It's the taking part that counts...

Last week Man Bites Dog headed off to sunny Barcelona for the 2013 EMEA Sabre Awards.

The sun was shining, the room was abuzz with pan-European PR chatter and our team proudly picked up its silver award in the ‘Research for Publicity’ category.

On Monday, we hit the awards circuit again, this time heading into central London for the CIPR Excellence Awards. Matt Baker featured as reluctant compère, while Britain’s finest PR professionals mingled, ate and danced the night away.

Of course, awards dos make a great night out, and they are often pretty silly, but they also serve an important purpose.

At Man Bites Dog, we’re very proud to be the UK’s most award-winning B2B consultancy and continue to offer our best campaigns up for industry scrutiny.

And, what d’ya know, it works! We regularly receive enquiries from potential clients and employees based on our awards success.

I manage the awards process at our consultancy, and know better than most the hard work, stress and expense that goes into compiling an entry. Yet, once you’ve donned your glad rags and headed up to accept your well-deserved prize, that all becomes a distant memory.

In any industry, it’s important to be recognised as best in class. It helps motivate the existing team, drives recruitment and, above all, creates opportunities for new business.

Awards ceremonies also provide the chance to meet other professionals working in your field. The networking opportunity and the inspiration gained from hearing about other campaigns, is worth its weight in awards gold.

Yes, you have to sit through hundred of categories unrelated to your field, yes the food is regularly awful (chocolate and Vicks VapoRub flavour dessert anyone?) and yes, the presenters barely understand what we do for a living (bring on the advertising-related comedy).

But, awards matter. They matter to your peers, they matter to potential employees and they matter to clients. What have you got to lose?