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COMMUNICATOR AWARD CRITERIA
COMMUNICATOR AWARD OBJECTIVE
To recognize NAE4-HYDP members for significant accomplishments in presenting 4-H to the general public, civic groups, 4-H groups, or individuals through public information methods.
ELIGIBILITY
- All active and life members are eligible to submit awards.
- Applicants must have been an active member the year prior to applying as well as the current year of application. If there are additional requirements of membership for the award, these requirements take precedence over this eligibility requirement.
- Membership status is determined using the NAE4-HYDP database as of January 31 of current year.
- Multi-State entries are to be submitted in the State and Region of the primary applicant. The primary applicant should come from the state with the most members on the team.
- Applications that do not follow the instructions and provide appropriate documentation will be noted in judging process as incomplete. These applications will not be considered for the award but will be evaluated.
GENERAL APPLICATION PROCEDURES
- All submissions must use the online submissions process. No late entries will be accepted. Incomplete applications will be disqualified.
- A separate submission must be completed for each award in which a member is submitting.
- Entries must be for materials produced/completed from January 1 to December 31, 2023.
- Entries must be the original work of the applicant/nominee or team.
- Previous national award winners may not enter the same class in consecutive years.
- Identical entries may not be submitted in more than one class.
- Rules and guidelines for each award will be strictly enforced.
- Applicants will not be able to add names of team members or information to their award application once it has been submitted.
- Communicator awards will be judged at the State, Regional and National Level.
- All National awards will be presented at the NAE4-HYDP Conference. Regional awards will be presented at the appropriate regional event during the NAE4-HYDP Conference.
- For team awards, at least one member of the team must be an NAE4-HYDP member and meet the eligibility requirements to apply. Team awards are limited to 10 members (applicant and up to 9 other individuals).
- For those award categories that do not have separate individual and team divisions, both individuals and teams may apply.
COMMUNICATOR AWARD ENTRY SPECIFICATIONS
- Each entry must include an abstract. The abstract should include the following information listed below.
- Objectives: What are the goals of the entry? List what you tried to accomplish with the entry.
- Target Audience: Identify the target audience, for example a news article might target daily readers or a promotional flyer for 4-H Day Camp might target 9-11 year old youth.
- Current Population: Once you have identified the target audience, give the current population of the audience. This could be general population of your county or area, number of subscribers to newspaper or 4-H youth enrolled in your program or event.
- Publisher's Requirements: List requirements for submission of items such as news articles, radio/audio programs, video programs, etc. Include how the editor wants the article and photos submitted. For audio/video programs what are the requirements for production and publishing online. If your university marketing department requires you to include appropriate Extension logos on items, closed captioning on videos, or other requirements, include that information. If you use outside printing businesses what are their requirements.
- Methods Used: Describe any methods utilized to develop the entry item. This may include recording methods for items such as media presentations, online blogs, videos, podcasts, etc. It may also include sources read, information gathered for entries such as educational pieces, educational packages, media presentations, etc.
- Production Costs: List the estimated costs to create, publish, distribute, etc. for your entry. For some items the cost might be zero but for most entries there is a supply cost. You might also include the value of your time to create the product if you don’t have any expenses associated with printing, etc.
- Impact Results: Include results as a result of your entry such as knowledge change, participation increases, funds raised, etc. if those are known at the time of the entry.
- Information on the role the applicant had in the entry: This is important on team entries. List the roles for each person in developing the entry.
- Other information as outlined on each award description/score sheet
- Abstracts may be uploaded in PDF. Create the document using an 8.5 x 11” layout with one-inch margins, single-spaced, 12-point font and a maximum length of three (3) pages.
- We recognize the changing tools needed by 4-H professionals to be successful. Entries that incorporate newer technology tools like podcasts, blogs, video, etc. are encouraged. Keep in mind that judging continues through June and multiple judges will need to access any online content, so be sure that your submission remains available throughout the judging period.
AWARDS
Communicator Awards are sponsored by Fair Publishing House.
- National winners will receive plaques. National winners for teams being honored will receive one plaque and all team members will receive certificates.
- Regional winners will receive certificates.
COMMUNICATOR AWARDS CLASSES
- Educational Package (Individual and Team categories)
- Educational Piece (Individual and Team categories)
- Exhibit
- Feature Story
- Media Presentation
- News Story
- Periodical Publication (Individual and Team categories)
- Personal Column
- Promotional Package (Individual and Team categories)
- Promotional Piece (Individual and Team categories)
- Published Photo
- Radio/Audio Program
- Social Media Piece (Individual and Team categories)
- Social Media Package/Campaign (Individual and Team categories)
- Video Program