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There may not be an answer for this question, but here goes: Is it better to have the awards ceremony first and then the luncheon or vice versa? I realize every situation is different, but is there a general rule for this?
Answer:

Hi Sharon,
Welcome to the Community Tool Box (CTB) and Ask an Advisor, I hope we can provide you with helpful and directly applicable information! Interesting and timely question (it being award season and all) you present, one I've never really given much thought to or encountered on this site, but one I'm excited to explore; I'm sure other visitors would like to know the optimal time for having an awards ceremony around a luncheon (or any meal for that matter) as well. To begin, from my own experience, most of the awards luncheons I've attended typically hold the awards ceremony after the meal because luncheons occur right around the time most people have their mid-day repast so come in hungry; I think Miss Manners would probably agree that feeding the guests first then holding the ceremony is the more polite and genteel of the two options (a third option of course is handing out awards during the luncheon, but this would disrupt the flow of table conversation and people would have to stop eating to clap, etc.). So, I would say, feed the guests then have the ceremony, or start the ceremony as dessert is being served if time is of the essence. That said, and because I'm really just babbling and not sure I'm being at all helpful, we do have a resource here in the CTB that might better inform your thinking than I'm able to do. If you go to our home page, click on the "Learn a Skill, how-to information" in the upper left corner. Click on Table of Contents and scroll on down to the section entitled: "Maintaining Quality and Rewarding Accomplishments - Information on achieving and maintaining quality performance, public reporting, providing incentives, and honoring colleagues and community champions." So far so good. What you're looking for will likely be found in "Chapter 41, Rewarding Accomplishments," sections 1 and 4 (this section mostly I think). Anyway, one of the things that I like about being an advisor is the diversity of questions that we get, yours included, many of which stretch my own thinking to come up with a thoughtful and reasonable reply. Thankfully, when I'm kind of rooting around in the recesses of my experience vault and not finding much, CTB to the rescue! So, in sum Sharon, have a look at Chapter 41, section 4 as I think your answer can be found therein. If that doesn't help, please feel free to come back and we'll work together on a solution, remember, you're never alone! With that Sharon, thank you for your most interesting question, take care, be well.
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Question Date: Sun, 04/24/2016