WBA AWARDS DEADLINE APPROACHING.
Well, it is. The truth is, so many broadcasters do so many great things all year long, you’re missing out on a chance to be 2023’s Station of the Year if you’re not thinking “awards” right now.
Here are a couple tips on how to use the six months ahead to greatly increase your station’s chances of winning Station of the Year or News Operation of the Year.
First, you need to agree within your organizations on how you’ll treat each station. Will each vie for the top spot, or will you pool your efforts to put one of the group’s stations at the top?
Once that decision is made, use the time left in this year to bank the good stuff. Split the entry categories up among the staff and ask for two entry possibilities each month. Put them in folders. Starting now, you’d have all the categories covered by the end of July. Then, in the following months, you try to put better entries in those folders than the month before. Toward the end of the year, you could have up to 12 entries per folder, but I recommend that you spend a few minutes each month re-ranking your entries and discarding the weakest so you have 3-4 to choose from at the end of November.
Now the hard part. There IS math involved. To give your station the absolute best chances, you have to enter in EVERY category. You need that participation point. If your station is really not doing much in certain categories, at least put one entry in. In every category you can, you’ll want to submit TWO entries. Why? Because judging is very subjective.
Did I mention judging can be very subjective? For the best chance of getting a judge whom you’ve never met to give you a good ranking, try to submit two very different styles in the category. What appeals to us doesn’t necessarily appeal to judges at another station, so give yourself the best chance with two very different entries. For instance, in sports play-by-play, sure – send in the buzzer-beater call. But also send perhaps just some good play on the floor, or even a time out banter with student stats and a game summary. Be sure to also provide some context. If a game is significant because a losing streak has ended, or a news item is a history maker, be sure the audio you send reflects that. We know what it is, but the judges have no idea unless it’s part of your audio.
If you start the process now, you can easily deal with one category each weekday in December. Use the best two entries and get them entered. Ten minutes a day is all you’ll need. You’ll have a stress-free entry process and you will have given your team members the best possible chance at the prestige of winning Station of the Year.
Remember, the deadline is approaching. Be ready.
Tim Bremel
WBA Awards Committee
