Tag Archives: public relations contest

5 Reasons to Move Your Contest to BetterBNC

  1. top5Just for Media & PR:  BetterBNC has been designed specifically for journalism, media and public relations contests.  BetterBNC is NOT a generic platform that has to be customized for media and PR awards programs.
  2. Training & Support:  BetterBNC includes all training and support in its base price – you never get a bill at the end of the year for support.  Our tech team is responsive and works with customers to ensure contest success.
  3. Easy Judging:  Judges prefer BetterBNC for its ease of use and intuitive interface.  We receive inquiries every week which are the result of judges’ recommendations.
  4. Customized Homepage:  BetterBNC allows you to create a customized contest homepage hosted by BetterBNC at no additional charge.  You can use an easy page builder to create the page or build it from scratch.
  5. Marketing Manager:  BetterBNC has a feature allowing the contest administrator to email contestants and judges conveniently from the administrator dashboard.

After you’ve presented your awards, wrapped up your conference or convention, it’s a great time to give BetterBNC a call, schedule a complimentary demo and see if BetterBNC can improve your contest experience for the coming year.  Email karen@smalltownpapers.com to schedule a demo and learn more about the platform.

When you sign on to BetterBNC, we build your contest and conduct a training for your team so you’re ready to go whenever your call for entries goes out.   Contact us today to get started.

New Feature Makes it Easy to Communicate with Contestants & Judges

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*Click here to access our latest newsletter (April 16, 2015) announcing our new Marketing Manager feature!


groupemailiconBetterBNC is delighted to announce a new feature which dramatically improves the way contest administrators communicate with those involved in their contest.

The platform’s new Marketing Manager feature allows contest administrators to easily communicate with users by sending email from the administrator dashboard to contest judges and contestants from both current and previous contest years.  

TCreate Campaignhe administrator can create and save email templates or create individual emails. You can target judges who have not yet finished assignments, or specific groups of contestants such as those who made entries last year, but haven’t done so yet in your current contest. You can launch campaigns to call for entries, or remind users of impending deadlines.  The feature is easy and intuitive to use and makes communicating with your judges and contestants more productive.  

The new Marketing Manager feature is part of BetterBNC’s 2015 platform upgrade and is available to contests at no additional cost. 

Want to know more about BetterBNC or schedule a personal demo, email karen@smalltownpapers.com today.

BetterBNC Welcomes Public Relations Contests

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BetterBNC is excited to welcome public relations contests to the list of organizations using our online contest platform.  This year, the Oklahoma and Tennessee College Public Relations Associations became the first public relations contests to use BetterBNC and we are now seeing increased interest from similar awards competitions as they prepare for 2015.

OCPRALogoTwo years ago, Oklahoma College Public Relations Association (OCPRA) board member Adam Calaway had an epiphany after participating in the state’s SPJ awards program which uses the BetterBNC platform.  Adam felt taking the OCPRA contest online would save tremendous time and energy.

“I really liked it, I thought it was so simple,” Adam said of his experience with BetterBNC. “For seven or eight years, [OCPRA] had been doing everything in paper. You fill it out, use a PDF, print it out, mail it in. At an awards ceremony, I asked about doing it all online and that got a roaring round of applause.”

Adam secured approval from the organization and began the process of working with BetterBNC to set up the now digital college PR contest.  “I have to say the customer service was spectacular… easy to work with, so polite and our requests were taken care of immediately.”

The online contest won over entrants who have praised the new process for being convenient and cutting the entry time down to just an hour or two.  The numbers back that up. “In the past, we had 500 entries at most and this year, we went up to more than 700 so a 15 to 20 percent increase. I’m excited.”

Contest judges were also sold on the new platform since they’re now able to sit down, relax and go through entries online from the convenience of a computer or mobile device.  Adam tells us that one of the judges is now working to get BetterBNC for his organization’s contest and his message to other college PR organizations is to act now.

“You cannot ask for a better, easier and more comprehensive way to run your public relations contest. They’ve thought of everything and your entrants and judges will thank you.”

BetterBNC was designed specifically for media-related contests and is currently being used by a growing list of organizations including press clubs, news associations, AP and SPJ chapters, broadcast groups, public relations organizations and more.  Visit www.TCPRA.org and www.OCPRA.org to learn more about the Tennessee and Oklahoma Public Relations Associations. Want to see a demo of BetterBNC? Contact us today – call 360.427.6300.