Get started with Sessionboard Awards
Sessionboard Awards runs a nominations program from start to finish. People nominate, your reviewers score the nominations on a scorecard, and you pick and announce the winners. Sessionboard drafts the first program for you, so you start by reviewing a draft rather than filling in a blank form.
Why use it
Section titled “Why use it”The Sessionboard Awards Site gives reviewers, nominees, and guests a single branded destination for your awards program. Reviewers see their outstanding work and deadlines the moment they sign in, so they spend less time hunting for their assignments. Organizers can preview the site as any persona — nominee, reviewer, or invited guest — to confirm the right content appears before publishing.
Sign up
Section titled “Sign up”Start your trial
Go to the Start Sessionboard Awards page and answer the first question: First, who are these awards for? Choose Members, Customers and partners, An industry or Employees. Your answer picks three starting categories and whether people nominate someone else or themselves.
Say what you are awarding
Type your categories separated by commas, or choose Use the usual ones. Then pick when nominations close, or choose Not set yet to close them 30 days after you open them.
Check the draft
You see the program Sessionboard will draft: your categories, a nomination form, a scorecard for your reviewers with one review pass, and the Winner and Finalist recognitions. Nothing is public until you open nominations.
Confirm your work email
Enter your work email. We email you a link and a 6-digit code: select Continue setting up in the email, or type the code. Either one works once, for 15 minutes. There is no password. Personal email addresses are not accepted. Or select Continue with Google or Sign in with Microsoft, when you see them, and use your work account.
Open your program
Select Open my program. Your organization starts a 14-day trial of the Growth plan, with no card needed.
Sign in
Section titled “Sign in”There is no password. Go to Sign in to Sessionboard Awards, enter your work email and select Email me a sign-in link. Open the email and select Sign in, or type the 6-digit code on the page. The link and the code work once, for 15 minutes. If your email opens the link for you, it asks you to select Continue as your address first, so the link is still good when you get to it.
Or select Continue with Google or Sign in with Microsoft, when you see them, and pick your work account. The first time you use one with an account that already exists, we email you a 6-digit code to confirm it’s you; after that, it signs you straight in. Two-step sign-in still applies when your team uses it.
If you set a password for this account before, it no longer signs you in here: use the emailed link, the code, Google or Microsoft. An account that also works in Sessionboard’s platform keeps its password, and an account whose company uses SSO keeps that sign-in.
To change the language of the sign-up and sign-in pages, select the globe at the top right: English, Français, Deutsch or Español. A new account is made in that language, and the sign-in email is written in it.
Two-step sign-in for an account that signs in by email uses an authenticator app or a passkey, not emailed codes, because the sign-in email already goes to that inbox. If you turned on emailed codes before, you keep them.
Creating a workspace means agreeing to Sessionboard’s Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. In the EU, the EEA, the UK and Switzerland you tick a box to agree, and the Data Processing Addendum is included. A teammate you invite agrees the first time they sign in.
What your first program contains
Section titled “What your first program contains”- Categories: the ones you named, up to 50.
- Nomination form: Nominee name, Nominee organization, Summary of achievement and Evidence of impact.
- Scorecard: Impact, Originality and Evidence, each scored 1 to 5, plus a comment box.
- One review pass, named Review. It runs for 21 days after nominations close.
- Winner and Finalist, for you to award from the scores.
You can change the categories and the closing date. The nomination form and the scorecard are shown on the program page for you to check.
The Getting started checklist
Section titled “The Getting started checklist”Home shows a checklist under Setting up your organization. Each step opens the screen that does it, and nothing goes out until you say so:
- Say who the awards are for
- Draft your first program
- Open nominations
- Invite reviewers
- Assign nominations to reviewers
- Pick winners from the scores
Find your way around
Section titled “Find your way around”The sidebar has Home, Programs, Review, Winners, Results, People, Brand and Apps. The rail on the right has Ask, Learn, Help and Wish. Your plan and its usage are on the card at the bottom of the sidebar.
Switch apps. The nine-dot button next to the Sessionboard logo lists every Sessionboard app: Platform, Sessions, Awards, Learning and Marketing. The apps your organization has open in one select. The others open a page about the app, where an admin can add it with a 14-day trial and no card, or book a demo of the platform.