We have officially entered the last week for people to submit entries to the 2nd Annual AZIMA TIM Awards. So, I thought I would take a moment to express how great this show is for our community.

To start, I’ve entered a hell of a lot of award shows in my career. The ones that have meant the most to me and my company are the ones that have a diverse mix of companies entering them. The familiar names are Cannes, Clios, One Show, etc. There are also several industry specific ones that can help on the new business front. That said, my problem with most award shows is the sheer lack of success a piece of work has had to the overall value of the entry. In other words, they are usually creative shootouts and the most clever idea of the day wins.

The AZIMA TIM Awards were created as “the award show for the rest of us.” Too many times the people that work behind the scenes in development, analytics, email or just about any other channel never get their day. This is made worse by all of the in-house marketing groups that never get credit for all of the great work they do.

The AZIMA TIM Awards is the equalizer. Last year there were 95 entries from 38 different kinds of companies. As the president of AZIMA last year, I was extremely proud of that. Sure, agencies won a fair share but so did media companies and brands. And, a personal highlight for me was winning Interactive Marketing Person of the Year. The recognition from my peers was wonderful but it has been especially nice that it strengthened my company’s reputation with our clients, as well as serving as a nice point of difference in new business pitches.

As we come to the close of this year’s entry deadline (February 14th), I encourage you to be a part of a very special and growing awards show and organization. We all know that the marketing industry is in flux and changing more and more everyday. AZIMA is an organization dedicated to helping you navigate that — improving not only your company’s abilities but your individual abilities as well.

Good luck with your entries and I’ll see you on March 20th at the awards show, hosted at Phoenix Art Museum.