We know that you want to dive right in
and begin, so you can start giving out your incredibly beautiful
graphic to the thousands of sites that will flock to apply to your
prestigious program. But before you do that, let's stop and
think for a minute.
Are you sure that you want to do this?
Perhaps you've won a few awards for your web site, and you're
thinking about how you could impress your friends by giving away
awards yourself. Perhaps you're thinking about all of the
people around the world with whom you can become friends. Or
perhaps you're looking for a hobby, and this is the latest thing
that you're going to try.
Award programs, like other human enterprises, sometimes fail
because the owner didn't fully understand or appreciate what he/she
was getting into until it was too late. So let's list some
positives and negatives about running an awards program.
Positives:
You will interact with interesting
people from around the world, many of whom also operate awards
programs. They can teach you a great deal about web sites,
awards programs and life, as you may teach them a great deal.
The Internet has truly made the world a smaller place.
You will see some really amazing web
sites that you didn't even know existed. (You will also see
some incredibly awful sites!)
You can learn a LOT about specific
techniques for the Internet and for designing and building web
sites, developing valuable skills along the way. There is
plenty of help available for the asking, and nothing teaches you
better than hands-on experience.
You can have the satisfaction of seeing something you designed on
web sites throughout the world.
You may become friends and develop excellent working relationships
with people you have never seen and will never meet. You may
find your beliefs about people in different cultures challenged, as
you may challenge their beliefs. This is healthy for
everybody.
This activity can be a lot of fun!
Negatives:
Some of the people with whom you
interact from around the world are similar to people in your area
-- they may disagree with you, they may frustrate you, they may
fight with you, they may hold grudges for months or years, they may
call you nasty names and/or they may tell others horrible things
about you, true or not.
There is a definite learning curve, both for building a web site
and for running an awards program. If your goal is to be a
top-rated award program, it will take time and patience on your
part. Many people simply don't have the patience. They
want that top rating and prestige RIGHT NOW, and that just won't
happen.
Running an awards program, and making necessary changes to it,
requires flexibility on your part. If you are one of those
people who is never, ever wrong about anything, or one of those
people who are too stubborn to admit that you need help, you may
have a tough time with this activity.
Building and maintaining a working web site, for this or any other
purpose, is a lot of hard work. Not hard LABOR, mind you, but
hard work.
Running an awards program can take a lot of time. That's time
that you can't use for other things, such as physical activity,
studying for your classes (if you're in school), maintaining your
home, and being with your family and friends. Note that last
point -- if your awards program becomes more important to you than
spending face-to-face time with your family and friends, you need
to seriously re-examine your priorities.
An awards program is not easily
pushed aside, like a stamp or coin collection. The
applications keep rolling in, regardless of what's happening in
your life. If you can't keep up with them, you may have to
suspend your award program for a period of time. (Do that too
often, and people will view you as unreliable.) Or you may
finally abandon your program. Many webmasters, even those
with top-rated and/or highly respected programs, shut down their
sites because of personal obligations.
Please don't misunderstand -- it is not our intention to
discourage you from starting an awards program if you are
passionate about it and determined to do it. We simply want
you to begin with open eyes, knowing fully well what to
expect. Too many people become disillusioned with what they
unexpectedly find in the world of awards. Now that you know
what to expect, you won't be at all surprised. You may even
find yourself having a lot of fun.
Here is a good suggestion: Consider evaluating for another
program before beginning your own. Many award programs
use multiple evaluators, and are constantly looking for new
ones. Some want only experienced evaluators, but many are
willing to accept inexperienced evaluators and train them.
You will receive no pay. But you WILL receive valuable
experience in evaluating for awards, which can help you when you
build your own program. And if you find that you really don't
enjoy this kind of activity, you will find that out before you
waste your time building an awards program that you will ultimately
quit.
