Musings from a VP, Marketing ///
No one enters a competition wanting to come in second.
It’s not like we spent months preparing our applications for the Marketing Research and Insight Excellence Awards, produced by Quirk’s, hoping we’d earn a spot as runner-up.
And then the Finalist list came out.
Today Quirk’s announced that Full Circle is up for not one, but two categories: Panel Company of the Year and Best Place to Work. And it feels better than we ever could have dreamed.
Of course we’re hoping against hope that we win one category. Can’t even begin to imagine the brouhaha if we earn two. But what really gave our team pause was our competition for the title. These companies are good. Really good. To know we stack up with organizations more than double our size is humbling, validating, exciting, exhilarating and ridiculously cool.
Dan Quirk brought it all home in a gracious post to Adam: “You should be proud,” he wrote. “These awards are judged by knowledgeable industry peers with strict grading rubrics and rules regarding conflicts of interest from judges. It’s not a popularity contest, nor a list of 30+ winners designed for social media buzz. Being a finalist in these awards means your work is what gave you the nod.”
To me, Dan pointed out that these awards were designed to compare us side by side. They’re measurable. He asked, “Isn’t that what we should be doing as researchers?” Dan, I couldn’t agree more.
So come November 9, when our team is glued to our screens, watching the Gala with anticipation so thick you can cut it with a knife, know this: We may not have entered wanting to come in second. But second would still feel pretty darn good.
