Ideas Fest 2026! The Awards Experts are in town!
Ideas Fest is always full of big ideas.Taking pride in being Awards Experts, we strive to help people tell their stories and it was a fantastic opportunity for us to hear real life examples of current ambitions, understand the various challenges businesses and individuals have had to overcome, and discuss how recognition continues to support the growth of business.
Across the Personal Brand Land stage, three talks approached this challenge from different directions.
Daniel Priestley’s (Dent Global) talk focused on sharing thought-provoking insights on marketing, growth and what it really takes to build a business people want to believe in. Lucy McCarraher (Book Magic) explored how to tell stories that make prospects want to work with you. Martin Huntbach (Vidonary) shared the video strategy behind Daniel Priestley’s growth from 5,000 to 5 million monthly views. And our own Donna O’Toole explored how businesses can turn their achievements into a powerful driver for growth.
Three different subjects. But together, they raise an important question for any ambitious business:
Once you’ve got people’s attention, what makes them choose you professionally?
Building a Business People Believe In
Across his two sessions at Ideas Fest, Daniel Priestley shared a powerful reminder that sustainable growth isn’t simply about doing more – it’s about sharing a personal brand that people notice, trust and want to be connected with.
From creating genuine demand to building the reputation and assets that make a business stronger, his message about becoming a Key Person of Influence was a thoughtful one: growth comes when you give people a reason to believe in what you do as a leader and expert in your niche.
Recognition continues to play an important role in that journey – turning great work into visible proof and helping businesses build the credibility, confidence and trust that supports long-term growth.
Attention is valuable. But it isn’t the same as trust
Businesses have never had more ways to get noticed. You can publish content, build a following, appear on podcasts, speak at events, share customer stories and put your successes in front of thousands – or even millions – of people. And all of those things can be incredibly valuable. But visibility creates another challenge. Your competitors can do them too.
When everyone is publishing, posting and talking about what makes them different, your audience has to decide which claims they actually believe.
That’s where proof becomes powerful.
Because there is a fundamental difference between saying: We’re one of the best businesses in our industry. And being able to demonstrate that respected, independent experts have recognised you as one of the best.
Great stories give your achievements meaning
One of the lessons from Lucy McCarraher’s Ideas Fest session was the importance of storytelling in your book that makes prospects want to work with you. And there’s an important lesson here for awards too. Your business probably has more award-worthy stories than you realise.
Achievements matter. But simply having them isn’t enough.You need to uncover the story behind the achievement.
- What was the challenge?
- What did you do differently?
- What changed as a result?
- Where is the evidence that proves it?
This is what turns a business achievement from an internal success story into something other people can understand, believe in and potentially recognise.
Visibility creates opportunity. Credibility converts it.
Martin Huntbach’s session explored the video strategy behind Daniel Priestley’s extraordinary growth from 5,000 to 5 million monthly views.That scale of visibility can create enormous opportunities. But for most businesses, the ultimate goal isn't simply more views.
It’s what those views lead to.
- A prospective customer discovering you.
- An investor taking you seriously.
- A talented candidate wanting to work for you.
- A procurement team putting you on the shortlist.
- A journalist deciding you’re worth talking about.
- A new partner seeing you as the credible choice.
- Visibility can get you into the room.
Credibility can help you win once you're there.
That’s why growing businesses need to think beyond simply generating more attention and ask what happens when somebody starts looking for evidence.
What will they find that substantiates the story you’re telling?
Your achievements can become business assets
This was at the heart of Donna’s Ideas Fest session: turning achievements into a powerful driver for business growth. Too often, brilliant achievements stay hidden inside a business.They appear in a monthly report. They’re celebrated in a team meeting. Perhaps they become a LinkedIn post. Then everyone moves on to the next target. But the right achievements can have a much longer life.
When identified, evidenced and strategically matched with the right awards, they can become credible third-party proof of what your business does best. And winning is only the beginning. Recognition can then become something your sales team talks about:
- Something that strengthens a pitch or tender.
- Something customers see on your website.
- Something that gives journalists another reason to pay attention.
- Something employees feel proud to be associated with.
- Something investors, partners and prospective customers can use as an independent trust signal.
The achievement hasn't changed.You've simply made it work harder for the business.
So, what could your business prove?
If you’re doing brilliant work, growing quickly, delivering exceptional results or changing your industry, don’t wait until an awards deadline appears before thinking about recognition. Start with the achievements. Look at what has happened across your business over the last 12 months and ask:
- What are we genuinely proud of?
- What can we prove?
- And who needs to know about it?
Those answers could reveal opportunities you haven’t considered yet.
At August Recognition, we help ambitious businesses identify their strongest achievements, find the awards that genuinely matter, and turn recognition into a strategic asset that supports their wider business goals. And soon AwardsApp will help people grow their credibility themselves through awards too.
You already have the story. The question is: do you have the proof?
If you want to discover which of your achievements could become your next award-winning story, talk to our team of experts to discover awards that could be a great fit for your business and start turning your achievements into credible recognition.
