I don’t know why it took so long to hit me, but linkedIn.com is a great resource. You fill out a profile, consisting of past education, employment, recommendations and anything else you’d like (this is not MySpace, so no bad pop music or pictures of pets to fight through). You then invite people you know who are already part of the network, or suggest they join up. The best part about it is that for each person you connect to, you are then 1 step closer to that person’s network. The whole chain reaction of networking thing starts up and before you know it you’re buddies with the president of a sausage company or whoever you’re looking for.

I’ve had my account for well over two years, slowly building connections whenever the thought occurred, but only recently did I become serious at networking. As with most small businesses, (I’m talking 1m & under, as some people think of small business as 10m & under) marketing funds and the ability to hire on a full time sales department can be limited, so you’re somewhat forced to be creative on a small budget.

(Oh there is more…)

This is a bit of back-story and a bit of an announcement that we’re beginning development on Deep Brain Stimulation surgery in about two weeks. What exactly is Deep Brain Stimulation you ask? Let me tell you a story!

It began on a pleasant Monday morning, around 6:45 am in Columbus, Ohio. I was at my business partner’s house getting ready to drive over to the Ohio State Medical Center to watch firsthand a DBS surgery, basically a bunch of surgeons sticking electrodes into someone’s brain to help cure the disease at hand. After some waiting around for the surgery to begin, we entered a large OR, with around 10+ surgeons, medical Reps, nurses, and technicians crammed in. Sitting in the center was a man who looked semi-conscious (moving or moaning something every now and then) waiting for a surgeon to drill some holes in his head. Before I knew what was happening, out came the staple gun, and they began to attach some sterile drapes to the guy’s head.

Watching someone who is conscious (not in pain, but conscious) get over 30+ staples shot into his head as he moaned apparently set something off in my subconscious, that this was the time and place to feel extremely nauseous. Slowly darkness crept in from the corners, my speech slurred and I remember feeling a nice cold sweat and reaching out towards someone in the room saying “I think I’m going to pass out”, which in reality probably sounded like “Mrrrmmm, unghh paaaasss” as I dropped to the floor.

(Oh there is more…)

Ahh, ‘tis the season for submitting work to awards. There’s no better way in my opinion to get some marketing done than to get a nomination. Winning is great, but being nominated is just as profitable in most cases seeing you end up with a link from a heavily trafficked site like the Webbys or Flash Forward.

What we’ve done is taken the trouble to find every award we can regarding eLearning and or interactive design, and have compiled a sort of loose calendar and listing of entry fees/deadlines, etc. I’m sure we’ll help the competition find these awards a little faster by showing them all here, but that’s the point of a contest, to have challengers! 

Here’s the list in no particular order (Note this is fairly rough, and lacking some info due to non informative award sites):

Webby Awards

• http://www.webbyawards.com/
• Entry Fees and DeadlinesWebsite/Mobile: $295
• Final Entry Deadline is December 19, 2008

Brandon Hall Awards

• http://www.brandon-hall.com/
• No deadline listed yet for 2009

SXSW

• http://sxsw.com/interactive/
• Deadline: December 01
• Fee - $25 per site/category

One Show Awards

• http://www.enteroneshow.org/
• Deadline:? 
• Was open in November 11^th 2008 for 2009
• Fee: $300

ADC Awards

• http://www.adcawards.org/register/
• Not sure on deadlines or price

The E-Learning Awards (London)

• Each entry costs £99
• http://www.elearningage.co.uk/AWARDS.ASPX
• Deadline is June 30, 2009

CODiE Awards

• Non-profit cost = $295
• Others = $595http://www.siia.net/ 
• Deadline: October 1st^th (prior to year of award)

Horizon Interactive Awards

• $45 entry fee
• http://www.horizoninteractiveawards.com/
• Deadline is Feb 20, 2009

Stevie Awards

• 190 entry fee before Dec 13, 2008
• $225 before April 1, 2009
• $260 after March 31, 2009
• http://www.stevieawards.com

Communication Arts Interactive Award

• Deadline: December 15, 2008
• http://www.commarts.com/competitions/interactive
• $100 per website

Flash Forward

• http://www.flashforwardconference.com/
• Deadline:? (Varies - sometimes happens 2x per year)
• Fee: Free!

MUSE awards

• http://www.mediaandtechnology.org/muse/index.html
• Dec 1 – Jan 31, 2009
• Entry fee:?
• (Need to be affiliated with a museum)

If you happen to know of any other awards regarding eLearning, training, interactive design, etc, please email us through our contact page and we’ll add it to the list. Thanks!