Nikola Kitanovic, Webmaster
Absolut Awards (site closed)

I am both an award giver and an award seeker, and the status list does not mean anything to me personally. It is a temporary fad that was introduced some time ago by European award indexes which don't exist anymore.

Really, if you think about it, do you spend much time on the status list when you visit someone's award program? The answer is clearly "no, I do not!" You spend your time on other pages. I am one of those who would rather spend time studying the mission, criteria and features of the program.

If I applied for some award, would I go back later? Yes, I would. If the program was not interesting to me, I would never have applied for the award. When I visit the program again, I really don't go to see the status list. I just want to take another look at some of the things that interested me during my first visit.

If I win an award, I would rather be notified by email. I don't want to read about it in a status list. Waiting for the email creates an atmosphere of uncertainty and makes the whole process more interesting and mysterious. It's part of the charm of applying for awards, in my opinion.

Paul Moss, Webmaster
HomeGrown Award of Excellence

Are status pages helpful and what details should they include? A nice, tidy little two-part question. Part one: Are status pages helpful? To whom? The award program? Only if they are employed as a tool to keep track of applicants and their progress through the evaluation process, but it's a rather inefficient method. There are spreadsheets and databases that can do the job a lot better and with less effort.

How about the award applicant? Absolutely! A well thought out and maintained status page can be a tremendous help to applicants. How? Simple. If the status page is well planned and maintained, applicants can track their sites' progress ... relieving any suspense. Plain and simple.

Part two: What details should they include? Let's see ...

"Billy-Bob" has submitted his site to "Mary Lou's Marvelous Menagerie" award program and, since "MLMM" has a status page, he is tracking his progress. He really wants this award!

On this particular visit he sees that "Billy-Bob's Beautiful Bananas" has been disqualified. Poor Billy-Bob :( He's not only disappointed, but he is now publicly embarrassed. How can he face his online friends who have supported and encouraged him? What did "MLMM" do wrong? She gave too much information on her status page.

Now back to reality. I don't use a status page. My award program is small and reasonably well known. I get my share of traffic, but not enough for me to justify adding a status page yet. However, I understand the suspense an award applicant goes through, and I know how it feels to not win that much desired award. With this in mind, I believe that a status page should:

The codes will have to be sent to applicants by e-mail. The information presented in the status page should be short, sweet and to the point: Site Code, Application Received, Evaluation in Process and Evaluation Completed. "Billy-Bob" gets the progress information he wants, and his privacy is protected.

Jerry Tucker, Webmaster
JerryD's Online Award Program

Status pages are very important because most award seekers don't keep a list of the award sites they apply to. They can check the status page to see if they have already applied and avoid being rejected due to duplicate applications. Status pages also save award givers time and additional emails.

The status page we use is designed for 3 visits to the applicants' sites, the date they applied, and their URLs. We display a graphic for each visit and indicate whether the evaluation process is completed or pending. This way, award seekers can see where they stand during the process and, hopefully, will not re-apply for the same award.

Vitor Oliveira, Webmaster
BigEye Award Program

As an award program owner, I realize that a "status" page can be a valuable tool if properly incorporated into the awards program. However, they should be designed with the needs of the applicant in mind first.

After someone submits an application for an award, he is left wondering if it has been received or if his site is in the process of being evaluated. If the process takes more than a week, most applicants will begin to get anxious about their status. To relieve this anxiety, award owners can offer a courtesy or status page to keep them informed.

A status page, which applicants can check from time to time, will help to eliminate repeat applications and to maintain peaceful relations. It also allows applicants to see how many sites are in the queue ahead of them. A status page requires a little more effort on the award owner's part, but it adds to the commitment of the award program and shows respect to the applicants.

Applicants will realize they have applied to an awards program that is serious about providing an in-depth evaluation and awarding only those sites which meet the criteria. When compared to less credible award programs, which use the "give away" process and have little or no waiting time, it may encourage them to respect the evaluation process a little more.

Since serious evaluations can take some time, a status page will offer some comfort to applicants while they wait for their evaluations to be completed. Is it worth the effort? I think so, and I will do my best to continue to offer this courtesy.

Dave Edmonds, Webmaster
EddNet Awards (site closed)

Your average status page tells award seekers how far through the review their sites are and when the process will be complete. But is this really telling them any more than they already know? The award program will have already told them the expected time frame for evaluations, and all but the most eager of award seekers will be happy to sit and wait.

To justify the effort put into status pages, they need to offer something extra, something of real benefit for the award seeker. I think AljapaCo Webb Award has done this beautifully with its private feedback from the judges via password access. Now that's useful!

Personally, I do not have the time or resources to create anything more than a list of sites with a review status, and I have come to the conclusion that it would be a waste of my time anyway. I'd be spending a significant amount of time on a resource that would only be of use to very few of my applicants.

75% of my applicants don't bother to read the criteria, and another 20% just read the bare minimum. This leaves a maximum of 5% who are actually serious about winning my award. How many of these applicants will bother to check back after two weeks to find out where their sites are in the review process? I can't say. Not many, I would guess.

Even fewer will find any value in a status page, other than confirmation that their review is underway. A simple e-mail upon receiving their application, restating the evaluation period, will confirm this for them. So my time would be better spent elsewhere.

I'm not dismissing status pages as a bad idea. But in considering their use, you have to ask yourself if the award seeker will gain any real benefit from them. Would your time be better employed elsewhere, such as evaluating sites or providing a more personal service to those who genuinely want to earn your award?