it’s not that realistic. You even have to run for re-election!
After playing the game about four times, I finally got re-elected without bankrupting the county, but I learned that it takes experience and an innate, proven ability to multi-task, to run a county. And that constituents make a lot of really stupid requests.
(Tip: If you get the one about holding snake races in the park, reject it immediately!)
The NACo staff started with a goal to raise awareness about programs and services that counties provide, and then colored outside the lines. They targeted an unexpected audience and then thought about the kind of communication that would appeal to that audience.
They went outside their comfort zone and away from the type of things they had always done, and created a careful strategy to carry out an ambitious project.
Part of that strategy was to team up with Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s iCivics Foundation for the game content. Together, they didn’t just create a fun, interactive game — they promoted it. They demo’d it to their members to generate excitement and get them to spread the word. They socialized it, developed collateral materials for teachers, and advertised it on websites directed at teachers, parents and students. And they measured the results.
In the first 10 months, more than 250,000 students (unique users) played the game and more than 2,500 teachers downloaded lesson plans. And it won the Gold Circle for Innovative Communications.
They did almost everything right, and they truly deserved the award. I can attest that the game is very engaging. If I had judged this category, it would have taken me a long time because I would have gotten so caught up in playing the game.
So long, in fact, that I probably wouldn’t have noticed that there is no easy way to find the game from the NACo.org home page. Although if I had noticed, it probably would not have kept them from winning…but it would have cost them a point.
So get the basics right. Set specific goals, develop a strategy, figure out how you will determine success, implement the plan, and measure success.
But remember the devil is in the details. Make sure when you develop an awesome communications campaign, you are getting the absolute most mileage possible out of it. Then remember to submit it for an ASAE Gold Circle Award!
Congratulations to the team at NACo on a job well done. Thanks for raising the bar for associations communications.
Any other innovative communications out there? If so, please share!