Ethics, Transparency, Judging Process & Feedback

Don’t Panic is one of the world’s most ethical and transparent awards organisers, we have developed categories and criteria, a robust entry process and a two-step judging process which includes remote pre-scoring and a video conference or face to face judging session. All our awards are judged by leading industry experts who all sign a judging code of conduct to ensure confidentiality. Don’t Panic have over 200 reputable industry experts who work on our judging panels.

Don’t Panic are proud to have the Awards Trust Mark, an independent accreditation programme which validates the ethical process we operate on all our owned awards.

From September 2020 anyone entering a Don’t Panic owned award will receive qualitative feedback which provides information on how they scored alongside constructive comments from our judges. Each of our awards schemes has several Head Judges who are responsible for reviewing and approving this feedback before it is delivered.

We are proud to announce our partnership with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and the appointment of David Edmundson-Bird, Principal Lecturer in Digital as our Judging Panel Chair of Standards.

David will be working with us on continual improvement to refine and develop our categories and criteria across all awards, the entry process and help with the selection and coaching of judges.

Our awards are genuine accolades. We believe digital awards need to have validity so that employees, business partners and clients can trust the system. We want an objective, fair process that can be applied to all entries that will ensure consistency, irrespective of the entry. We also want to provide entries with feedback that will scaffold ongoing innovation and improved best practices that can be shared and celebrated in the future. Awards should be driven by merit and be judged by peers.

How to Enter

Don’t Panic support entrants and provide tips on How to Enter and webinars from our judges which explore what a great entry should comprise of. We strive to help entrants improve the quality of their award entry and improve their chance of making our shortlists and winning.

Step 1.

Download the Entry Form from the Awards Website 

Step 2.

Complete the Required Section of the Entry Form Along with Any Supporting Documentation

Step 3.

Upload your Entry Form to Online Portal and Make Payment

You can find more about how to enter each award on their respective websites.