02
Getting started
How do I get access?
Sign up at gotshortlisted.com. 7-day free trial. Card required to start.
What do I need to get started?
A campaign brief or case study. The more detail you provide (results, methodology, client context), the stronger the outputs. Upload your agency credentials document early for best results (see Agency Profile).
How long does setup take?
Creating an account takes under two minutes. Getting your first set of entry directions for a campaign takes 10–15 minutes from a standing start.
What happens when I sign up?
Enter your name, work email, and a password. Shortlist sends a 6-digit code to that email. Type it in on the next screen to confirm the account. No link to click, so it works even on email systems that scan and burn links before you see them.
What happens after I confirm my email?
You land on the trial screen, where you review what's included and start the 7-day free trial. A card is required to start, but you won't be charged until the trial ends, and you can cancel anytime before then.
What happens the first time I log in?
A short guided walkthrough opens automatically, once. It maps the whole workflow, Brief through Directions, Draft, Evaluate/Coach, Video Script, Press Kit, and asks what you're there to do: evaluate an entry you already have, start a new one, or scope the season's shows and deadlines. You can skip it at any point, and restart it later from the avatar menu.
Can I turn the guidance off?
Yes. Choosing "I'll explore on my own" on the first screen turns off in-app guidance everywhere. You can turn it back on in Settings at any time.
What if I was invited by a colleague instead of signing up directly?
You'll get a shortened version of the same walkthrough (the workflow map, not the full routing questions) and go straight to your organisation's projects.
How do I cancel?
Settings > Account > "Manage billing, invoices & payment method." That opens Stripe's billing portal, where you can cancel, update your card, or download receipts. Access continues until the end of the billing period you've already paid for.
03
Projects & materials
What is a Project?
A Project is the workspace for a single campaign entry effort. It contains your brief, uploaded materials, AI-generated directions, draft entries, evaluations, press kit outputs, and video script, all in one place, organized by tab.
What materials can I upload?
PDFs, Word documents (.docx), and plain text files. Shortlist extracts all text, including from fillable PDF entry forms, and uses this across every AI operation in that project.
Can multiple people work on the same project?
Shortlist Pro includes one user seat, and everything you create lives in a single organisation workspace, so all projects are in one place. If your team needs multiple seats or a multi-market setup, get in touch at ben@positionadvisory.com.
04
Entry directions
Before Shortlist
3 hours
Manual category research across multiple shows, usually by a senior strategist.
With Shortlist
~10 minutes
Upload brief, review AI-generated directions with win likelihood scores.
What are Entry Directions?
AI-generated strategic recommendations: specific show-and-category combinations, each with a win likelihood score, strategic angle, ROI index, strengths and risks, and a one-line hook. Generated before you write a word, so you know where your campaign has a real shot before committing the entry fee.
How does Shortlist decide which shows and categories to recommend?
It combines campaign fit against what each show's jury typically rewards, historical win rates, your agency's past performance if available, and analysis of verified winning campaigns from public award records which surfaces comparable work and show-specific patterns.
Can I generate more directions after the first batch?
Yes. Generate More Directions adds to the existing set without deleting previous ones. You can sort directions by Category Fit, Chance of Medal, or ROI Index.
05
Show intelligence & ROI
Before Shortlist
8 hours
Researching judging criteria, past winners, entry fees, and ROI across multiple shows. Often required the most senior person in the room.
With Shortlist
Instant
On page load. Every show, every season, with verified data.
What is Jury Intelligence?
A panel inside each entry card that surfaces what a specific show's jury actually rewards: their judging philosophy, what they score on, common mistakes that kill entries, and language that resonates or raises flags. Drawn from official entry kits, published judging criteria, and observed patterns in winning work.
What is the ROI Index?
A 0–100 index per direction that combines show prestige, realistic medal probability, and entry cost. A high-prestige show at $2,000 per entry scores very differently from a show with comparable odds at $400. Helps prioritise where to allocate budget.
Is the deadline and fee data reliable?
All show data is human-verified against official show websites before being added. Each show has a confidence level and a last-verified date. Shows marked as unverified are flagged before any deadline-sensitive actions.
06
Evaluation
Before Shortlist
1 hour each
Jury review, coach feedback, and benchmarking an existing entry, each requiring a separate manual process.
With Shortlist
~2 minutes
Per evaluation. Jury mode and Coach mode coexist on the same entry.
What is Jury Evaluation?
Scores your entry the way a judge would, across six dimensions including strategic clarity, insight quality, creative idea, execution, and results evidence. Catches weaknesses before they cost you a shortlist.
What is Coach Review?
Flips the lens. Instead of scoring like a judge, it gives you an untapped potential score (the gap between your current entry and its ceiling) and a prioritised fix list. The specific changes most likely to move you from shortlist to metal. Both modes can run on the same entry.
What is Quick Evaluate?
Upload an existing entry PDF and get an immediate jury-standard evaluation without going through the full direction and drafting workflow. Useful for benchmarking legacy work or entries from another source.
Can I track score changes between drafts?
Yes. When you re-evaluate after editing, Shortlist shows a score delta per dimension. A "Notable Changes" summary explains what drove the shift. Draft generations are kept, not deleted.
07
Entry drafts
Before Shortlist
8 hrs + 1–2 hrs per revision
First draft by a lead strategist. Each revision cycle required another full review session and a sign-off loop up to the CEO.
With Shortlist
10 min + ~5 min per revision
First draft generated. Revisions via inline editing or conversational chat.
"This was the work.
Eight hours to get a first draft that might still need three rounds of revision.
That's where campaigns went to die on the calendar."
How does entry writing work?
Select a direction and click Generate Draft. Shortlist writes across all entry fields (situation, insight, idea, execution, results) in your agency's voice, informed by your credentials profile and the specific jury's criteria for that show and category.
How do I revise a draft?
Two ways. Click any field to edit inline directly. Changes save immediately. Or use the chat interface to revise specific sections conversationally: "Make the results section more specific to sales impact" and Shortlist applies the change.
Does it sound like our agency, not generic AI?
Yes, provided you've uploaded your agency credentials (see Agency Profile). Shortlist extracts your agency's strategic register, sector expertise, and voice and applies it silently to every draft. The difference is noticeable.
Can I track whether entries win?
Yes. Mark any direction as submitted and record the outcome: shortlisted, finalist, winner, or no placement. Shortlist uses this history to calibrate future direction recommendations for the same shows.
08
Press kit
Before Shortlist
1 hour
Writing press materials, adapting by format, coordinating approvals. Often happened after the shortlist announcement, in a panic.
With Shortlist
~30 seconds
One click. Full suite generated in your agency voice before submission, not after shortlist.
What does the Press Kit generate?
- LinkedIn post (full, conversational)
- X / Twitter post (tight, punchy)
- Instagram caption
- Press hook copy (written for journalism)
- Quick summary paragraph
- Outlook-safe HTML email
- PDF press release
Does it customise copy for each format?
Yes. Each format is generated separately, not reformatted from one source. The LinkedIn post is fuller and more conversational; X is tight and punchy; the press hook is written for journalism. Versions are saved and can be revised without losing earlier drafts.
09
Video script
Before Shortlist
8 hours
Script writing, multiple internal review rounds, director briefing prep. Often the last thing done before the deadline, and the first thing cut when time ran out.
With Shortlist
~20 minutes
Generate, score, refine, and produce the director brief in the same workspace.
What does the Video Script feature produce?
A 2-minute awards case study video script in the standard format: hook, challenge, idea, execution, results, close. Scored for win likelihood against your target show's criteria. Category-specific improvement suggestions. A tonal brief for briefing your director.
Can I revise it?
Yes. The script and its tonal brief can both be edited via a chat interface. You describe the change; Shortlist applies it and saves the revision.
10
Shows, calendar & budget
Is there a way to track upcoming deadlines?
Yes. The Shows Calendar shows all covered shows in a Gantt-style view with urgency indicators: Critical (14 days or fewer), Tight (15–35 days), and Prepare (36–56 days). Accessible from any project.
What is the Budget Planner?
A planning tool that models entry spend across your target shows for the season, useful for deciding which shows to prioritise before committing budget. Entry fee data is drawn from the verified show database.
How do I request a show not in the list?
From any show selector in the platform, select "Request a show not in the list." New shows are typically added within 48 hours of a request.
11
Agency profile
Before Shortlist
1 hour per person
Briefing each new team member or consultant on the agency's voice, positioning, and context. Repeated every engagement.
With Shortlist
15 min (one-time)
Upload your credentials document once. Applied automatically to every output from that point forward.
What is the Agency Profile?
A one-time upload of your credentials: a PDF deck or a URL. Shortlist extracts your agency's strategic approach, sector expertise, voice, and past performance, then uses this context silently across all AI outputs. Your entries come out sounding like your agency, not generic AI copy.
Does it update automatically?
No. Re-upload when your credentials change. The profile version is logged so you can see when it was last updated.
12
Data, privacy & pricing
Does my content train the AI?
No. Shortlist uses Anthropic's Claude API. Under their API terms, content submitted via the API is never used to train their models.
Can other agencies see my work?
No. Every project, material, draft, and evaluation is locked to your organisation using row-level database security. No other agency can access your work.
Is AI-assisted entry writing permitted by the shows?
Yes. Every major show Shortlist covers permits AI-assisted entry writing. The principle is consistent across the industry: how an entry is written is not adjudicated. What is adjudicated is the work itself: the campaign, the results, the thinking behind it.
Hiring a copywriter to draft your entry has always been permitted. Using a strategist outside the agency to sharpen the narrative has always been permitted. Shortlist sits in the same category. It assists the writing process. It does not change the work being entered.
The campaign still has to be real. The results still have to be yours. The strategic judgment about what to enter, how to frame it, and whether it's genuinely competitive: that still sits with the people who know the work.
If a specific show you're planning to enter isn't listed above and you want confirmation, contact us before submitting. We'll check it.
Is the cost worth it for a smaller agency?
The fully-loaded cost of a single serious entry, submission fees plus the senior time it actually takes, runs $6,000 to $12,000. The plan is $299/month — up to 5 active projects, with unlimited entries within each, and one user seat.
The math resolves in the first entry of the season. What changes after that is how many campaigns get the process they deserve.
Where does the award intelligence come from?
Two and a half decades of navigating the real decisions that a serious awards program requires. Which campaigns have a genuine shot and which are wishful entries. Which shows reward the kind of work your agency actually does. Where the entry fee justifies the investment and where it doesn't. How to give the best work its best possible chance without burning the team building it.
That judgment, reflected in a 37% medal rate across a career spent making those calls, is what's encoded into how Shortlist thinks, evaluates, and recommends. The expertise is mine. It's not imported from anyone else's work.
On top of that, the system draws on analysis of winning campaigns from publicly available award records: work formally announced as a winner and entered the public record through trade press, award show databases, and published records.
Worth being direct about something: no proprietary entries, no unpublished drafts, and no client submissions to Shortlist have ever been used. The question of how the sausage is made is a fair one, and one I take seriously. Protecting proprietary work is not a compliance exercise for me. It's professional.
Show-specific jury intelligence is sourced from personal jury duty time, online jury interviews from most major shows, official entry kits, and published judging frameworks.
How much does it cost?
Shortlist Pro
$299
per month
Full platform access. 30+ shows. Up to 5 active projects, with unlimited entries within each. One user seat.
7-day free trial. Card required to start. Cancel anytime. Contact ben@positionadvisory.com with questions.