Below are several questions that we get asked regularily
- Who is eligible for nomination?
- What are the key dates?
- How does a nominee win?
- What does a winner receive?
- Why a Catholic communication award?
- What’s the judging criteria?
- Why don't I see the option to vote?
Who is eligible for nomination?
The nominee must represent a Catholic organization or individual which is reasonably faithful to the teachings and mission of the Church. This can include parishes, dioceses, charities, convents, orders, schools, hospitals, apostolates, ministries, authors, speakers, magazines/journals/news, blogs, and private organizations with a distinctly Catholic character. Nominees must exemplify excellence in the use of new media and communication by applying commendable use of design and branding. The awards are designed to recognize exceptional original creative work.
What are the key dates?
Nomination period begins: November 1st – All Saints' Day
Nomination Ends and Voting begins: November 20th
Voting Ends and Judges begin deliberation: December 8th – Immaculate Conception
Winners Announced: December 12th - Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (USA)
How does a nominee win?
Nominations can be made by anyone through the website. Once received, our experts will evaluate the submissions and select samples that we consider worthy of nomination. Once nominated, the nominees will be published on this website and voted upon by the general public. Once voting has closed, the top three in each category will be evaluated by expert judges and a winner from each will be selected.
What does a winner receive?
Recognition and a winner’s badge that they can sport on their website. The organizers of this website have built it and promoted it as volunteers without sponsorship. As a result, we have no trophies, cash prizes, or black tie affairs for our nominees and winners. We hope that the recognition of these fine examples of design and communication will be a catalyst for the Church and all people of good will who are passionate about spreading the message of God’s love so that we will begin to reprioritize our efforts in evangelization by going out into the digital public square.
Why a Catholic communication award?
As the About page describes in further detail, the new media landscape is the new public square and a cultural melting pot where people of all walks of life collide. The apostles and early Church evangelists, while embracing their commission to spread the good news to all nations, understood that their mission required them to go out into the public square and creatively and boldly engage the multi-faceted cultures around them. The Church evolved its methods by using cultural disciplines in art, design, architecture, technology, and literature to enhance its ability to continue to communicate God’s redeeming love for the world. In the modern age, the Church has struggled to brand itself well by using these same disciplines. With this website, our hope is that we can recognize the heroic work of Catholic trailblazers who have stepped back out into the new public square of new media to discover and utilize innovative design and technology to establish what it means to portray an authentically Catholic Christian communication strategy and identity online.
What’s the judging criteria?
Nominees are evaluated based on their effectiveness in using the disciplines of new media to reach their goals. Because this will vary from category to category and from nominee to nominee, the judges must be well versed in understanding and appreciating the nuances of each nominee and their respective category. With that understanding, the judges will also be evaluating the nominees for their fundamental responsibility in improving Catholic Christianity’s brand. A brand is the impression that an audience of the general public has of an entity. Branding is foundational to the use of new media. If the use of new media strikes its audience with a strong first impression, the synthesis of the message is much more likely. If that impression is negative, in some way, the opposite can be expected. So, effective branding is foundational as a criterion for evaluating nominees.
Why don't I see the option to vote?
If you got to a voting page, and instead of getting the option to vote, you see the results, it usually means someone else sharing your internet connection has already voted. To prevent virtual "ballot-box stuffing", we don't allow more than one vote in each poll per IP address. Try connecting to the internet from a different location and voting again!
