Did you know that the Hot Companies and Best Products Award plaques and trophies are made by the same company that makes the Oscar®, Emmy®, and other major awards?

What do you and your organization want to be recognized for? People, Products, Customer Wins, Company’s Performance, Growth, Successful Deployments, White Papers… all of the above? And even more? Here are 10 Important Tips that may prove helpful and will enable you to file entries that will be noticed by the judges:

1. Do File Nominations: The most important advice is to file nominations because you will never win if you don't file nominations. Nominate now. There are several sections each having it's own set of categories to choose from.

2. Stay Updated On the Awards Program: Subscribe to our eUpdates. If you are our key contact then you may already be subscribed to receive eUpdates on this and all our other award programs. If not, then subscribe now so that we can keep you updated.

3. Plan in advance Who or What You Want To Nominate: This award program is divided into several major sections enabling you to nominate excellence in every area. Learn more about the various categories in each section. Plan what type of content to submit for each category.

4. Nominate in several sections: The major sections consist of CIO of the Year, Project of the Year and Security/IT Department; People - Management, Professionals and Teams Categories;Hot Companies and Organizations from all over the World Categories; Hot Technologies Categories; Best Products and Services Categories; New Products and/or Products on announcement embargo Category; Deployments and Case Studies; White Papers, Technology Write-ups, Websites, Blogs and Facebook Page Categories; PR and Marketing Campaign Categories; Product Management and Engineering Categories; Partner Programs Categories;and Support and Customer Satisfaction Categories.

5. Involve Your Company's Executives and Clients too: Achievements should never go unrecognized. These awards cover the widest range of recognitions and achievements in the industry. So nominate your company executives and your most important clients too for their achievements. You will be able to share and celebrate the success together at the awards banquet dinner in San Francisco bringing together people from all over the world in the security industry. It's also an excellent way to bond with your most valued clients. 

6. Raise Your Level of Participation by Becoming a Sponsor: Sponsorships start from US$7,500 - these are industry awards and there are various opportunities to gain visibility such as through Sponsorship Opportunities, Guaranteed 1:1 Executive Video Interviews, Pitch Your Product to a world-class Live Audience, and Heightening Awareness through the printed Events Guide.

7. Prepare Your Entries in Advance: We are not looking for out-of-this-world achievements. In fact start-ups and large established companies have an equal chance of getting the judges attention if your story is well written, brief, to the point and highlights achievements clearly. So prepare draft copies of your content before submission, review and then submit final copies. Sometimes a nomination may be suitable for more than one category, so nominate in all the other categories too. This may increase the chances of becoming a finalist and eventually a winner.

8. Submit Your Entries By The Entry Deadline: It is important that you submit your entries by the deadlines. Early-bird deadlines will enable you to file your nominations at substantially discounted fees. Even though we will accept late-entries as per the timelines of this awards program, late and higher fees will be applicable if accepted. Read more about the fees and deadlines.

9. Volunteer To Be A Judge: These are industry recognitions and awards. Therefore it is important that key executives from your company volunteer to participate in the judging process. Apply now to be a preliminary judge.If selected, you will be able to see the entries submitted by others. However, you will not be able to judge your own submissions.

Questions/Comments - send email to nominations [@] networkproductsguide [dot] com