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General Information
- What is AwardSync?
- What types of awards will I find on AwardSync?
- What is the cost of using AwardSync?
- What is AwardSync News?
- Can AwardSync and mBLAST help me manage my awards?
- How do I get started with AwardSync?
- How are AwardSync and mBLAST related?
Listing Your Awards Programs
- How do I post my awards program using AwardSync?
- After I have posted my award program in AwardSync, can I make changes to it?
- I already see some of my awards programs listed in AwardSync. How did they get there? Can I edit them?
- Can I send you a file of all of my awards programs to load into AwardSync?
- I don't see an AwardSync industry that exactly matches my awards program. What should I do?
Finding an Awards Program to Participate In
- What's the best way for me to find an appropriate awards program in AwardSync? By industry? Keyword?
- I don't see an industry that matches my needs exactly. What should I do?
- What is Saved Search and how do I use it?
- Does AwardSync Search work like Google Search?
- What search terms can I use?
- Does AwardSync support Boolean Searches (eg., AND, OR)?
- If I use multiple words, does AwardSync treat this as a phrase or as individual words?
- What is AwardSync?
AwardSync is a free online global resource that synchronizes and facilitates the sharing of information between awards program organizers seeking to increase participation in their awards programs and the marketing and PR professionals seeking to win those awards.
If you are an Awards Program Organizer, AwardSync lets you:
- Post and promote your awards programs;
- Include qualifying information, participation milestones, deadlines, fees and much more;
- Provide tips to help prospective participants enter and win your awards;
- Link your awards programs to your marketing and PR efforts, including any number of Web sites, blogs, press releases, plus media alerts via email, direct mail and social media.
If you are a Marketing Executive or Public Relations Professional, AwardSync lets you:
- Find applicable awards programs for your company, your products/services - and, if you're a PR representative, for your clients;
- See at-a-glance all key awards program milestones and deadlines;
- Keep abreast of important awards program news, changes and scuttlebutt that can impact your participation and even give you a winning advantage;
- Develop your own unique strategy and tactics that will help you get noticed and win awards.
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- What types of awards will I find on AwardSync?
AwardSync does not focus on any specific industry or vertical market. AwardSync has designated dozens of general categories under which awards opportunities can be posted. By responding to a series of detailed questions, awards organizers ensure their awards programs will be properly classified. Awards organizers can also create and use "tags" to label their awards programs with more detail. By using specific keywords, prospective participants can easily find awards programs appropriate to their industry. Return to top
- What is the cost of using AwardSync?
There is no cost. AwardSync is a FREE online service for award organizers and sponsors that host awards programs and for awards candidates, i.e., marketing executives and the PR professionals that represent them. Return to top
- What is AwardSync News?
AwardSync News is the first online resource to offer awards program managers and participants updated news and analysis from throughout the global awards industry.
Regular AwardSync News features, articles and advice include:
- Newly launched awards opportunities
- Tips and tricks for improving participation
- Awards industry survey results and research;
- Interviews with awards managers from various industries;
- Articles by guest columnists and awards management experts
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- Can AwardSync and mBLAST help me manage my awards?
AwardSync helps you publicize and promote your awards program. To manage your awards programs you may benefit by checking out mBLAST's Awards Management module, which is widely used and economically feasible for use with both large global and small regional awards programs.
Like AwardSync, mBLAST's Awards Management solution is a highly automated SaaS platform that will streamline all phases of your awards program, such as dealing with participants and judges, tabulation of winners, ecommerce, financial reporting and an abundance of useful data and statistics.
Our Awards Management platform is the only "enterprise-grade" awards solution on the market. Yet it is also highly affordable and in almost all instances easily cost justified. Users routinely report that mBLAST's Awards Management saves them 75% or more of the cost of their old manual or semi-automated way of managing their awards programs. To learn more, click here. Return to top
- How do I get started with AwardSync?
Whether you want to win awards or announce your awards program to prospective participants, the first step is to register.
As soon as you are registered, you can begin using AwardSync to search for awards or post your awards -- all free of charge. Return to top
- How are AwardSync and mBLAST related?
AwardSync is one of more than 70 powerful SaaS marketing modules developed by mBLAST.
AwardSync users can also power their marketing efforts with such mBLAST solutions for awards and events, including mBLAST's Awards Management solution,
Directory solution, Media Credentialing solution, and EventSync, which allows you to post your event once through mBLAST and immediately have it distributed to any number of sites across the Web.
Also, once posted to the Web, any data in any mBLAST module can be refreshed at will and the update will be immediately distributed throughout the Web with just that single data entry. Return to top
- How do I post my awards program using AwardSync?
Posting your awards program in AwardSync is easy! Once you are registered you simply log in to your AwardSync account. Click the "Promote" tab at the top of the page. Enter your awards information as prompted and then click "Publish" to post your program to AwardSync. Your awards program will be immediately accessible to the global AwardSync community.
In addition, the standard data engines, such as Google, Yahoo! and others will quickly pick up on your AwardSync posting. Return to top
- After I have posted my award program in AwardSync, can I make changes to it?
Absolutely! A major benefit of AwardSync is your ability to continuously expand and update the information you make available to the AwardSync community, especially so to those marketing and PR professionals interested in nominating their company, products/services and executives for your awards.
As plans for your awards program evolve, so does the information you want to post. You might have only preliminary information about an awards program that's six months away from accepting participants(nominees and judges), but you may still want to get a "save the date" announcement out there. As more data becomes available, your 24/7 access to AwardSync allows you to refine and update important information, such as your call for entries, application open and close dates, early-bird discounts, etc. Return to top
- I already see some of my awards programs listed in AwardSync. How did they get there? Can I edit them?
AwardSync is programmed to find already announced awards programs and post them to the AwardSync site. This functionality works to encourage prospective awards program nominees to think of AwardSync as their go-to source of information about upcoming awards programs.
When you register in AwardSync, any awards program(s) already listed under your company name will be available for you to edit and update. You can also add other awards programs. If you need to manage multiple programs under multiple brands, we can help you do so. Just contact mBLAST Customer Service for free assistance.
If you see your awards program listed in AwardSync, but it don't appear in your account when your log in, contact mBLAST Customer Service for free assistance. Return to top
- Can I send you a file of all of my awards programs to load into AwardSync?
Yes! But, even if you have only two or three awards programs to enter into AwardSync, consider using one or more of our APIs (application programming interfaces) to make things easier over the long term. This way whenever you make a change in your system that change will be automatically reflected in AwardSync. How's that for efficiency?
Alternatively, if you already have your data in an Excel or other file format, just drop a note to mBLAST Customer Service and we would be happy to help you to load your information on AwardSync. For free! Return to top
- I don't see an AwardSync industry that exactly matches my awards program. What should I do?
If you find no industry listed that properly fits your awards program, find the closest match or enter your keyword(s) into the "Other" field at the very bottom of the Marketing Profile list of industries. Be sure to provide industry-specific tags (keywords) pertinent to your awards program so would-be participants can more easily find your program using AwardSyncs advanced search capabilities.
Also, feel free to drop us a note at mBLAST Customer Service with suggestions for new AwardSync industries. Our job at AwardSync is to make your job as an awards program manager easier and more productive. Return to top
- What's the best way for me to find an appropriate awards program in AwardSync? By industry? Keyword?
With AwardSync you can search both by industry and keyword.
Most new visitors to the AwardSync site find it helpful to browse the awards database by industry to get a general understanding of how the search process works. Then they narrow their focus by searching for specific keywords within a specific category or industry using our on-screen Advanced Search filters. Return to top
- I don't see an industry that matches my needs exactly. What should I do?
If you cannot find a specific industry listed that adequately describes the type of awards program you want to compete in, start your search with keywords that are specific to your industry. You can then further narrow your search, if needed, by using specific Advanced Search filters. Return to top
- What is Saved Search and how do I use it?
Saved Search is an automated AwardSync feature that allows you to set up your own parameters for an ongoing search for newly listed awards programs you might want to participate in. You'll be notified by an email alert of each new awards program that meets your search parameters. Simply click the link in that email to view each new awards listing. It's that easy!
Saved Search is the best way to keep up with the latest awards being offered in your industry. If you're not finding exactly the right awards program(s) you want, you can always refine your Saved Search parameters. You can also run any number of different Saved Searches at the same time.
To use Saved Search most effectively, you should conduct your search and filter it using the options in the left navigation menu. Note that you can filter even further by using Advanced Search. When you are satisfied with your filter selections, click Save Search and confirm your search parameters. New results matching your search criteria will be sent to you directly via e-mail as they develop. If you click the link contained in the email, you will be able to peruse the details of your latest new awards opportunity, including yet another link to its online registration form. Return to top
- Does AwardSync Search work like Google Search?
Yes. We support all the same principles as other major search engines. The type and quality of results you return will be based heavily on the keywords you choose to search against. Go too broad -- "Internet" -- and your results will be too unwieldy to return meaningful information. Too specific -- "1800CDF broadband edge routers" and your results may return too few results. Return to top
- What search terms can I use?
Search terms can be entered as individual words or phrases using common search methods (outlined below). Note that unlike articles and websites, there is not a lot of awards profile text for our search technology to index, which means that you many need to use different words to get all of your results. For instance, searching for "mobile" might not yield all awards with "cellular" in them, if the Awards Program Manager did not use both words in their description. Return to top
- Does AwardSync support Boolean Searches (eg., AND, OR)?
Yes, just like Google. When you want to search multiple words together, type between the words and AwardSync will only give results that contain all the words (as opposed to giving results that contain any of them).
Ex. If you wanted to find manufacturing awards that pertained only to a particular industry, say the apparel industry, you would search for .
OR. If your search is too narrow, you can broaden it by using between the phrases. mBLAST will find results that mention either term. OR may also be used when you have several different terms that describe the same thing.
Ex. Let's say you wanted to find executive awards from a few specific industries, you might type . Return to top
- If I use multiple words, does AwardSync treat this as a phrase or as individual words?
Like Google, if you enter multiple words, AwardSync will treat this as individual words and return results with some or all of the words listed. If you want it to be a phrase, like "Entrepreneur of the Year", then you need to put it in quotes. Return to top
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