AWARD PROGRAMS: PUTTING TOGETHER NOMINATION PACKAGES

By John B. Briley

Local History Notebook, November / December 1989

There was once a wealthy man who wanted to see if there was someone who would go out of his way to help others without being rewarded for his efforts. He had a large rock placed in the middle of a major road between two cities, where most sojourners traveled by foot. Day after day people walked by, swearing at the rock in the road, but leaving it in its place for someone else to move. Finally, two traveling companions happened along. Seeing that the rock was in everyone's way, the men put their shoulders to the rock and moved it to the side of the road. Turning back, they found that someone had placed several gold coins under the rock with a note saying the money was theirs--a reward for selflessly helping their fellow travelers.

While the moral of this fable is not directly related to historical organizations achieving awards, it provides a pertinent insight. It takes a little extra effort to "move the rock" in order to receive an award. The "rock in the road" is the "red tape" that one must inevitably go through to enter an awards program. The application guidelines may seem complicated, hardly worth the effort of reading them from start to finish. Also, the potential applicant may have a self-defeating attitude, saying to himself something like my project is not good enough to enter an awards competition." As the fable shows, however, moving the rock is not all that complex or difficult. The reward is well worth the effort, and there is even help nearby for those who are "on the road."

Help is Just Around the Corner

Most historical organizations are involved in many activities that serve local communities. They collect and preserve documents and artifacts. They teach history through exhibits and publications. And they appeal to their communities for membership and visitation through newsletters and brochures. All these activities should be of high quality, and some should be recognized as outstanding contributions to local history. Most historical organizations also participate in regional, state, and national historical association activities such as those of the American Association for State and Local History and the American Association of Museums and, here in Ohio, those of the Ohio Association of Historical Societies & Museums and the Ohio Museums Association.

Affiliation with these organizations offers an opportunity to observe and participate in many awards programs. If you have questions, contact the award presenting organization. More than likely, they can act as a traveling companion "on the road," offering advice or suggestions.

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Once you decide to seek an award, how do you get ready to "move the rock?" The first step is to obtain a copy of the appropriate guidelines and read them thoroughly from beginning to end. A word of caution is necessary, however. Do not be like the typical parent who, when assembling toys on Christmas Eve, only reads the instructions after getting stuck midway during the assembly. Guidelines must be read first.

Reading nomination guidelines makes the process of application flow smoother. For example, there is no sense in submitting a 1990 project when only 1989 projects are being considered. Or, if only members of the award granting organization can nominate a project, and you are not a member, then you will have to become a member or find a member who will nominate your project.

Guidelines and rules will also tell you the subject limitations. If all nominations must deal with Ohio history, then a project on reclassifying Ohio's lepidoptera or one on Kentucky history will not qualify. Guidelines will also answer other questions such as: Will the material you submit be returned? What material should be submitted along with the nomination form? Can a person nominate his own project or program? Are there other eligibility factors that need to be considered?

The deadline is one of the most important factors to be found in the guidelines. The deadline. It sounds ominous, does it not? It is. Slip past the time limit, and your nomination will be dead as far as the year's award program is concerned. Do not procrastinate. Plan ahead. While some award granting organizations may stretch a deadline date by one or two days, most are very strict. They have to take into account their processing time. In order to announce successful award recipients on a specific date, they need time to organize and judge the entries. It is a long process that has no time for delays.

The best advice is to have your nomination in well before the deadline. In the event that your nomination goes astray, early entry gives you sufficient time to ask the post office to put a trace on your nomination. Using the Christmas Eve analogy, if you assemble the toys the night before Christmas and find that you are missing a screw to complete the wagon, you will not have time to buy another.

It also makes sense in this age of quick and easy copying to keep a duplicate of all nomination materials, not only for future reference, but so you can send another copy if needed.

You should be concerned about the nomination's arrival. After allowing sufficient time in the mail, you might call the organization to make certain that your nomination was received. Other options are to enclose a self-addressed, return postcard or send the material "return receipt requested."

Checklist of Support Documents

Rounding up the Support Material

You have now read the guidelines and know that your nomination meets the criteria. You have filled out the nomination forms, and you now come to the most important part of the process-rounding up the nomination support material.

Support material should include all the pertinent information necessary for the judges to make a decision. If the support material is inadequate or not arranged systematically, the judges may have difficulty reviewing the nomination and may dismiss it outright.

It is helpful to know far in advance that you want to nominate someone or something for an award so you can accumulate your press clippings, photographs, reviews, and evaluations as they evolve. These kinds of support material are critical for award judges.

If the award program guidelines do not ask for specific types of support material, put yourself in the judges' position and ask yourself, "What would be valuable in enabling me to decide on the worthiness of this project?" Judges are usually interested in reviewing four factors:

Without support material addressing these factors, judges will have difficulty evaluating your nomination. With that in mind, let us now turn to some of the support materials useful for the award categories in which historical organizations commonly enter their nominations.

Publications

While publications such as books, journals, and newsletters can often stand on their own merit, it is helpful to include examples of media publicity and other forms of public reaction, especially reviews and evaluations. Judges want to know how well your publication was received and whether you and your historical organization gained greater recognition in the community. Publicity materials show how well you marketed the material. Reviews and evaluations indicate how well it was received and supported by the community.

Brochures and information pamphlets are another matter. They are usually designed for public relations purposes--creating community support through increased membership, visitation, book orders, or attendance at public programs. If you include a budget with your support material you give the judges an idea of how effective your historical organization was in spending its funds and how resourceful it was in obtaining outside monies.

Support material here also includes statistics. How many members and visitors did your new brochure attract? How many books did you sell as a result of your information pamphlet? How many people attended your public program after seeing your well-designed and well-written announcement? Judges are impressed with these kinds of support material.

Public Programs and Exhibits

Judging programs and exhibits is very different from evaluating the merits of a publication. It is very difficult to arrange for judges to actually see the nominated public programs and exhibits. Therefore, these nomination packages require greater documentation. It is important to provide reviews, evaluations, attendance figures, expenses incurred, funding sources, and photographs or videos of the exhibits and programs.

Photographs or videos are essential for exhibit or display nominations. They should show artifact arrangement, labels and interpretive panels, color schemes, and visitor flow patterns.

Photographs should be of high quality. While you will not necessarily need a professional photographer, remember that over or underexposed or poorly composed photographs will weaken their impact.

Videotapes can be very helpful in showing a public program in progress. You might "sweep or pan" the audience to record their reaction to the program. Again, it is important to be professional. Use a tripod and good lighting. Also, if the videotape is longer than fifteen minutes, keep track of the counter, and let the judges know where they should concentrate their viewing. Provide a legend describing the footage so judges can fast forward the tape. While photographs and videotapes are helpful, they cannot stand alone in supporting the nomination. The package should include reviews and evaluations from the general public. Did the local newspaper include a story about the project? If your program was designed specifically for school children, did you provide letters from the teachers or pupils? Did you include evaluation forms filled out by the audience or visitors? Judges like these kinds of information.

Other significant support materials include the overall cost of the program, exhibit, or display; sources of income; and promotional pieces. Provide copies of the actual brochures and information pamphlets--posters, fliers, exhibit catalogs, and tour maps. If you sent out press releases and public service announcements, include them in your nomination package.

Audio-Visual Programs

Judges need more than the videotape or slide set to properly evaluate an audio-visual program. Study guides, scripts, and other ancillary material should be included in support of the nomination. The judges will want to know how the program was received by the audience and how well it was advertised. Here again, expenditures, revenue sources, reviews, evaluations, and attendance figures should be included with the nomination. If you send only a nomination form and the audio-visual tape or slide show, the judges will be hampered in determining its effectiveness.

Individual Achievement

For most award-giving organizations, the requirements for nominating a person for an individual achievement award are relatively uncomplicated. However, care should be taken to read the guidelines to make sure all the required points, such as length of service in the history field, are covered. If the requirements can be met, the nominations should be accompanied by a well written two-page account of the person's accomplishments and at least two supporting letters from people who are familiar with the nominee's contributions to local history and/or a historical organization.

The nomination package should also include a substantial amount of other support material such as newspaper articles pertaining to the nominee's accomplishments, publications he or she has authored, and descriptions of other history-related activity. There is no need to burden the judges with excess information, but you should strive to make the best case you can.

"Moving the Rock” Together

When thinking about submitting a nomination for a project, program, publication, or individual to an award giving organization, you can always ask for help. This brings us back to the fable and the concept of the assistance that is available in "moving the rock." In any organization offering awards, there is an awards committee, and there are possibly other staff members who can answer questions concerning guidelines and rules. Describe the project, program, publication, or individual you might wish to nominate. They can advise you on how to present the best picture for the judges.

The purpose of every history awards program is to recognize meritorious programs, projects, publications, and individuals for the contribution made to the field of history and for their impact on the community. Nominating someone or something for an award is one way to accomplish our mission to be of service to our community and to the history field.

Now that we have "moved the rock," it is time to get our reward. The reward is really much more than a certificate presented at a gathering of our peers. It is an improved realization in our community of the significance of history. "Moving the rock" is well worth the effort.

John B. Briley is the manager of the Campus Martius and Ohio River Museums in Marietta, Ohio, and chair of the Ohio Association of Historical Societies &Museums' Awards Program.

The Local History Notebook is edited and published by the Ohio Historical Society's Local History Office in order to bring useful information to people working in the local history field. The selections of subjects and authors is based on inquiries to the Local History Office and on the editors' determination of issues which are timely in nature and lasting in scope. The reference inserts are copyrighted 1989 by the Ohio Historical Society. Reprints are available; please specify volume and number. For further information, contact: