Once I received a comment from an awardmaster who told me, in a very long email, that my site was great but since I do not accept psychiatric sites into my own awards program he could not award me an award. Keep in mind his own criteria did not mention such a restriction. I was so furious. How dare this pinhead make that kind of comment?

I remember another woman who had a beautiful site with some non-traditional navigation (it was some floating squares and was absolutely gorgeous). She didn't get an award and received a response from awardmaster which said her navigation was terrible. She was upset and posted a note to a newsgroup asking for a site review. Before long, she got back a dozen responses, some negative some positive. She was so confused, discouraged and unhappy. Nothing good came from comments.

I've known many beginning webmasters who are just starting out. Of course their GeoCities and Tripod sites are lacking ... but heck, these people are beginners. What do you expect? Telling them they didn't get award because, well, their site failed all 26 criteria points just will not make any friends and, believe me, will not help anyone.

Okay, what about honorable mention awards? Lord, I hate these ... this is a wonderful way of saying, "your site was only a little bit sucky". Come on, either give out award or don't, but please don't hand out honorable mentions.

My opinion: honorable mention awards are product of amateur awardmasters. Don't include them in your program.

So what should you do about those who do not win? It's simple ... don't do anything. No matter how much time you spent judging site, just put it aside and resist any temptation to "help" or "give some advice". Move on to next web site without looking back.

If webmaster sends a note asking (and this has only happened to me once), well, then you can either (a) ignore request or (b) just send a quick note saying it didn't meet criteria. You can suggest he read criteria again and in, say, a few months he can resubmit his site. Don't get into any details, even if he asks and says that he wants to know. Believe me, he really doesn't.

The bottom line? Keep you negative comments to yourself.

Another strong ethics point is to remember that your criteria is your contract with awards submitters. You should use no other standards except for your those criteria which were posted at time person submitted for award. Why? Because you need to stick to agreement that you have made and not use some arbitrary standard known only to yourself.

Remember your power and be professional at all times. A professional is smooth, honest, hardworking and helpful. Don't get into arguments, flame wars or any other petty behaviors as regards your awards program.

Another important point to understand is an awards program should be pure. You should have no requirements, no string attached, except for common request for a link back to your site. You can, of course, request people to sign your guestbook, but never make it a requirement to win an award.

Remember, again, to base your decisions only on your criteria. It does not matter if site you are judging belongs to your boss, your mother or your best friend - just judge against criteria. If you feel you cannot give an unbiased opinion for any reason, then by all means inform submitter pf fact and do not judge site.

A very important ethical point is your awards program is only as good as your own site. In other words, your own website should be a model to others as to what it takes to win one of your awards.

There are many other qualities that make for an ethical awards program. For a more complete list, see our statement of ethics at http://www.internet-tips.net/Winawards/awardsethics.htm

In summary, by remaining ethical you can build an awards program that makes you proud and very effectively advertises your own site and professional skills. What better way to promote yourself than that?