Monday, September 27, 2010

Are awards ceremonies really all that?

So last week I attended an awards ceremony with work. It was the second award we'd been up for so the whole team turned up in force. At a cost of course.

Now I've never been involved in a pay to enter award. Im trying to think back to those events I've attended for creative awards but I don't remember a cost associated, other than wooing judges ;) So this awards function was going to be somewhat of a first.

These events are not cheap. It cost around £100 for each of us to go so I guess I expected more. The venue was nice but it was basically a bar that had the heating cranked. Nothing like sweating on strangers when you are trying to be glamourous. The heating problem was not the fault of the organisers but I don't like saunas even when I'm dressed for them.

We grab a drink - I can't resist a red wine - and I watch a lot of meat pass by and wait patiently for some veggie canapes. I'm unusually restrained as the waiters offer more drink. I do have a tendency to overindulge when things are free but I want to take some nice photos just in case we win.

The awards ceremony begins and thank goodness there will be no speeches - just awards and then back to drinking and mingling. We all clap, people beam at cameras, and it's done. Hooray!

But wait. It's now a paid bar. Between us we've had maybe two drinks each and a couple canapes. That makes the £100 price tag seem very steep. We could have had a quite nice sit down meal for that amount. What are we really paying for? The infamy of an unknown award and a picture on a website?

Now maybe I'm just nieve. But other people I spoke to also felt cheated. And not because they didn't win but because they felt taken for a ride. They didn't expect much. They just expected what they've had before - an average meal at their own table, a few bottles of cheap wine, a band and a DJ. They did not plan on bringing an iPod to help play communal DJ.

Maybe I expect too much. But especially in this economic climate, is it OK to charge people so much for so little? Are these awards really worth it?

Posted via email from Oot and Aboot

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