Digital Discourse / Uncategorized

Content CODiE Awards: Tips & Tricks for CODiE Success

September 13, 2012 By

Yesterday we hosted a webinar about the 2013 CODiE Awards specifically for the Content categories. The purpose of the webinar was to make sure you know about the important changes we made to the content categories and process, including the addition/revision of several categories for a total of 28 content related categories.

During the webinar we covered:

• How to nominate
• What happens during the first-round judging process
• The complete CODiE Awards timeline
• Content categories
• Our all-new Buyer Review program

We were especially pleased to have two guests join us for the webinar: Michael Bird, President of NetProspex, a 2012 SIIA CODiE Award winner, as well as longtime CODiE Awards judge Angus Robertson, Media Consultant for Robinson Advisors.
Michael provided invaluable information on how NetProspex has been able to leverage their CODiE Award win (very interesting stuff, so more on that in a future blog post!). But what I want to focus on here is the great advice and tips both Michael and Angus provided to help you prepare for your first-round review, including:

• As soon as you receive judge assignments, reach out to them immediately to select a date that best suits their schedules for your product demo.
• Do your best to arrange for a live demo versus a pre-recorded version.
• Remember, your demo is not a sales pitch, but a product demo.
• Have your most knowledgeable person conduct the demo i.e. someone from the product team.
• Use the SIIA judging criteria to help structure your demo.

Watch the webinar to hear everything that Michael and Angus had to say, in addition to the information we provided. And remember, nominations for the Content categories must be submitted by Friday, September 28.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards

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Filed Under: CODiEs, Content, Content Events, Information Industry Summit, Uncategorized

Rock Your Demo and Maximize Your Win: Tips from a CODiE Awards Winner

September 13, 2012 By

I spoke with Craig McGuire, Product Marketing Manager for LexisNexis® Web Visibility Solutions (Websites/SEO/Social Media Products). Last year was Craig’s first time managing the submission process for his group of products, and it resulted in a win. LexisNexis® Client Center won the 2012 CODiE Award in Best Legal Solution.

What was the best part about winning?

To compete effectively as a product marketing manager, I need to identify our competitive differentiators. With the LexisNexis Client Center, our competitive advantage is inherent in the product itself, but we also need independent third-party validation to promote that value. That is what we achieved with our CODiE Award win. It’s not only the award itself–it’s the substance of the organization that backs the CODiE Awards that made it so attractive.

Keep in mind that participating requires a level of investment. It’s not only the fee, it’s actually the time and effort preparing the nomination and presentation, and then performing the demonstration. There is a lot of internal coordination. For a solution as complex as LexisNexis® Client Center, a number of different product managers are involved.

The value that we get is really the independent third-party validation from an organization of the caliber of SIIA. This is very important for us. SIIA has strong brand recognition. You folks also differentiate yourself with the way you structure and organize the competition, from the caliber of the judges, to the very fact that the judging is done on site or over web conference. It’s actually a live judging and demonstration. As someone who is participating, it gives you a reassurance that it is a sound judging process. If you are going to take the time to participate in a competition, it’s important to know that it is a fair and sound judging process. I can’t say enough about the quality of the judges. We had two judges who understood the unique challenges of the legal vertical, as well as the knowledge of the technology. They had a good base of knowledge to effectively and fairly judge the solution.

How did you announce and promote your company’s CODiE Award win?

I map out a whole project plan, just like I would for a product launch or a feature launch. It’s a major project if our award wins, so we create a basic project plan, and map out how we are going to promote and communicate it internally and externally. Internally, it’s a big morale booster. It’s a competitive industry, and everyone has their heads down, working very hard toward the same goal, so this recognition is rewarding. Externally, we issued a press release through a wire service and we posted a blog about it. Because this specific solution is a feature in multiple products, we revised all of our product brochures and sales presentations. We made it available through the iPad and PowerPoint versions of sales presentation and featured it on our website. We made sure we got that extra marketing cache that comes along with the SIIA brand and the CODiE Awards brand.

What advice would you give to a company nominating for a CODiE Award for the first time?

Listen to Wendy! (laughs) I remember that there was a best practices webinar. I enter several competitions for various products and features, and I don’t see organizers taking the time to provide the webinar like you guys did. It provided a forum where we could ask questions, and getting that first person instruction was very helpful. It answered a lot of questions I might have had, and made the nominations much easier.

Also, make sure you have a presenter who is charismatic and also understands the vertical and the benefits that the solution provides, not just the features. The presenter should understand the solution’s place in the market, and its reason for being. We take time to research our market and develop products that solve problems, and you need someone who is familiar with that whole product development cycle, someone who can articulate why your solution is great and what needs it serves. If you want to make a connection with the judges, it’s more than just the features–you really have to understand the benefits.

Lastly, I would say invest in your demo. This is something you can use for marketing in the future. With LexisNexis Client Center, we have a nice demo that we put on our YouTube channel and our website for sales enablement. Invest in a demonstration that you can send as a video to the judges, and that you can repurpose in your marketing.

Why do you think your product won?

One of the big reasons why I think it won (and it seems really obvious) is the legal-vertical specificity. We have been developing website solutions for more than a decade now, and the company as a whole has been in the legal industry for more than 100 years. We really understand the legal vertical. There are many cloud solutions out there for document sharing and data storage, but the legal vertical has higher standards when it comes to securely sharing documents. We understand the needs of the legal vertical, which is why we created an online document sharing solution, an extranet that is built into every LexisNexis Web Visibility website we offer. It’s created for the changing needs of legal professionals to provide a secure, real-time online portal that is built in. It puts everything you need to manage clients, cases, and matter in one place. It’s a simple tool that helps attorneys access the most pertinent information on their website and share it securely with their clients. We focus on the small law firms and solo practitioners, and it’s something that gives them a competitive edge.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards

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Filed Under: CODiEs, Content, Content Events, Information Industry Summit, Uncategorized

Leaders or Laggards: The State Role in the Shift to Digital Content

September 7, 2012 By

The focus at the recent annual meeting of the State Instructional Materials Review Association (SIMRA) was the shift from print to digital. While paper weight and book binding standards remain on their agenda, the shift is symbolized in part by this group’s recent name change that replaced “textbooks” with “instructional materials.” I had the opportunity to present at the meeting, and had some timely discussions about the evolving state role in the digital world. Texas (see SIIA webinar), Florida (see SIIA summary) and West Virginia are among the states most proactive in helping lead their schools into the digital content future, while many states (with leadership from their SIMRA-member adoption director) are trying to catch up with their districts and understand their evolving roles and rules. A parallel but accelerated shift to digital is underway in state assessments with the leadership of PARCC and SBAC.

As background, SIMRA members administer the process used in 20+ states for instructional materials adoption, including identifying curriculum and technical requirements, soliciting publisher submissions, managing the peer review criteria and process, and coordinating the school procurement of approved materials (including with state funds to buy materials in states such as Texas, California and Florida). SIIA has advocated for years the need to update legacy rules that often create barriers to adoption of digital and online resources, and therefore limit local choice. While often this is simply about correcting for unintended consequences of legacy print rules, the issues are often far more complicated and reflect the still evolving views of instructional materials in the digital age. A leading example is dynamic content: State policies have traditionally required that content remain unchanged over the course of the six year adoption cycle, while digital resources can be seamlessly updated to remain current, accurate and meet evolving curriculum and pedagogical needs. Not surprisingly, SIIA has long advocated the flexibility for content to be updated and improved during the period of adoption.

Here are a few other trends identified at the SIMRA meeting:

  • State budget shortages continue, causing many states to delay adoption cycles or reduce funding and leaving many teachers and students with increasingly outdated materials.
  • Common Core State Standards are central to the process, but many state cycles are not aligned and adjustments are often not possible given the overall budget shortages.
  • Fewer states are funding instructional materials. In the traditional model, states paid for instructional materials, providing them the leverage to determine which materials are to be used. That is often no longer the case.
  • States are increasingly providing local control such that school districts can buy state approved materials, but can also buy any other instructional resources as well.
  • Some states are asking whether they should continue to target only single, primary tools of instruction (i.e., textbooks or their digital equivalents), or whether they should also adopt, for example, digital learning objects and modules to support teachers in dynamically assembling resources to differentiate instruction and personalize learning.
  • Some states are allowing the use of instructional materials funds for the purchase of the technology hardware needed to access those materials, though priority in general still for content.

States are working with SIIA, publishers and other stakeholders to address new challenges in reviewing adaptive instructional software and other robust digital content. For example, how do they review the full resource in cases where each student may be provided a unique, dynamic pathway through the content (compared to the relative ease of reviewing a more linear (e)textbook).

Also, as digital content shifts from supplemental to primary, format and platform are also increasingly of concern. State agencies, on behalf of local educators, seek to ensure the content they purchase is accessible from multiple platforms, as well as increasingly from their students’ personal/home devices. Some have floated the requirement that digital content must be accessible from every platform through a common format. While interoperability is a key goal, SIIA recommends for industry evolution of common standards and against regulatory mandates that could block use of many widely used technologies. SIIA instead encourages that states focus on ensuring publishers disclose system requirements to empower local decision makers with the information they need to determine what platforms and resources best meet their needs. This will enable technology innovation and competition, enhance education choice, and ultimately ensure the needs of teachers and students are best addressed.

SIIA encourages states to further lead the print to digital transition. In doing so, they must recognize that there is not yet any single best technology, curriculum or instructional practice solution for the use of digital content. Therefore, most importantly, SIIA encourages states to provide the investment, regulatory flexibility and technical assistance districts need to innovate as educators collectively and individually determine the best path forward.

Mark SchneidermanMark Schneiderman is Senior Director of Education Policy at SIIA.

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Filed Under: Digital Policy Roundup, Ed Tech Business Forum, Ed Tech Government Forum, Education, Education Policies, Education Policy, Legislation, Personalized Learning, Policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Sequestration and Ed Tech

August 30, 2012 By

The looming federal sequestration threatens ever deeper cuts to local education budgets, and potentially to investments in technology and instructional materials.  A recent survey report put out by the American Association of School Administrators gives a glimpse into what various districts and administrators are planning to do if Sequestration cut backs happen. Sequestration is the term for the automatic, across-the-board cuts included in the 2011 Budget Control Act (BCA), which raised the federal debt ceiling and put in place annual budget caps. Sequestration was designed as a consequence, should the Super Committee created by the BCA fail to reach its goal of identifying other means to meet the caps. It did fail, and so the cuts will become a reality in January 2013 unless alternative legislation is enacted. If implemented in 2013, the first-year share of the sequestration ($1.2 trillion over ten years) would translate into roughly 8-9% cuts across the board, including approximately $4 billion in education alone.

According to the AASA report, 52% of all districts surveyed said that they would cut back on technology purchases if the sequestration goes into effect, while 38% would defer textbook purchases and 25% reduce course offerings. The highest cuts would be in personnel and pay for teachers, expectedly since they make up such a large segment of districts budgets.

When specifically looking at the option of deferring technology purchases, there was not much variation by district demographics such as socioeconomic status, community type (rural/urban/suburban), or student enrollment.  However, districts with a high number (70%+) of students in poverty (as measured by the free and reduced lunch program) responded more frequently that they would defer technology spending, with 64% in this category saying they would versus the 52% average across all districts. With 52% of all districts planning to defer technology purchases, the impact of Sequestration on education technology would be very noticeable. Especially since they come on top of previous zero funding of the NCLB II-D Enhancing Education Through Technology (EETT) grant program. Managing expectations and making a clear case for the cost savings potential of technology investments will be key for the sector if the Sequester continues. This provides both a challenge and opportunity in the upcoming budget climate.

Meanwhile, while a decision on sequestration could be made by Congress and the President in the coming weeks, more likely is that we will have to wait until after the election or even until the new Congress takes office in January around the time the cuts would go into effect.  One bright spot for education is that Deputy Secretary Miller announced that the sequestration cuts would not impact most education programs until the 2013-2014 school budget year beginning July 1, 2013.

 

Lindsay HarmanLindsay Harman is Market and Policy Analyst for the SIIA Education Division.

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Filed Under: Education, Education Policies, Education Policy, Policy, Uncategorized Tagged With: , ,

Insights from a CODiE Awards Pro

August 17, 2012 By

Kathy Greenler Sexton joined SIIA in February as our new Vice President and General Manager of the Content Division. The 2013 CODiE Awards will be Kathy’s first time going through the process from start to finish. Kathy adds a unique perspective to the program because of her previous positions at SIIA member organizations as she has previously nominated products for the CODiE Awards and judged them as well. She shares her thoughts on the benefits of nominating, the reason she enjoyed judging, and what it’s like to now be involved in planning the CODiE Awards.

Why did you nominate for the CODiE Awards at your previous companies?

I have participated in the CODiE Awards for years. Nominating my products in the awards competition was always an easy decision because I knew that if my product was named a finalist or winner, it validated my product to customers, investors and across the industry. I always put a lot of effort into figuring out which categories to apply for. Presenting in front of a judge really forced us to be very crisp about how we were presenting our product and company and it helped us tell our story in a stronger way. It ensured that we were thinking about the questions a judge might ask, and it better prepared us for media, analysts, investor and customer presentations. It was always a great experience for me.

Why did you judge the CODiE Awards?

Judging was really the next step. Judging is a great way for anybody who is involved in the industry to learn how different companies approach the same problem in different ways. For example, one company in a given category might approach an issue such as semantic search within their product much differently from another company. They might sell into the same industry and the same target customer, but it’s amazing how much different the products are. From an intellectual standpoint, it’s fascinating. I love seeing the best of the breed and how different companies approach different problems. It helps you think of products and solutions in a new way. The time I invested in judging helped me look at my own products and services in new ways.

How did being a judge help your professional development?

Being a judge helped me get to know individual teams within different companies. It helped me with personal networking and personal branding. I built a lot of wonderful relationships out of my judging experience. You also get to talk to other judges about what makes a product innovative.

What’s the most interesting thing about being a CODiE judge?

It was interesting to see how well–and unfortunately, how not-so-well–some companies present. That has been very educational for me. While most companies have a senior or a very knowledgeable person from the company present, it always astounded me that some companies would go through the process of nominating and then have someone presenting who was “just going through the motions”. What a lost opportunity! Those companies that did well in conveying how their products aligned with judging criteria, explained why it was innovative, and could answer questions articulately – clearly did better in CODiE Awards judging! Seeing how strong companies present has really helped me learn how to be a better presenter myself.

What advice would you give to nominees about conducting their demos?

I always want the companies to put their best foot forward. So my recommendation is to make sure to put a lot of thought into your presentations. As a judge, I would always go in and look at the application, but a good presentation points you to the right places to go. It points you to the innovative and new things. A good presentation also explains who your target customer is, and why you created a product for that customer in the first place. Help the judge understand why you designed your product the way you did, and why it’s the perfect solution for your customers. If you just give a judge access to the application and let them go through it without the benefit of a presentation, you’ve lost that opportunity to highlight why you are unique.

What was the biggest surprise when you went from nominating to judging to working for SIIA and helping shape this year’s CODiE Awards?

I was more familiar with the behind the scenes of the CODiE Awards than most, because I’ve been on the Content Division board for eight years, I’ve submitted nominations, and I’ve judged. There were very few things that could have surprised me walking in. That said, I was really surprised at the level of detail and planning that the SIIA staff puts into the CODiE Awards. It’s essentially a year-round program. The level of detail, coordination and talent from the staff is really amazing to me. When you are on the inside, you see what you need to do to create an industry-leading awards program, and it’s astounding!

How do you feel going into your first cycle as SIIA staff?

Being on the inside, it’s somewhat daunting when you look at all of the categories. You want to make sure everyone is connected to the right categories and competing in the best category for them. You want to find the best judges. This year, we are partnering with FreePint to provide the finalists in five selected categories with buyer reviews. This isn’t part of the judging process, but it’s a value-add we are providing as a test to see if the nominees find it beneficial. If so, we hope to continue and expand the buyer reviews for the finalists in all of our categories. There are so many details to the CODiE Awards, from how to make the awards ceremony special, this year’s CODiE finalist showcase at the Information Industry Summit, to so many other details that make this award unique. There’s a lot going on!

Do you have a favorite category that you’re most excited about?

I’m really interested to see the nominees for Best Editorial Outsourcing Solution. It’s a new category recognizing companies that support the creation of editorial content. A nominee, and ultimate winner, for the Best Editorial Outsourcing Solution could use technology, crowd-sourcing, or even an outsourced solution to create the editorial. There are many different ways different companies are approaching this issue. It will be really interesting to see which companies step up into that category.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards

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Filed Under: CODiEs, Content, Content Events, Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Information Industry Summit, Software, Software Events, Uncategorized

Behind the Scenes of the CODiE Awards: A Conversation with the Coordinator

August 16, 2012 By

The kickoff of the 2013 SIIA CODiE Awards marks my second year as the awards program coordinator here at SIIA. Since I’ve been through the whole process from start to finish, I wanted to give you an inside look into how I manage each phase of the awards season.

The CODiE Awards are about recognizing excellence, but they’re also about creating and maintaining relationships. Since I’m the person both judges and nominees interact with most, it’s important for me to be available, and make sure the process runs smoothly for everyone. With this blog post, and the ones to follow, I want judges and nominees to get to know me, so they can feel comfortable coming to me when they have questions or concerns, or just want to share their excitement about the CODiE Awards!

—————–

It’s August… and that means nominations are open! That’s right, the CODiE Awards are already in full swing. It’s hard to believe sometimes, especially since the last two awards presentations were just a few months ago in May. It may seem like there’s only a small reprieve after the presentations, but we always get started immediately, planning for the next cycle. One of the first and most important steps we take each year is revisiting all of the categories. We make updates and create new categories based on what’s happening in the content, software and ed tech industries. (This year, there are 27 new and updated categories.)

Once nominations are open, it’s fun to see which company nominates first, and in which category. I get a kick out of telling our president, Ken Wasch, when the first nomination comes in because he can hardly contain his excitement. Nominations usually come in slowly in the first couple weeks of the nomination period, but I receive many emails and phone calls from companies, with questions ranging from process clarification to help determining which category is the best fit for a product. I encourage companies to ask as many questions as they’d like. That’s what I’m here for!

While I enjoy checking out all of the various companies that nominate, I especially enjoy learning about the ed tech companies. I completed my master’s just a year ago, so I’m not far removed from the classroom. I frequently come across products that I wish had been around when I was going through school, especially in middle and high school. Some of the math and science solutions would have come in handy (since those were not my favorite subjects–I suppose that’s why I majored in public relations and Spanish.)

I am also interested in each division’s “social” categories. Software has Best Social Business Solution, in Content there is Best Social Media Platform, and in Education there is Best Education Community Solution. They each target different audiences and serve different purposes, but it’s interesting to see how social media and digital communities are incorporated.

The Best Education Community Solution category is intriguing to me this year, because it focuses on social media solutions geared toward the classroom. The progression of social learning and social networks has been amazing and it’s interesting to see how ed tech companies are creating social communities for the classroom at all levels. I’m very much looking forward to seeing which companies nominate in this category.

Overall, I’m just excited for all of the nominations to come in! With more than 75 categories this year, there will definitely be a large variety of products and solutions. Remember, if you’re looking to judge or nominate, I’m here for you. Ask me anything! It doesn’t even need to be related to the CODiE Awards. Ask me where I’m from (Pennsylvania, if you’re curious), or what brought me to DC (grad school), even my favorite football team (San Diego Chargers)! The CODiE Awards are really about the relationships. I’m here to make sure your CODiE Awards experience is the best it can be.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards

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Filed Under: All About the Cloud, CODiEs, Content, Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Information Industry Summit, Software, Uncategorized

Nominations Now Open for the 28th Annual SIIA CODiE Awards

August 15, 2012 By

Nominations are now open for the 2013 SIIA CODiE Awards. This year’s CODiE Awards feature 27 new and updated categories, reflecting the dramatic changes in technology and business models impacting the software and information industries.

The CODiE Awards have been the premier award for the software and information industries for 28 years. The awards program has three tracks organized by industry focus: Content, Software and Education.

Highlights of this year’s program:

Content: The Content CODiE Awards showcase the information industry’s finest products, technology and services created by, or for, media, publishers and information services providers.

* Fourteen new and updated categories reflect new technology and business models in the content industry including: Best Crowd Sourced Solution, Best Editorial Outsourcing Solution, Best Semantic Technology Solution and Best Social Media Platform
* The Content CODiE Awards will be presented Jan. 31, 2013 during the Content Division’s annual conference for information industry leaders, the Information Industry Summit

Education: The Education CODiE Awards showcase applications, products and services from developers of educational software, digital content, online learning services, and related technologies across the K-20 sector.

* The new Best Personalized Learning Solution category highlights the major educational shift toward individual, tailored learning plans for students. Three new top-level categories will reward the best of the best of PK-12, postsecondary, and overall education nominees.
* Education winners will be announced in San Francisco on May 6, 2013 during the Ed Tech Industry Summit.

Business: The Software CODiE Awards showcase applications, products and services that are developed by independent software vendors (ISVs) for use in business, government, academic, or other organizational settings.

* Twelve new and updated categories reflect the continued growth and evolution of cloud computing, mobile, big data, and video. Highlights include: Best Cloud Platform as a Service Solution, Best Big Data Solution, Best Mobile Device Application for Consumers, Best Mobile Device Application for Enterprise, and Best Video Tool.
* Software winners will be announced in San Francisco on May 9, 2013 during the software industry’s premier ISV conference, All About the Cloud.

Learn more about the nomination process.

Wendy Tanner Wendy Tanner is CODiE Awards Coordinator. Follow the CODiE Awards on Twitter @CODiEAwards

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Filed Under: All About the Cloud, Cloud Computing, CODiEs, Content, Ed Tech Industry Summit, Education, Education Events, Information Industry Summit, Mobile: Education, Mobility, Personalized Learning, Postsecondary, Social Media, Software, Software Events, Uncategorized
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