And the winner is………!
Hello ,
If you live in small business land, you know it’s AWARDS SEASON!!
And unless you live under a rock, you’ve noticed the once-every-four-year festival of athletic excellence: the Olympics. How good are they?
These events have had me thinking about chasing excellence and trying your best despite the odds.
And the winner is…So far, not WorkLife. But not for lack of trying!
This year is the first since our launch in 2017 that I felt we should throw our hat in the ring. With an EXCELLENT team of wordsmiths and the productivity boost from ChatGPT, we went AWARDS CRAZY and were blessed with the following:
- FINALIST: Local Business Awards, Wollondilly
- FINALIST: Flexible Workspace Australia/Design Awards
- SPECIAL COMMENDATION: Flexible Workspace Australia/Diversity and Inclusion Awards
We’re still in the running for:
- FINALIST: NSW Business Awards, Illawarra (announced Sept.)
- FINALIST: NSW Business Awards, Shoalhaven (announced Fri, 16/8)
- FINALIST: Inaugural Berry Business Awards- Professional Services
- FINALIST: Inaugural Berry Business Awards- MVP Community Supporter
**(More about this one to come, but public voting closes Sunday @ 5 pm. We would LOVE you to vote for us here– especially for the community support category takes 2 mins max)
I’ve been ruminating on the effort, expense, time, energy, and emotional rollercoaster of putting your best foot forward and waiting to be called up to the dais.
It’s easier not to try. Not winning can be disappointing and feels like letting your team down. I’ve thought about conflicts of interest in some award designs, the cost of tickets to ceremonies, and the pressure to spend on advertising with regional media that may not work—but might make the difference between winning and losing.
To appease myself, hedge against disappointment, and solve the insanity of writing lengthy submissions judged by politicking committees, I leaned into my role as President of the Berry Chamber of Commerce & Tourism and helped design the ULTIMATE SMALL BUSINESS AWARDS for our little village.
Entry is automatic, costs nothing, and is based on a combination of positive reviews and public votes. The judging criteria is transparent, merit-based, and virtually automated. I think this is the way of the future for awards, and I can’t wait for it to take hold!
Check out the very nerdy formula here- Berry Business Awards Judging Criteria
As you tune into the last week of the Olympics, watch those who, despite being the best athlete in their sport at home, come fourth in the final and are crushed by disappointment- my heart aches for them- you are winners people, don’t forget it!
To help you keep the Olympic flame burning next week, we’ve crowdsourced from the WorkLife Community some of their FAVOURITE sports-related documentaries and series. There are great life lessons in this curated list for the whole family below.
Awards are like crack to the competitive spirit, and striving for excellence drives innovation. But I can’t wait for award season to end so we can return to normal programming at WorkLife—where every day, we welcome our community of generous, creative, connected, and hardworking members, regardless of whether they win, lose, or draw.
- PS: This FRIDAY is International Coworking Day—We’d LOVE to see you if you’ve been thinking of visiting. RSVP here for Berry, Coledale or Picton or make the most of our new cheaper pricing for 1, 2 and 3 day week memberships any time!
PPS: After all that palaver about awards…I’d REALLY love it if you could vote for WorkLife in the inaugural Berry Good Business Awards—the MVP Community category is closest to my heart- so your vote in that category, before Sunday would be much appreciated! Link is here.
Fingers Crossed,
Kate
