If you won an award as the result of spam, would you want it?  Apparently the folks at the Stevie Awards for Women in Business think you would. They have spammed me to help them judge the overwhelming number of entries they have gotten worldwide.  If you spam, surely you consider your email public garbage worthy of being blown about in the digital wind — so I set it free here below.

I’ve never heard of these awards, have never met or heard of the person emailing me, and certainly don’t have time to dedicate to an organization unknown to me.  Funny that they promote themselves as “the world’s premier business awards competitions.”  Pretty amateur in my book.

I wonder how many serious-minded business professionals would want their accomplishments and applications thrown out across the Net for random judging by whoever happens to have time?  One simply clicks on a link, self-reports and is given “credentials” to judge.   

It’s one thing for the Stevie Awards for Women in Business to be unprepared for judging, to market in a way that damages any hope of being a serious award, and to annoy serious professionals.  It is quite another to actually dishonor women in business by treating their applications and hopes for recognition with the indignity of spam.  Shame on Stevie.

Here’s the ridiculous email, should any strangers out there want to throw their random hats in the ring — credentials are just a click away.  If you respect women, you will do what I did — share this as a shocking misstep, and disregard the Stevie Awards for Women in Business as a load of bunk run by amateurs.  I have removed key details in the links and phone numbers to protect the privacy of the sender, and to to protect you from the spam.  If only the organizers had expressed the same respect for the privacy of the women who applied for this award.

So, to the Stevie Awards: Thanks for writing.  My reply is, I believe, a rather explicit “no!”


Patrick, the Stevie Awards need your help. We've received a record number of entries for the 5th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business
and we need more preliminary judges to review the entries and determine this year's Finalists. Can you help?

Even if you can spend only an hour participating as a judge over the next 10 days, your participation would be invaluable. All judging is
conducted online, and you can do it at your convenience, any time day or night.

We've received nominations of women entrepreneurs and executives from around the worldwide, and I'm sure you'll find their stories inspiring.

If you can dedicate some time to judging between now and October 11, please complete the brief form at http://www.....
That will put your details in the judging system. Once you've done that, we'll issue judging credentials and instructions to you by email.

Please contact me if you have any questions about the judging process.

Thanks in advance for your help!

Michael Gallagher
President
The Stevie Awards
michael@xxxxx
703-xxx-xxxx

To read more articles by Patrick Davis, click here.

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