I've been having a lot of thoughts about awards and award-culture over the last couple of weeks.

Last Wednesday, I was awarded a diversity and inclusion award by USC - my alma mater.

On Friday, the QLD young achiever of the year awards were hosted, for which I was nominated.

I am extremely grateful whenever I am recognised for the work I do, but over time I've realised that I value a shout-out in a blog post or tweet from somebody whose life I've impacted than I will ever value a big, fancy, formal award ceremony.

My USC diversity and inclusion award felt hollow when placed in the context of how students and sessional staff were being treated during the last year of studying/working there. It's hard to be proud of an award coming from an institution that I stopped being proud of years ago.

But I'm grateful that being recognised for my contribution to diversity and inclusion meant that I got to be in a room with some important and influential people at the institution, and share stories of what I witnessed before I left. I actually think some of them were heard.

(If you aren't aware of what I'm talking about, here's one Twitter thread that will give you an idea.) https://twitter.com/JiroJames/status/1168109247218900992?s=20

But I'm constantly reminded of how much easier it is to recognise somebody who put in the work than it is to do that hard work yourself.

And honestly, it's a thin veil that is easily pulled back. The QLD young achiever awards showed me that.

Due to current circumstances, the award ceremony was postponed and then eventually made virtual. As part of this ceremony, the organisers requested we think of a question that we would like to be asked, then respond live to the question on the night or pre-record an answer.

We were asked to "provide a video of [ourselves] dressed up as if we were attending the event in person" and told the theme for the night was "dress to impress".

Incredible young people who are changing the world were asked to put on fancy dress and think up their own questions.

Have you looked outside?

There are more important things to worry about right now than putting on a bra and some lipstick for a Zoom call.

I had every intention of jumping through this hoop, despite finding it ridiculous. Do what is asked, be grateful for the opportunity and recognition, etc.

But the deadline fell on a busy work week and it slipped my mind. A few days later, I realised and sent an apologetic email.

I politely explained that I was too busy with work to participate in the ways that were outlined, but I provided a statement that could be read in place of a video.

"Thank you for understanding," I signed off.

The response I received was eye-opening.

"You’re too busy to write a question and send me a 30 second video of you responding to the question?" it began.

Yes, actually, I am. And I imagine all the other finalists are too, but they are good people so they did it anyway.

It takes more than 30 seconds to "dress to impress", set up a camera, figure out what I'm going to say, and record myself saying it.

Other finalists would have spent at least an hour each on this, just to be recognised for the hard work they do in their communities.

So I guess, what I'm saying is...

- If an organisation genuinely wants to recognise people for their work, treat them with some respect.

- If you value somebody for what they do, go and tweet at them because it's worth more than any award, in my experience.