Are Awards worth the effort of entering?

I was speaking the other day with the director of engagement at a telecommunications company about entering for awards, about the benefit of the investment of time and effort required.

People do seem willing to write thousands of words for a standard award entry, and to work hard on their presentation to the judges if invited, even though only a few win, and their ideas are rarely publicised as a consequence.

I think that the yearning for recognition is strong. But I also think that for entering to be worthwhile, all the innovative ideas should receive strong exposure.