By Amber Wiseman
As more and more of the world around us turns to paperless everything, effective communication is becoming increasingly important. But how do we convey everything we have to say quickly enough that we don't fall victim to the short attention span scroll? By producing relevant, attention-grabbing content – that's how! USDF aims to reward Group Member Organizations (GMOs) that produce that content through their GMO Awards program, specifically the annual GMO Newsletter Awards.
Developed to recognize the outstanding efforts of clubs to produce quality newsletters, the annual GMO Newsletter Awards are presented in two categories: Best First Person Experience Article and Best General Interest Article.
GMOs that produce newsletters to distribute to their membership use this as a vehicle to pass valuable information about both national and local dressage happenings, remind readers of upcoming relevant deadlines, promote educational and competitive opportunities, and to celebrate the accomplishments of their members.
Many GMOs offer their own awards and grants programs and, often, one of the requirements for participation in these awards programs is an agreement to submit an article for the newsletter, outlining how a grant or award was used. These articles communicate to other members the benefits of participating in educational programs and applying for grants or scholarships, which in turn promotes the overall mission of the GMO and participation of future members. Many of the GMO Newsletter Award nominated works were written and published as a result of these GMO grants and awards.
What can you write about that your GMO could nominate for a GMO Newsletter Award? Anything, really! Some past nominated article topics have included insights from a first-time volunteer, conquering rider fear after injury, tips for improving your performance in competition, and the benefits of volunteering as a scribe.
The two GMO Newsletter Awards are broken down into four size categories within the article types, determined by the number of members of the nominating GMO. Category 1 is for GMOs with less than 75 members, Category 2 is for GMOs with 75-174 members, Category 3 is for those with 175-499 members, and Category 4 is for those with 500+ members, with a winner being declared in each. This gives GMOs the opportunity to be compared to those with equal resources, creating a more level playing field.
Judged by a panel appointed by USDF's Group Member Organizations Committee, nominations are judged based on the following elements: thesis, focus, insight, subject support, creativity, clarity, organization, voice, sentence structure and word usage, and usefulness. Articles must be in text format and must have been published during the current awards year (September 1-August 31). Any Group Member Organization in good standing with USDF may submit its own article, published in its own newsletter for the GMO Newsletter Awards.
The winning newsletter article of each category is presented at the Board of Governors General Assembly held at the Adequan®/USDF Annual Convention. In categories where awarded, honorable mentions are also announced at that time.
Winners are published in the USDF Connection yearbook issue (January/February), as well as on YourDressage in the Group Member Organization section over the course of the following year.
The winning GMO in each category also receives one free 1/6-page black and white ad in USDF Connection!
As an annual award contest, nominations are due by August 31 each year.
To see the 2023 GMO Newsletter Awards, click here. Find a Group Member Organization near you!
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