The bitter taste of success

As we look back on another CRN Channel Awards, the comments made by a selected few have made me ANGRY

This morning my inbox was full of people saying how much they had enjoyed the awards, and on the night itself I lost count of the amount of people saying what a great time they had had.

However for me, this is always overshadowed by the negative comments made by a few, quite often by people who have had too much to drink (no surprise there then) and who probably have been beaten to an award by someone else and are looking to lash out.

I am never so arrogant to expect nobody to complain, and there are always things to improve upon, but when the complaints are unfair and with absolutely no basis, I get extremely pissed off and yes, I do take them personally as it is questioning my integrity as an editor and journalist. So to all those that made such comments last week - thanks for that. I hope it makes you feel like big people.

Just so you get some idea - the awards for me start in January, when we start looking at categories and planning themes for the event itself. I start to amass the two, yes, TWO judging panels that help decide the award winners.

To win an award is the result of hours of judging by two independent panels, who painstakingly read through every entry. It doesn't matter who the entry is, each is treated exactly the same as the other.

The judges - who will all back me up on this - are a group of independent experts and representatives from every corner of the industry. They come along with no bias and judge based solely on what they have before them. Making petulant accusations against the integrity of the awards is also a personal insult to all the judges too.

The shortlisted companies are the ones that submit an interesting and relevant entry - they have READ the Ts &Cs, and read the criteria.

Perhaps even read one of the many articles that I personally write every single year, urging people to read the criteria and the Top Tips, that are on the dedicated Channel Awards website every year.

Of course from my end there is always room for improvement in the categories and criteria - but these are worked on every year.

The beauty of the channel awards is that anyone can win them, and it is not always the same, well-known names that do win. Everyone has an equal chance, but it is quality of entry ONLY that will ensure you take home a trophy.

Contrary to the beliefs of some, it is not based on the amount of tables or sponsorship money - the winners are often decided way before table sales get underway and the judges have no idea who the sponsors are anyway - nor do they want to. You might get this at some awards, but this is NOT the case with CRN. Not on my watch.

So to all those claiming this is so - I suggest you do your research properly on the awards before flinging your insults and claims around, speak to any one of the 20+ judges involved in this process - they are happy to back me up. And if you still don't believe - why don't you get in touch with me and come and join the judging panel yourself to see how it all works?

You could even do me the courtesy of listening to my welcome speech, which explains the process pretty clearly as well.

Or alternatively do what most of these 'armchair' complainers do - come along to an evening that is the result of many hours' toil, organisation and stress for a lot of people, including myself, have a lot to drink and start hurling accusations of 'foul play'. I hope it makes you feel better.

But next time you think about saying something to me either on the night or afterwards, don't expect a polite reply. You won't get one.