Reinvigorating your chapter's awards program

Have a chapter awards program that’s fizzling? Figure out why before you give up.

  1. Contact IABC International for a list of chapters and regions that host such programs. Then call a few chapters that are of similar size for insight into their experiences – good, bad and otherwise.
  2. Poll your board to see if there is the energy and funds to continue to host such a program.
  3. Then do a feasibility study to gauge your members’ interest. Sometimes programs simply just run their course, but it doesn’t hurt to ask. Some questions to consider:
    • Do members think the chapter should continue to stage a local awards program and why?
    • Have they entered the program in the last year? Two years? Ever?
    • What has prohibited them from entering the awards program – cost, timing, time required to create, other?
    • Would they be willing to volunteer to run the program?
    • How many of them enter IABC regional or international awards programs now?
    • What other local/regional/national/international awards programs do they enter?