Opinion awards the DBA idea as lacking in entries

Coley Porter Bell is in line for four awards at this year’s Design Business Association’s International Design Effectiveness Awards (DW 18 October).

By the time this letter is published we will know the outcome. I hope it did well. You have to ask, however, what the value of an award is when there are only 64 entries across 17 categories. That’s an average of four per category. In this situation it would be difficult not to be a finalist.

Folio, a previous winner, was one of the consultancies which declined to enter this year’s awards on the assumption (now proved accurate) that the extraordinarily high entry fees would result in few entries and consequently awards of diminished value.

We are great supporters of the DBA and hope the board will revert to a more competitive approach for the 2002 awards.

The desperate last-minute cut price offers for this year’s awards dinner suggests it might.

David Bartholomew

Managing director

Folio

Henley-on-Thames RG9 2AA