Friends, if you are in the midst of putting together an award submission packet, DO NOT submit it without reading this first! If you're not submitting an award nomination now, but will be in the future I want you to put a reminder to read this post (don't forget the URL for this post!) BEFORE you put together your nomination packet. 

As an industry speaker, consultant and a member of the Apartment All-Stars team, I have done quite a bit of judging for apartment association awards events nationwide and I am going to share my experience and perspective with you. I say this with the disclaimer that these are just my opinions and points of view and my fellow judges may feel otherwise. That being said I know that what I have to share will be of value to you if you're submitting an awards nomination. 

I want you to win!

Let me start with this simple truth-I want your submission to win! I want you (or whomever you've nominated) to earn the recognition that you deserve. I really do. I served as the MC for a statewide apartment association's awards ceremonies recently and it is SO. MUCH. FUN. to see you win awards! I am rooting for you!

What you say, how you say it, how you make your case to the judges will go a long way to determining whether you win or not. Read this carefully ... you may have the best furnished model in all of the state BUT if your awards nomination submission is lackluster, or is missing key elements, you may not win! I know that may sound unfair-but that is the truth. 

Do This

• Read the submission guidelines and requirements THOROUGHLY before beginning the process so that you are 100% sure of what is required of you in the submission. 
• Make it easy for the judge to know you're following the submission guidelines! Here is what I mean by this-if your awards narrative needs to include the following categories: Introduction, Design Concept, and Measure of Success use subheadings that say "Introduction, Design Concept, and Measure of Success" followed by your verbiage.   You may also want to include the specific requirements into your text-for example, "Our design concept was inspired by the show Fixer Upper. We wanted traditional farmhouse decor with a modern touch." 
• Think about the verbiage your competitors will be using in their submissions-and try to say something different! Quite frankly many people's submissions start to sound a lot alike, with so many people saying, "What sets us apart is our sparkling pool, state of the art fitness center and on-site maintenance."  Actually, you've just described a huge percentage of multifamily housing communities!! If you try to tell me that your customer service is amazing and you really love your residents and think that's enough, I will tell you that your competitors are telling me the same thing!! So what can you say that makes it unique and memorable??
• Quantify with statistics and testimonials. Say you're submitting an award for best model and you need to prove why your model is indeed the best. You can either tell me, "Our model is really good." OR you could say, "Since we did the re-design of our model the average exposure on this floorpan shrunk dramatically from ten percent to only one percent!" Resident testimonials are another great way to prove your point. 
• More pictures are better! AND, if you've highlighted something in your narrative make sure you have a picture of it!

Don't Do This

• Don't submit without confirming you have everything that is required. This may seem obvious, but I have reviewed countless nominations with missing items!!
• Don't just copy and paste verbiage from your marketing materials to use in your submission! Much of that is designed to be read by a prospect not a judge! I've read numerous submissions over the years that have verbiage such as, "You'll love living in this amazing one bedroom apartment." But the judge is not your prospect! So customize your wording to something like, "Residents love living in this apartment ..."
• Don't spend just five minutes on your submissions ... believe me, it shows! 

Good luck with your awards submissions!

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