We’re excited about the upcoming contest season – the largest yet for BetterBNC as we continue to welcome new organizations to the platform thanks largely to your referrals. We have important reminders for you below and, as always, please contact us if you have any questions. We appreciate your choosing BetterBNC for your awards program!

Contest Renewals
Thanks to those of you who have completed your contest renewals and sent in the information required. If you haven’t yet completed your renewal, send it in today. If you have questions, please contact Karen@smalltownpapers.com or PaulJ@smalltownpapers.com and they can assist you.

Are you new to BetterBNC?
If this is your first year with BetterBNC, help us ensure your contest is ready to go when the Call for Entries goes out. If you haven’t already, please complete and return your template as soon as possible.

BetterBNC Website Refresh
We’ve had a fantastic response to the BetterBNC website refresh launched this summer. If you haven’t yet checked it out, visit www.betterbnc.com today.  If you use BetterBNC screenshots in your contest instructions or other promotional material, you’ll want to capture the updated shots. If you need assistance, please contact the head of our tech team Cody France (Cody@smalltownpapers.com) You may have noticed the new Admin Overview Chart available in “Entries.” Admins could always examine an overview of entries, but now we’ve added a great new overview tool for entries made by Open Call contestants. It’s already in your Admin/Entries window – simply click to reveal.

Easy Download of Winning Entries
We’ve seen a dramatic surge in the use of Entry Asset Manager. Contest admins are discovering the value in having all the attachments for winning entries downloaded in one highly organized zip file. If you retain your winning entries on your own server, or want to create a powerpoint visual presentation for your awards ceremony, Entry Asset Manager can increase your efficiency by gathering all assets on one place for instant download. If you would like to add the Entry Asset Manager module to your contest, contact us today.

Use Marketing Manager to Email Judges & Contestants
Contest administrators are enjoying the Marketing Manager feature which allows you to conveniently email judges and contestants right from the dashboard. Use this feature to:

• Create & save Campaign Email Templates
• Send Campaigns to target audiences
• Fully format typeface and fonts
• Include your logos, graphics and images
• Monitor progress of Sent, Received, Opened and Bounced

There are six different types of campaign emails to choose from and you can create a template to use in the future or create emails when you’re ready to send. Be sure to remind your members and participants to add email.smalltownpapers.com to their “safe senders” list to ensure contest email lands in their inbox. Marketing Manager makes communicating with your contestants and judges more productive and is included in the price of your renewal.

Build Your Customized Homepage Today
One of our most popular new features is the customized homepage which allows you to easily create a branded contest homepage.
From the administrator dashboard, simply click “Design Settings” to start building your own page.

• Select a template.
• Select colors/fonts, add images/graphics and your contest details.
• Distribute your unique contest URL to your participants.
• The feature is included in your renewal or base price. Want to see a sample page? Check out the American Agricultural Editors’ Association.

Customer Q&A
Q: Why doesn’t the platform allow large PDF files to be entered?
A: You may have noticed BetterBNC’s 20mb file size limit for entries. The reason we don’t permit larger files to be uploaded is simply because it takes longer to download which creates a more cumbersome process for your judges, particularly if they have standard DSL. Customers are encouraged to limit file sizes to 5mb or less or opt to use an online e-publishing platform such as Issuu, VuDu or RealView. When contestants make entries using the e-publishing option, they enter the URL web address of the document rather than uploading. Judges are able to easily view and evaluate the entry.

Do you have a question for BetterBNC? Email Karen Tarica at karen@smalltownpapers.com.