Every year The Redhead (my wife) watches The Oscars. She loves to see celebrities walk on the red carpet, check out the expensive jewelry or clothing, enjoy the faces of the winners and hear them give the rushed acceptance speeches. We as viewers are always shown the top handful of contenders for each award just before the envelope is ripped apart and the winner's name (or team) announced. It adds to the suspense and certainly allows all of us to compare the participants in our heads and draw our own rushed conclusions to see how far off-base or how we "knew" who was going to win.

This is okay for most of us because it's just the movies.  We're not trying to reproduce, improve or even learn from each actor or director's contribution - we're merely trying to enjoy what they've sold to us.  It's for this reason that I struggle every year with the way many awards are handled within professional circles.  After all, these people (my peers and colleagues) aren't working hard for my enjoyment - they're trying to make a difference within an industry in the hopes of impacting the job seeker experience in a positive way.

So here are a few quick items that I think it's fair to consider in regards to how awards could function...