The TopClass Blog

For your association's award winners, months of hope and anticipation culminate in a fleeting moment on stage. They get their 15 minutes of fame and then, like a kid on the day after Christmas, they must return to their regular lives. 

But why must the recognition end there? Award winners have stories of success to share—stories with lessons for others. Before moving on to next year’s awards cycle, turn these success stories into educational content. Repurposing awards content is a shortcut solution for a time-starved staff and a triple win for everyone.  

• Award recipients enjoy additional recognition and publicity 

• Members get timely and relatable educational content  

• Staff save hours of time by repurposing content instead of creating it from scratch 

Benefits of repurposing awards content  

By repurposing their success stories, you give award winners extended recognition. This publicity enhances their reputation and their personal or company brand.  

These success stories help spread the word about your awards program. By repurposing stories into educational content, members see the awards as a program that’s visible throughout the year, not just a one-night occasion. 

Award winners are models of excellence for members. Stories about a volunteer’s contribution inspire participation. Innovative practices, accomplishments, and industry-leading products and services inspire individuals and companies to aim higher. 

Ask award winners for testimonials to use in promotions for volunteering or education program participation.  

Deepen your association’s relationship with winners by scheduling conversations to learn more about their projects and accomplishments. 

Repurposing reduces staff time spent on sourcing and developing new content for educational programs, articles, newsletters, and conference sessions. Member success stories are more relatable to learners and industry professionals. 

7 ways to repurpose awards content 

Some people detest webinars but are addicted to podcasts. Others make time to read but rarely watch videos. Repurpose award winner stories in multiple ways so you reach everyone. 

1. Webinar series 💻

Dedicate a series of webinars to interviews with winners. Go in depth on their path to success and draw out lessons learned along the way. Talk about the skills and experiences that helped them get to where they are today. 

If their award recognizes a successful project, discuss project goals, strategies, decisions, obstacles, proudest moments, and lessons learned. Highlight innovative practices. 

2. Podcast series 🎙️

From the start, plan to turn your webinar series into a podcast series. Think also about sponsorship opportunities for the entire series or separate episodes. 

3. Articles and other reading materials 📖

Turn interview transcripts into articles and blog posts. Link to related association content.  

Based on your interviews, create a guide that walks readers through the steps or elements of award-winning initiatives. Use this guide as a marketing lead magnet for non-members. If they want to download it, they first have to provide their email address. 

If an award winner used specific products or services, ask those vendors if they’d like to sponsor an article about the project. Keep the focus on education, not promotion. 

Put together a report on innovative practices, trends, and developments revealed by award-winning submissions. Ask judges about trends they observed in applications and their insight on where the industry is headed or what members need to keep on their radar. 

Share micro-learning excerpts in newsletters and on social media with links to related educational content.  

Ask judges for tips on submitting a winning award application. Share these tips on your awards website or in webinars for prospective award applicants.  

4. Conference sessions and other programs 💡

Take a thematic approach to sessions featuring award winners. Group two or three winners together who had similar goals or wanted to solve similar problems and can illustrate different paths to those goals.  

Go in depth with one award winner in a case study session. Since time has passed since they applied for the award, ask them to discuss what’s happened since and what their plans are for the future. 

Schedule an innovation showcase with multiple award winners. 

5. Video series 📼

Take snippets of different webinar and podcast interviews and turn them into a video focused on one topic. 

Ask award winners to participate in workforce development and career development videos. Discuss what it’s like on the job, their career path, their goals and aspirations now and in the past, and their advice for those who are coming up behind or considering a career in the industry or profession. 

6. Virtual roundtables 🌐

Schedule virtual roundtables featuring an award winner and volunteer facilitator. Ask winners to share their story and answer questions related to the project, their career, and/or their company.  

Consider the Ask Me (or Us) Anything format for these events. If you invite more than one award winner to participate, they’re more likely to accept your invitation because they won’t be alone in the spotlight. But if you know they enjoy the spotlight, let them do a solo act.  

7. Online courses 🖥️

Review the curriculum for your online courses. Do any winner case studies fit into a course as a current example of popular strategies, tactics, or skills in practice?  

Strike while the iron is hot! Take advantage of the goodwill you have with award winners. Soon after the awards gala, invite them to contribute to your association’s educational programs. Approach them with several ideas with varying time commitments—and ask for their ideas too.  

Award programs are a gold mine of educational content possibilities. But where do you keep all this valuable content? If a new learning management system (LMS) is in your future, prepare your team for the project with our Ultimate Guide to LMS Selection & Implementation.