(03/15/18)

By Blake Podhajsky – Oklahoma
ACI Awards Chair

The April 2 deadline to enter the ACI awards contest is fast approaching. That means there are just over two weeks left to submit entries. Dozens of you have already been submitting your entries to our awards site, and many more have been contemplating what to submit from all the great work you did in 2017. But if you haven’t started to consider what to enter, please don’t procrastinate!

The ACI Awards are the only nationwide competition exclusively for education, information and public relations professionals who specialize in conservation. And although this is a competition, it is also a celebration of the meaningful work we as communicators do in a career field we love.

The contest recognizes excellence in 28 categories and presents awards to the top three scoring entries in each category. Winners will be announced at this year’s conference that will be held July 29 – Aug. 2 in Springfield, Mo.

Finishing top-three in a category is a tremendous accomplishment, considering the amount of fantastic work all of you produce each and every year. Although taking home an awards plaque is wonderful, it’s not the only reason we submit our work. Entries are scored and critiqued by judges from all over the country who are experienced and knowledgeable in their respective fields of expertise. Their scores, critiques and comments help validate and improve our craft and help refine our efforts to communicate with our constituents.

To enter, please click the contest link – https://enter.omnisam.com/menu-home.aspx?comp_id=253AE415-547B-4010-A0EC-55E099C87298 – and follow the registration and entry instructions. The contest is exclusively online, and submitting an entry is simple. The 2016 awards contest was our first year using the online format, and it was a tremendous success! We received a record 412 entries in 27 categories. It is my hope that we continue to ride this momentum and eclipse last year’s entry total. But we can’t do that unless you enter now! So submit your best work from 2017 by the April 2 deadline. Good luck!