Tag Archives: contest platform

BetterBNC Provides Top-Tier Admin Training

BetterBNC leads the way in comprehensive and unlimited training and support for all client contest administrators. Running an awards competition can be challenging but you can count on us to provide guidance every step of the way. If you need help, let us know.

Please remember that BetterBNC requires that all contest administrators receive training from us directly. That includes any helper admins you may have working on your contest within our platform. Each admin must also have their own login credentials — do not share your credentials with anyone. Please contact us to establish additional admin accounts. These accounts will remain active until you tell us to cancel, so it’s important to manage these carefully.

As a contest admin, you can always complete a trouble ticket if you have questions and a member of our tech team will get right back to you.

Happy Holidays from BetterBNC

We hope you’ve had a wonderful 2016 – we appreciate our valued BetterBNC customers.  We have a record number of organizations using BetterBNC this year and look forward to even more switching to the platform in 2017.

If you’re a current customer, remember to contact us for your renewal information – just email or call the office and we’ll get started for you. If you are interested in switching your contest to BetterBNC, simply contact us to schedule a demo at your convenience and we’ll go from there. All you have to do is email karen@smalltownpapers.com.

We look forward to more great contests in the coming year!  Happy Holidays from all of us at BetterBNC.

Is my contest too small for BetterBNC?

It’s a question we often hear.  Is the BetterBNC contest platform designed for larger contests – those with a large number of entries – or will it work for my organization’s small contest?

BetterBNC customers have contests ranging in size from a hundred entries to thousands of entries – the platform works for contests of all shapes and sizes.  Even our very small contests appreciate that it saves time and energy for everyone involved – your contest admin, judges and contestants.  The result may even be growth in the  number of entries you receive each year – we’ve seen that trend among our customers.

We also have customers who come to BetterBNC from other platforms as well as those who are taking the contest online for the first time after operating in the past manually.  Don’t worry about the learning curve – all of your training and support for the year is included in your BetterBNC base price. There’s never a charge at the end of the year for support.

Contact BetterBNC and take a look at the platform in a complimentary demo.  Email karen@smalltownpapers.com to schedule a demo for you and your team this summer.

 

Why choose BetterBNC for your contest?

Why BetterBNC — an easy, intuitive online platform designed specifically for the print and broadcast media, creative and PR industries?

  • Operates on powerful cloud servers to ensure smooth operation even during the busiest of contest seasons.
  • Includes robust standard features and can be customized to your unique contest requirements.
  • Encourages industry best-practices for fairness, transparency and ethical behavior.
  • Features designed to help your contestants and judges manage their work efficiently.
  • Accommodates contests of all sizes and complexities.
  • Is an affordable and efficient contest solution for all types of media organizations.
  • BetterBNC is repeatedly recognized for its outstanding user support and administrator training.
  • BetterBNC’s Advisor Group, made up of contest executives and senior admins, provides valuable oversight and gives you a voice in new features and benefits.

BetterBNC is being used by hundreds of organizations across North America and thousands of contestants.  Schedule a complimentary demo today and see how BetterBNC can improve your organization’s contest experience for your contest admin, judges and contestants.  Email karen@smalltownpapers.com for details.

Need a platform for your organization and its chapters?

Perhaps you have several chapter contests under your national organization’s umbrella.  You might have a large nationwide media contest then several regional competitions.  Want to create a consistent contest experience for all of the chapters or regions? BetterBNC can help you do that.

Several organizations using BetterBNC do just that – one sanctioning organization with contests under their umbrella.  We can show you how easy it is to set that up with BetterBNC.  Simply contact us by emailing karen@smalltownpapers.com.  You can schedule a complimentary demo for your team today or learn more about the platform and how it is working for organizations which have multiple contests.

 

BetterBNC & PayPal Integration

BetterBNC offers a powerful integration between its Revenue Manager module and PayPal Advanced accounts. This integration has a number of benefits for contests including the ability for contestants to make credit card entry payments without ever leaving the organization’s contest webpage and the auto-recording of PayPal payments in the contest admin tables and reports.

When you sign up for PayPal Advanced for BetterBNC, you are also introduced to a dedicated senior account manager at PayPal. Your PayPal account manager knows BetterBNC and understands the types of transactions you will be engaging in so setup and integration is fast and easy. PayPal charges $5/month for its Advanced account and that fee can be suspended during times when your contest is inactive. Contests interested in taking advantage of this integration should let us know a week prior to contest launch for setup.

For contests preferring to receive entry fees from contestants by check or via its own payment cart, Revenue Manager can help track these payment types. If you have any questions, just let us know.

What people say about BetterBNC

One of the great benefits of our comprehensive support program is that our customers are comfortable contacting us and sharing details about their experience.  That open line of communication has allowed us to not only strengthen our relationships with customers but also get a real feel for the user experience and how it can be enhanced in the future.

This week we had great feedback from two of our contests – the first is a high school journalism awards program. Its administrator said, “I am still pleased with how logical this system is to administrate. Thanks.”  And from a newspaper association contest admin, “Wyoming is our swap out state this year, and they wanted me to be sure to pass along how much they love using your site!”

We always appreciate customer feedback so continue to share details about your online contest.  And if you are with an organization shopping for an online platform, contact us to schedule a complimentary demo. We’ll show you, not only the features of the platform, but you’ll see what it’s actually like to navigate for the contest administrator, judges and contestants.

BetterBNC is currently being used by nearly 200 organizations across the country. We have contests of all shapes and sizes so contact us today to see if BetterBNC can improve your contest experience.

BetterBNC never charges you extra for customer support.

BetterBNC is dedicated to the success of our contests.  We want to ensure that your organization provides the best contest experience possible for your contest admin, judges and contestants.  Our commitment to exceptional tech support is a part of that.

With BetterBNC, all training and support is included in your base price – you’re never charged extra at the end of the year for support.  If you have a question, you simply complete a “trouble ticket” which is available here.  The trouble ticket is sent to members of our tech team immediately.  They review the issue and respond directly to you. Completing the trouble ticket is the fastest way to get the assistance you need.

If you are a contestant and have questions about contest rules and submissions, you can contact the sanctioning organization’s contest administrator directly. Their contact information is generally available on the contest’s main webpage.

Want to know more?  Contact us at BetterBNC.  If your organization is interested in BetterBNC, schedule a complimentary demo today.

 

Judges Really do Prefer BetterBNC

We’ve been delighted to have welcomed several new contests in recent weeks and we have a new one signing on to BetterBNC this week.  We’ve seen a very strong trend with these new contests.

Many organizations are encouraged to switch to BetterBNC because either their contest judges recommended it or their members who have judged other contests using BetterBNC have suggested it.  Judges say BetterBNC has one of the easiest and most intuitive judging interfaces around.

We take that very seriously as we strive to make the contest easy and efficient for everyone involved including the judges who often volunteer their time to thoroughly review entries.  We incorporated an easy drag and drop mechanism to help them organize their favorites and we have features that ensure judges can review entries from their computer or device without having to worry about time consuming and cumbersome downloads.

Last year, we added a Marketing Manager features (which comes with the base price) that allows contest administrators to send reminders and other information to judges right from the contest dashboard.

We appreciate our customers who continue to recommend the platform to their peers involved with journalism, creative and PR contests across the country.  If your organization would like to see the platform, contact us to schedule a complimentary 45 minute demo.  Email karen@smalltownpapers.com today.  We can help you make the switch before your next Call for Entries goes out.

An easy switch to BetterBNC

As 2015 wraps up, many organizations are thinking ahead and planning for their 2016 media contest.  We are currently working with several organizations that are switching to BetterBNC from other platforms and most all have asked if there is anything they can do in advance to make it an easy switch and save some time.

BetterBNC keeps it straightforward but there are a couple of things you can do to speed up the process.

  1. Know the structure of your contest.
    We’ll have you fill out a template that we use to build the contest but know the structure ahead of time.  How many categories? Are there divisions? You’ll want to know the names/titles of each?
  2. Understand how the judging process works.
    Some contests have one judge per entry while others have a panel or multiple judges reviewing entries.  Understanding the judging structure will help determine whether you will need a judging module.
  3. Assemble your team.
    Have the contest administrator on board and anyone who will be working with them.  Once the template is submitted, you are able to schedule a training session at your convenience so you’re ready to go as soon as the contest is turned over to you.

BetterBNC builds the contest for your organization and when it’s turned over to you, you’re able to go in and simply make any changes you need from the original template you submitted.  You can also build your customized and hosted contest homepage which comes at no additional cost.  And remember, with BetterBNC, all training and support for the year is included in your base price.  We’re here to help when you need it.

Check out BetterBNC today.  Schedule a demo and see how your contest can be even better in 2016. Email karen@smalltownpapers.com to get started.