There is no question that the awards issued at the annual Gold Symposium in Sydney are the highest pinnacle of success in the Australian bullion industry. The awards this year have been reduced from 3 separate awards into 1. Not much is known about the nature of the award so far. All that has been decided so far is this: We have an opportunity here to participate in deciding what the selection criteria could be. Suggestions are encouraged on this thread, or can be forwarded privately to me by PM. We will be floating a few ideas around on Sunday at the Melbourne Meet-up and forwarding them to the organisers who await our ideas with high anticipation. I like particularly that the award can be presented to a single individual, not necessarily a company. There may also be scope to find a name for the award. For example the Mining Award will be known as the Gavin Thomas Mining Award.
Ok. Lets look at criteria for the award. Say it was the 'Maggie' award. What attributes would a recipient have to have?
Contribution to the community In as much that most people here are either buyers or sellers or both. Some are good buyers and some are not so good, some sellers provide better services than the others and have better customer service but at the end of the day, most peoples contributions are just buying or selling precious metals. Some people come on the forums just to sell, some just to pick up bargains. Some like to argue over real estate or troll threads, you have conspiracy theorists and the usual hate. And then you get members of the community who don't get involved in the arguments, want to talk about how you are, rather than just money, people who will sell you a hot item at issue price and will refuse to take the market price, someone who will slip in a free gift, just because... These people add more to the sense of community than many others, and they do it consistently. Otherwise you are just looking at 'who sold the most in this particular year' Of course with Maggie gone I have no idea who you would give this to
+1 Is it too late to suggest two distinct awards? a) An industry/corporate/professional award applicable to companies, organisation and related professional individuals, and b) an individual or community award for people who are awesome... people like Maggie, notable bloggers, people who help build the community, etc
Thanks everyone for your input in this. Beau from Bullion magazine came down to Melbourne's Silver Stacker Meet-up on Sunday where we had a discussion around the attributes of a worthy recipient and what the award should be called. Its clear from the community that this single award has Maggie's name all over it, and the organisers have chosen to recognise her contribution and name the award in honour of her. So thanks to all those who responded here and to me personally. See you up in Sydney.
The Symposium Bullion Industry Award for 2014 (the "Maggie") was awarded to Gold Stackers Australia Pty Ltd - proud to say that this is the second year running we have won an award at Gold Symposium, judged by a panel of peers in the industry.
The folks at Symposium had put a lot of thought into how to present this award, and it showed. When the idea for a single award was first floated (instead of 3 separate award categories) it was clear that had Maggie been around, she would have been the one receiving it. Some of the nomination emails were read out, showing how far Maggie would go to help her customers, and how she added the personal touch that is often found wanting from the mainstream retailers. It was a touching tribute to her, and I feel privileged to have been one of her customers. I only hope that we can all learn from her example, and allow ourselves to treat our customers (and each other) as Maggie would have treated them. Meeting Maggie's husband Russ (ArgentLust above - Seen also in the picture) was the highlight of my trip up there, and to be presented with the award was certainly a humbling experience. Thanks go out to the Symposium team, who put on a great event. Love the new location. Also, many thanks to our friends in the stacker community, and specifically to Maggie, and to Russ. Ck.
