THE 2016 LMA NE YOUR HONOR AWARDS
Our Very Own Academy Awards
Celebrating Professional Achievements in 2014-2015 

CALL FOR ENTRIES
Deadline for Submission: EXTENDED to Friday, February 12, 2016, 12:00 p.m. ET

Our annual LMA Your Honor Awards event
will be held on March 23, 2016 a Wilmer Hale. (60 State Street, Boston, MA)

Emceed by LMA International President,
Keith Wewe

CALL FOR ENTRIES

Program Purpose

The 2016 Annual Legal Marketing Association, New England Chapter (LMA NE) Your Honor Awards (YHA) program recognizes regional participating law firms who have demonstrated excellence during 2014 and 2015.

Winners’ Recognition

Awards will be presented to the First and Second Place winners, as well as Honorable Mention, based on the judges’ discretion at a March, 2016 ceremony.  In categories where there is only one standout submission only a first place will be awarded.  A press release announcing winners will be disseminated regionally and posted on the chapter website.  Additionally, one outstanding submission may be chosen to present their project as a case study at the LMA NE Annual Conference in the Fall of 2016.

Deadline

The deadline for entering has been EXTENDED to Friday, February 12, 2016 at 12:00 pm ET. No extensions will be given.

Judging

A panel of marketing professionals will judge all entries. Judges may include representatives from the following fields: advertising, public relations, media, academia, legal, consulting, graphic design and professional services marketing.  A member of the LMA NE Chapter Executive Board will oversee the judging process.  Judges will evaluate each entry according to the degree to which it met or exceeded the entrant's strategic objective, the creativity and originality demonstrated, and quality of execution. While judges will make every attempt to select award recipients for each category, and each level of award, awards may not be given in categories where the judges deem that the quality and/or quantity of entries does not warrant a winner. Judges reserve the right to move a submitted entry from one category to a more appropriate one.  Judges may elect to award Honorable Mention Awards, beyond first and second place awards, at their discretion. Judges' decisions are final.

Entry Fees

The entry fee is $100 per submission for LMA NE members and $125 for non-members.  There are no fee waivers for multiple submissions.  Checks for the submission(s) must be received no later than February 12, 2016. 

CATEGORIES

The program consists of the following 11 categories, including four sub-categories. The categories and submission process have been designed to ease the submission process for those of you who have submitted for the international LMA YHA program.  You will note that our program runs on a smaller scale, and not all categories are included.

1. Identity (trademarks, logos, identity and style guides, integrated branding programs, promotional giveaways, booth design, etc.)
   1A. Projects totaling up to $20K
   1B. Projects totaling more than $20K
2. Promotional Materials and Communications
   2A. Brochure (firm, office or practice group) / Annual Report /Announcement (office move, new partners, awards, etc.) / Newsletter or Alert (internal or external)
   2B. Holiday Card
3. Advertising Campaign (minimum of three different ads or one ad promoted through various media channels)
4. Events (seminars, open houses, networking events, event invitations,and educational webinars or seminars)
5. Web Sites (total web site refresh/overhaul/rebrand and individual portions of websites, extranets, intranets, practice, industry, niche or recruiting)  
6. Social Media/Interactive Media (PDS or mobile apps, RSS feeds, social media campaigns, video, including firm videos/channels on publicly available resources such as You Tube^TM)
7. Community Relations (charitable and community service programs and pro bono projects aligned with strategic marketing initiatives)
8. Practice Development and Client-Based Programs (Attorney coaching, business development programs and plans, cross-selling initiatives, market research and analysis, competitive intelligence projects, knowledge management tools/projects, client service programs, pricing tools and projects, project management and practice innovation initiatives)
9. Marketing on a Shoestring (programs conceived of and executed exclusively with in-house resources, or with outside expenses of less than $500 including both in-house staff and outside vendor costs)

Best of Show

Firms cannot enter this category, but can win if entered in another category.  This award is optional and given out only when the judges find a particular item that distinguishes itself far above and beyond.  Special review will be given to those who include details metrics of success for their programs.  

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

Entrants can be either members or non-members of the Legal Marketing Association, NE Chapter.  Consultants and designers submitting an entry on behalf of a client must include a letter of permission from the firm on the firm's letterhead with entry.  All entries MUST have been produced for use by a law firm with a New England office with the project started and completed between January 1, 2014 – August 1, 2015.

There are no hard copy submissions in 2015

Each entry must consist of:                    

1. A PDF version of your submission – one PDF packet consisting of all required documentation; this includes any photos, samples etc. These should be included in the single PDF presentation packet. If you believe that sending supplemental materials will enhance your entry, you may mail those separately (instructions below).
2. The cover page of the PDF must include, in this order:
   - The category of entry
   - The title of the entry
   - Full contact information for you and your firm (including name, phone number, email address)
3. The Entry Form should be the second and third page of your submission
4. The Narrative must begin on the fourth page of each entry and include the following critical information:
   
   Narrative (700 words or less) describing, in detail:

• Strategic objective—How did this fit into the larger goals of your firm?
• Marketing goal—What was the stated purpose or intention that drove the development, implementation and completion of this effort?
• Research and planning—What market research was conducted prior to the planning of the piece, site or program? What obstacles stood in the way? Were there challenges? How as the project organized and staffed?
• Production and implementation—What was the main message? Other message(s) intended for this piece, site or program? How did the work get done? How did it reach the market? 
• Differentiation—What was your thought process and how did you make your piece, site or program stand out from the crowd? Why this medium? What differentiates it from the rest?
• Results—Which of the stated goals were achieved and how? What metrics did you use to determine success?  Tip: The results are key for the judges to accurately understand the impact of your project.  Include tangible evidence for them to review.
• Budget—What was your budget? What was the total cost, including hard and soft costs? List specific dollar amount of new business realized or value of awareness generated. If you ONLY used internal resources, you must provide, at the very least, anecdotal metrics explaining the resources. (i.e., Two Associates spent a combined 6 hours plus Marketing Manager and Coordinator who spent a combined 10 hours) Tip:  Entries without budget information will be disqualified. There are no exceptions. All information is held in strict confidentiality.
• Number of attorneys in firm
  

ENTRY CHECK LIST

• Complete the full submission and send it by email to Jennifer Scalzi: jennifer@jjohnsonexecsearch.com
• Do NOT send your submission by hard copy to the mailing address below. All entries must be delivered by email via PDF. You will receive a confirmation email within 24 hours of receipt.
• Submissions are due by 12:00 p.m. ET on February 12, 2016. No extensions will be given, no exceptions.
• If you would like to send supplemental materials that you feel will enhance your entry please send them, along with an entry form stating which entry the supplements belong to, no later than email Jennifer Scalzi for instructions. All supplements must be received by February 12, 2016.
• Send your entry fee* by check (ONLY – no credit cards) by February 12, 2016 payable to LMA New England:
  Jennifer Scalzi
  LMA NE YHA Chair
  10 Forest St.
  Hanover, MA 02339
  
  *The entry fee is $100 per submission for LMA NE members and $125 for non-members. There is no multiple submission fee discount. Fees paid to submit to the International LMA YHA program do not apply or transfer to the New England program.

For additional information, please contact the YHA Co-Chairs:

Jennifer Scalzi at 646.422.7812 or jennifer@jjohnsonexecsearch.com
OR
Jennifer Nash at 617.570.8346 or jnash@goodwinprocter.com