Open for Voting: CRRA 11

It's that exciting time of the year again when the largest online annual  CSR report awards opens up for voting and we all get to pick the reports that we feel are tops in 9 categories. This is the fourth CRRA awards. The reports are those which were published between October 09 and October 10. Voting is open from now until 28th January 2011 (plenty of time, no excuses) , and the format remains the same as in previous years. And as per recent tradition, voters who vote for a first choice in each category get the chance to win a PRIZE :)  

According to my calculations, in CRRA 11, a total of 86 reports compete, with 41 being totally new to these awards (of which 14 are first time reporters). There are a total of 196 entries which means of course that several reports compete in more than one category. In fact, 60% of reports compete in two or three categories. General Electric, Banco Bradesco SA  and Royal Dutch Shell are playing it safe by each competing in six categories. This is a breakdown of the entries by category:

There is however a significant change in the rules in CRRA 2011: "We  restricted companies who had won the same category in two consecutive years from reenteirng that category."   I can understand this - some people just vote for the companies who won the previous year. This change affects :

Coca Cola Enterprises Inc: Winners in Best Creativity in 07, 09 and 10,  and now trying their luck this year in four categories - Best Carbon, Best Materiality, Best Honesty and Best Report, all categories Coca Cola entered last year but did not get into the top three.

Novo Nordisk: Winners in Best Integrated in 07,09 and 10, now  trying their chances in CRRA 11 in three categories - Best Materiality, Best Honesty and Best Report, categories they entered last year and did not get in the top three.

Vodafone: Winners in Best Report in 07,09,10 and Best Materiality in 07,09 10 are  now trying their luck in two categories - Best Carbon Disclosure and Best Honesty.
NB: This post was modified on 29th October, one day after original post, to correct some of the information provided about CRRA 11 entries. The post now reflects the correct position. Apologies if this has caused any confusion.

Also, this year's line-up  reflects a deliberate attempt to reduce the number of entrants to make the voting task more manageable for us voters. Yes, I did say us. Because if you are reading this blog, you MUST vote. OK?

Over the next few weeks, as I usually do, I will be looking at the entrants category by category and sharing some background on the CSR reporting blog about what's happening in each category and the characteristics of the different report entries .  And this year, I think I will make a note of who I voted for so that, when the results are announced,  if I get more than one win, I will be able to treat myself to a guilt-free feast of Chunky Monkey. Fair trade of course.

elaine cohen, CSR consultant, Sustainabilty Reporter, HR Professional, Ice Cream Addict. Author of CSR for HR: A necessary partnership for advancing responsible business practices   Contact me via www.twitter.com/elainecohen  on Twitter or via my business website www.b-yond.biz/en  (BeyondBusiness,  CSR consulting and Sustainability Reporting firm)