Is the mobile app, mobile enterprise service, or mobile device that you use or sell a star in the making — but nobody seems to know about it?
Here’s an exciting way to shine some powerful spotlights on your mobile star and attract a bigger crowd of fans: MobileVillage’s 2014 Mobile Star Awards™. The annual program pits the best newer mobile products on a level playing field against established favorites in nearly 100 “best of” categories including mobile apps, gadgets, enterprise solutions, success stories, and mobile visionaries.
For 13 years running, the Mobile Star Awards program has made winners out of relatively unknown mobile companies. Just a few of last year’s winning start-up companies include: News Republic (2013 News App Winner, competing against popular Flipboard, Feedly, LinkedIn and others); Lunabee OneSafe (2013 Security App Winner, competing against giants AVG, Lookout, and others); Notable Solutions (2013 Mobile Printing Winner, competing against EFI, HP, Novell and others), and appsFreedom and Magic Software (2013 Mobile Application Development Winners, competing against big names like Adobe, Appcelerator and others).
Nominating and voting: open to all
Anyone can nominate a “mobile star” to participate in the program by sending a quick email to awards [at] mobilevillage.com with the full name of the mobile app, service, device or success story you’re nominating, and STAR in the subject line. MobileVillage will then contact nominees to see if they’d like to participate.
If you happen to represent a company with a product or success story you’d like to nominate, you can skip the email step and just download an entry form from MobileVillage.com’s Mobile Star Awards page. The entry processing fee is extremely small compared to other awards programs, starting at just $72 US.
“We want to keep the program accessible to small companies and mobile developers with small marketing budgets,” says Gary Thayer, who directs the awards program. “We’d rather see hundreds of enthusiastic entrants than just a dozen or so heavy-pocketed, big-name participants.”
There are no rigid requirements for nominated products, except that it must be generally available (not in beta) by the time it is entered. For mobile enterprise success stories, the product(s) must have been deployed within the last two years.
Unlike in many other awards programs where winners are named by paid analysts or reviewers, Mobile Star Awards Winners are chosen by readers of MobileVillage’s free, biweekly, “Go Mobile”™ email newsletter. Because “Go Mobile” has been around since the year 2000, its readership consists of many mobile early adopters, mobile workers, and experienced tech journalists, explains Thayer. “These are the kinds of mobile-savvy folks that make important mobile product recommendations, drive innovation, and enthusiastically vote in the Mobile Star Awards each year,” he says.
Like on MobileVillage.com, the news stories in Go Mobile are hand picked by Thayer and other editors, and summarized in well-edited headlines. The newsletter is free, and anyone can sign up at MobileVillage.com/go-mobile-newsletter.
And since there are three or more winners in each category (SUPERSTAR, Shining Star, Rising Star, and ties where called), the odds of stealing the spotlight are much better than in other competitions.
Online voting for this year’s Nominees runs from November 5 through December 8, and submissions will be accepted until Monday, November 17.
Nominees see big benefits
Because Mobile Star Awards Nominees gain publicity in “Go Mobile” and on the MobileVillage website, they win even if they don’t end up taking first place, according to MobileVillage founder and CEO Jon Covington. “Just being nominated can set in motion a tremendous publicity and market boost,” he says. “It’s the foot in the door that brings credence to your efforts.”
Covington knows about markets. Prior to founding MobileVillage, he was a pioneer in opening up new markets for Apple in its infancy, and then went on to help launch dozens of mobile tech companies. “Twenty years ago when we started MobileVillage, the only people who used mobile devices were UPS drivers and a few early-adaptors,” he says. “Now it’s a huge market, and the end-users like you and me are mostly driving it. Not only is there an overwhelming number of mobile apps for all of us to compare, but the mixing of personal apps and devices with work applications is a huge issue for companies everywhere.
“With so much at stake, it’s more important than ever that companies stand out from the crowd if they want to be seen as leaders in creating apps, managing apps, or making user-friendly mobile devices,” says Covington. “Winning a Mobile Star Award is a great accomplishment that’s prized by all mobile companies, large and small.”
To help them stand out, all Mobile Star Awards official participants receive a Nominee logo to use in marketing, a product or success story summary page linked from MobileVillage’s online directory, recognition in ‘Go Mobile’, and a full week of recognition on the MobileVillage.com home page. Winners also receive the Winner logo and additional press coverage.
Awards program Sponsors = Collaborators
MobileVillage is also seeking Mobile Star Awards Sponsors, who Covington prefers to call “Mobile Community Collaborators.” All Sponsors are encouraged to become active leaders and mentors in MobileVillage community, says Covington. To that end, Platinum Sponsors can opt to submit their own regular column or white paper featured on MobileVillage.com.
The many marketing and sales opportunities generated by the Mobile Star Awards speak for themselves – but they can’t speak for you unless you become a part of it. So why wait another minute of being left out of the spotlight? Take full advantage of the five-week voting period and surrounding publicity by entering now. Entries are accepted until Monday, November 17, 2014. Voting is slated to end on December 8, and winners will be posted and announced to the media on December 9.
To enter or sponsor the 2014 Mobile Star Awards, visit MobileVillage.com for an entry form today, or email your nomination(s) to Gary Thayer at awards [at] mobilevillage.com.
