For the third year in a row, we will be recognizing the most effective social technology applications at the Forrester Groundswell Awards.
I have to say, these awards are one of my favorite things. First of all, the people submitting entries really care about the work they did and spreading the word about it. Second, the applications we've gotten the last two years were fantastic -- creative, effective, and clever -- and they make it easier for me to tell the story of the power of social applications. And finally, I think it's great that anyone can win -- whether you're Accenture or Starbucks or a tiny credit union in Alberta, Canada.
So, starting now you're free to submit an entry for the Forrester Groundswell Awards. The submission form is here. If you're going to enter, we strongly recommend that you read the Forrester Groundswell Awards Rules before submitting your entry. You can submit eachentry only once, and once submitted, you cannot modify it.
We've added a new twist this year, too. We've divided the categories for the prototypical groundswell objectives (listening, talking, energizing, supporting, embracing) into business-to-consumer and business-to-business. And we've added a new business-to-business category, "spreading," to recognize social applications in which you sell ideas or products to employees of a company, then get them to sell others at that company. We've still got the category for pro-social applications ("social impact") and applications within an enterprise ("managing"). That's 13 categories, folks, so while I expect even more entries than the 150 we received last year, there are more ways to win.
A few key facts to remember.
- Be smart. Read the rules first.
- The entry deadline is September 2, 2009. But the earlier you submit, the more time people will have to review and vote on your work. (If three months is not enough time to prepare, you'll have to wait for next year.)
- On your own site or elsewhere on the Web, createa "My Forrester Groundswell awards submission" page or document describing yourapplication. Also include a single screenshot that represents the application.You'll need to put these into the application.
- Only submit your own work. Agencies and vendorscan submit work they do for clients, provided they have obtained permissionfrom the client. (This is your responsibility, please don't embarrass yourself in front of the client by posting without getting permission.)
- Â Anything in these submissions becomes on therecord. Submissions go live immediately and are open for ratings and reviews.
If you are a winner in the business-to-consumer, social impact, or managing categories, we'll present the award to you in a new, expanded awards ceremony at the Forrester Consumer Forum 2009 in Chicago on October 27 and 28. We'll be having a nice party for all the attendees of that event, so they can meet and learn from the winners. We'll be awarding the B2B awards separately.
Go ahead. Impress us. Enter your application. We're looking forward to it.
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