So, you’ve all heard the news. The WITWA 2019 Tech [+] 20 Awards is officially open for nominations.

You may be considering a nomination for yourself or a colleague for the WiTWA Tech [+] 20 Awards or one of the many other industry or government award programs that exist.

Award programs have long been considered significant to professional development and for the contribution to a business profile in a myriad of ways. For women in particular, the mere act of applying for an award can be an empowering experience and provide the applicant with time to reflect on her strengths and skills in her industry. For women nominating other women, the experience is just as rewarding as we recognise and celebrate the achievements of our peers – plus being nominated by a colleague can sometimes be award enough!)

In previous WiTWA [+] TechXchanges we have heard from women who say that winning an award is a huge validation of their contribution from industry peers and experts. Some have told of winning awards as a way to generate recognition and promote belief in the work being done and others say that winning an award can be a strategic move in attracting investors and competitive staff.

There is no doubt from experts and those who have been through the process that the applications are often considered arduous and tend to have very particular nuances. Common issues include feeling overwhelmed by the process, not understanding the criteria, uncertainty as to how to make your application stand out and questions about how much of your story you should share.

This is where we come in; to help remove barriers and provide you with the tools, knowledge and confidence to focus your efforts and slay that application!

Cue ‘award submissions whisperer’ Sarah Mitchell.

Having spent time on both ends of awards, Sarah, founder of Typeset and Global Copywriting (and originally a software developer) understands what needs to happen to win – and sometimes what happens instead.

Join Sarah at this exclusive WiTWA Workshop for practical tips to tackle your award nominations. But wait, there’s more because you only get one chance to make the best impression.

In addition to basic award submission rules, Sarah will also provide recommendations on:

· How to make your submission more ‘readable’
· How to make your writing concise so it fits into word count limits
- Making sure you don't miss any good bits
· Removing gobbledygook (an official term)
· The elements to telling your best story

To avoid the dreaded writer’s cramp, Sarah has generously offered to provide all attendees with a copy of her presentation.

Please note that as the event will be held during business hours, the Workshop will commence at promptly at 1pm to allow for a strict finish time of 2pm to help you fit this into your busy schedules.

Agenda:
12.45pm: Registration and "kind-working"
1pm - 2pm: Award Application Workshop with Sarah Mitchell
2pm - 2.30pm: Additional time for Q&A and Award nomination/submission
We have allocated an extra 30 minutes at the end of the Workshop for those who have questions from the session or wish to jump online and nominate themselves or a colleague while everything is still fresh.

Please note that neither Sarah or WiTWA Committee members can provide specific advice/coaching on submissions related to the WiTWA Tech [+] awards – this is to ensure a fair process for all (award nominations close 31 July 2019).

Light refreshments will be provided.

Who is Sarah Mitchell?

Sarah Mitchell, has been working in content marketing since 1996. She loves helping customers convert their content initiatives into long-term business assets and is a proponent of the brand newsroom model of content marketing. When she’s not immersed in strategy or consulting, Sarah conducts messaging and writing workshops to make the world a better place for readers everywhere.

Sarah’s work has placed her as winner and finalist for the Content Marketing Awards in multiple categories over several years. Her writing has been published in five countries. Something of a professional vagabond, she lives on the west coast of Australia, preferring sunshine and sandy beaches to the snow and ice of her native Michigan. Sarah is the Australian Consulting Editor at the Content Marketing Institute. After a four year run on Brand Newsroom, her new podcast is Marketing Breakout. Find her on Twitter at @SarahMitchellOz

In addition to all that amazing-ness, WiTWA has a special connection with Sarah as she served on the WiTWA Committee from June 2009 to June 2014 managing our online and social networking presence. So this is if you can see her, you can be her in action!

With all our 2019 TechXChange events selling out, we suggest you secure your tickets early. Unfortunately, refunds cannot be processed directly on the Humanitix platform (please contact WiTWA to request a refund), however 100% of all Humanitix profits will go towards supporting literacy programmes for young girls.