Plan Ahead

• Systematically save your best work over the course of the year from 31st August 2003 - don't leave it too late and end-up submitting a CD from July 2004. If you think something's good - keep it.
  
  
• Technical competence and good quality sound are important. Entries should present the station to the judges as fully as possible.
  
  
• Before you submit an entry, ensure that you listen back to it as the judges will hear it, keeping in mind the judging criteria as listed on page 6 of the Call for Entries Brochure.
  
  
• The judges are asked to reward excellent programming - this means they're expecting to be gripped from the start. It's fine for any climax to come later - but the winning entry will be one the judges cannot stop listening to. Will your entry make the judges sit in a lay-by listening, make them late for a meeting, cancel lunch or keep them up till the late hours?

Which Category?

• Take time to think about whether your entry has been placed in the right category.
  
  
• Which category to enter can be a difficult choice. You must read the Call for Entries Brochure carefully and discuss with your colleagues and managers.
  

Presentation

• It is better to be targeted, rather than copious, with your audio and supporting material.
  
  
• Simple things like a readable label on the disc and neatly laid out paperwork.
  
  
• Check that there are no blank entries and that the sound is audible and clear and of a quality that represents your programme and station.
  
  
• Where compilations are allowed, don't over overproduce your entry.
  
  
• On a practical level - indexing and a written running order with timings help the judges.
  

Supporting Material

• Don't assume the judges know everything - if you feel you need to explain the context of an item, do. A judge may have no idea where your show fits in the schedule, who it is aimed at and why you did it the way you did - so don't be afraid to tell them. Use the 250 word paragraph and ensure it matches the feel and quality and values of the audio entry. Don't over-sell the programme, but try wherever possible to provide supporting evidence which is complimentary to your entry.
  
  
• Running orders can be helpful to judges, but remember they can a little daunting! A simple narrative listing of the contents is enough.
  

Group F - Station the Year

• Judges tend to look for confident stations with well thought out programming and for stations that know their audience.
  
  
• The presentation of entries is important. Entrants should try to put themselves in the judges' shoes, and tell them as much about their station - and in particular its aims over the year, and its strengths and obstacles - as they can.
  
  
• The audio should flow, should show a good range of material, should show humour and sadness where it exists, and excitement, and day-to-day done well, and the really interesting, or unusual, and the very local, and the mundane.
  

Winners' Tips

• Think like a judge - they'll have lots of entries, many of them very similar. Make their life easier - well labelled entries, simple background info to support your entry.
  
  
• The hardest part is keeping the material in the first place. We encourage people to put things in a PPI Awards 'deposit bin', but it needs people to be thinking PPI Awards all year long.
  
  
• READ the entry information carefully - is the category relevant and have you chosen the material which highlights the achievements judges might be looking for as described in the 'submission information'?
  
  
• At the end of the day it has to be a bit 'special' somehow to make it to the shortlist. Why is your entry that bit more 'noticeable' than others?
  
  
• Famous guests on the show isn't enough - judges will look to see if the presenter reacts with style and humour, connects with the audience one-to-one or takes the programme off in an unexpected direction - etc.
  
  
• The grab factor - choose the first couple of minutes of your audio with great care.