And the winner is.....

Have you ever won an award? There are so many awards knocking about these days it's difficult to avoid them. I think there should be a "best awards" award that recognises those who organise award ceremonies. The thing is, if you entered all of them you would never do enough to get one.

It's a sign of age that these days I'm at the other side of the award process, sitting on two judging panels - The Confederation of British Industry's Human Capital Awards and the Work Foundation's Workworld Media Awards. This week was judging day for the media awards.

It takes ages doing these things. First you're asked to draw up a short list for a specific category, then we get together to mull over the shortlisted entries. The process never fails to amuse me. Sometimes there is a clear leader and it all seems done and dusted until someone mentions another name, puts up a convincing case, and its like watching the last furlongs of a horse race as the back marker passes everyone and pips the leading horse at the post. If only they knew.

Awards are important in my business. They can boost a budding career and revive one that has been flagging. We all like to win them but losing out can be a bruising experience, particularly when you believe you're better than the winner. This year they had a good crop of entries and there was reasonable unanimity over the choices. So what's in it for me? Nothing much, other than a nice lunch, pleasant conversation, and the opportunity to be up to date with who's in and who's out. It's good to know where the talent is hiding.