The Judging Process

The WEGO Health Awards program includes three rounds of judging that will ultimately lead us to our 15 WEGO Health Award Winners who will be celebrated at HLTH in Las Vegas this October.

Our judging process has been carefully crafted over the years, taking notes and advice from our Patient Leader Network along the way. Between the endorsements, which allows us to have a “people’s choice” aspect, and the multiple judging rounds, which allows each of the nominees to be reviewed for content and work, we believe our WEGO Health Awards select the best of the best each year.

The first step in determining this year’s winners is to finalize the top 5 nominees in each of the award categories.

The finalists are selected in one of two ways:

1. The top 3 endorsed nominees within a WEGO Health Award category automatically move on as finalists.

Once endorsements close on July 28th, 2019, we’ll assess each of the WEGO Health Award categories and identify the top three endorsed nominees. These individuals become automatic finalists within their respective categories.

2. The subsequent 2 finalists in each category are selected by our network judging panelists.

To round out the top five finalists within each category, we will immediately begin the first two rounds of judging.

During these two rounds, our Network judging panel (made up of community members and Patient Leader Network members just like you) will review all of the nominees within each of the 15 WEGO Health Award categories. Casting their votes, two final nominees within each category will be selected.

Reviewing all of the +6k nominations takes a lot of time and effort, so these judges definitely have their work cut out for them!

Once the top five finalists in each WEGO Health Award category have been selected, we’ll announce the finalists on our blog and then move into the final round of judging.

Selecting the Winners:

Top industry experts will then convene to review the 5 finalists in each category based on :

Their use of social media

Their fit for the award for which they’ve been nominated

How effectively they engage their online community

Judges will be using the information provided in the nominee’s profile to review and score. Having a picture, complete bio and added social channels in your profile ensures a smooth and complete review.

Judges score individually, and then WEGO Health tallies these scores to identify the winners. No one knows the winners until we make the announcement at our annual WEGO Health Awards Online Ceremony September 18-20th.

Note: A nominee’s community size (number of fans, followers, readers, members, etc.) will not be considered. The nominee is judged based on their content and fit for the award category.

🏆 Tips for Nominees

Update Your Profile | Having a completed profile allows judges to gain a comprehensive understanding of your mission. Updating the ‘About’ tab will update your WEGO Health Awards profile.
Grab Your Endorsement Badge | If you navigate to the ‘Awards’ tab, you’re able to download images and badges to put on your sites to gain a few last endorsements. We invite you to keep your badge up once endorsements are closed to proudly display your accomplishment.

Who will win this year?

You’ll just have to hold tight and wait and see.

We’re just as anxious as you are!

I want to be a Network judge for the WEGO Health Awards. How can I do that?

If you’re interested in participating, please email awards@wegohealth.com.

Can judges be nominees or WEGO Health Award winners?

We do allow those who were nominated to participate in the judging process. However, if a judge is nominated for a certain award, they are not allowed to judge that category. We also give the judge the option to either remove themselves from the running or give up their judge’s spot.

How do you pick your judges?

We have many Patient Leaders, patients, caregivers, industry leaders, previous winners, finalists and Patient Leader Network members who connect with us throughout the year. Many of them express interest in being involved with the WEGO Health Awards. The WEGO Health team compiles a list of those enthusiasts throughout the year and connects with each before our WEGO Health Awards season. We then chat about the details, time commitment, and what is expected of the judges. Once they confirm they would like to officially participate, they are in. WEGO Health also hires a Judging Ambassador to help us confirm and work with these judges.

How do you score the nominees? What criteria do judges use when selecting semi-finalists, finalists, and winners?

Judges score nominees on the following criteria:
• Fit for the Award | How well does this person fit the category they are nominated for? (i.e. if they are nominated for Rookie of the Year, have they only recently started their advocacy journey?)
• Use of Social Media | How well does this Patient Leader use social media for their activism? Are they active, engaged, and responsive on their networks? Are they a power user of social media and active on multiple profiles?
• Focus on sharing of information and overall engagement | How well does this Patient Leader balance sharing of their own content with the sharing of others’ content and information?

More questions? Please feel free to refer to the full WEGO Health Awards FAQ Page.

Written by Kristen Long

Kristen Long is the Patient Leader Network Manager at WEGO Health. She's passionate about bringing empathy back into healthcare and empowering fellow patients to find their voice. She blogs about mental health and eating disorders at Serving of Support. You can follow Kristen on Twitter and Facebook.

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