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Four Weeks to a Successful Award Entry

The goal of this education series is to take you step-by-step through preparing an entry for our annual awards programs.

Week 1

  • Review the Categories.
  • Review your work from the previous year. For the 2024 PRAM PRism Awards, entries must have appeared (published, printed, presented, etc.) between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2023.
  • Decide what you would like to enter. Select works you feel showcase your skills, successful campaigns and ability to understand the four-step RPIE (Research, Planning, Implementation, Evaluation) process.
  • Gather all collateral materials.
    • Include all samples/supporting materials that are referred to in your entry.
    • It is recommended to save all collateral material images as one PDF attachment.
    • A maximum of three attachments and two URLs are allowed.
  • Review the four-step process. For more information, consider these resources:

Week 2 

  • Write the research section for your entry. (500-word limit)
    • Summarize the situation and define the problem or potential problem.
    • Provide information gathered through formal and informal research methods.
  • Write the planning section for your entry. (250-word limit)
    • Develop a strategy, identify goals, objectives, tactics and key publics.
    • How were the objectives specific, measurable and audience-specific?

Week 3

  • Write the implementation section for your entry. (500-word limit)
    • Discuss how tactics were used in the execution and implementation.
    • Include timeline and budget information.
    • Show how the project was creative.
  • Write the evaluation section for your entry. (250 word limit)
    • Identify research methods used to evaluate the success of the campaign/project/tactic during and after.
    • Determine ways to measure whether the project achieved its objectives.
    • If the project had limitations, how were they overcome?
    • Did the project stay within the timeline and budget?

Week 4

  • Review your entire entry.
    • Proof for accuracy, grammar, and spelling.
    • Have a colleague read your entry and see if anything needs clarification or further explanation (within the word count limit).
    • Check your collateral material and make sure you've included everything before you make the PDF to upload.
  • Complete the entry form in the online awards system.
  • Pay for your entry by credit card or check. Note: once you pay for your entry, no changes can be made.