Rich "the Scoop" Westerfield reports on TSMI about EXPO magazine's Best New Show awards, and why they're going to change the rules. From TSMI:
- After the announcements of winners were made public a few weeks ago, EXPO had some explaining to do.
It turns out one of the shows that won may not be all it was cracked up to be. And competitors of the show in question were not happy about them receiving an award.
After handling the complaints and admitting there was little they could do because the rules did not require third party audits, the powers that be at EXPO decided they could not revoke the award...But there is a silver lining. We've learned that EXPO will change the criteria for entry for its 2005 Best New Show Awards. All nominees will have to provide third-party audits that substantiate their claims.
A good lesson for all of us who run award programs of some kind or another--self-reporting isn't good enough. Always, always verify before announcing the winners.