And the Winner Is...
Winning Colombia Digital 2009's "Best Political Website" award for vargaslleras.com. A celebration of hard work, dedication, and the validation that great execution matters.
From Nomination to Victory
A few days ago, we shared that one of our projects—the website for presidential candidate Germán Vargas Lleras—was nominated for the Colombia Digital 2009 awards. At the time, the nomination alone felt like enough reward for the three months of hard work we'd put into the project.
We kept our expectations in check, manufacturing all sorts of reasons why we might not win. It's easier to prepare for disappointment than to dare to hope.
The Reality
On Wednesday night, reality exceeded our cautious hopes. We won the Best Political Website category at Colombia Digital 2009.
What This Means
For the campaign, this recognition is extra motivation to continue executing with the same dedication and attention to detail. When your work is publicly recognized, it validates the approach and energizes everyone involved.
For us at 3Metas, the award means even more. It's not just encouragement to keep pushing forward—it's confirmation that the infinite hours dedicated to projects like this are never in vain.
Why Recognition Matters
- Validates the approach: Confirms that strategy-driven execution delivers results
- Energizes the team: Recognition fuels momentum when you're in the middle of hard work
- Opens doors: Awards create credibility that attracts better opportunities
- Proves the value: Hard to quantify work becomes tangible when independently recognized
Gratitude
We're happy—genuinely thrilled. And we want to use this moment as an excuse to thank everyone who has, in one way or another, supported and believed in our crazy ideas.
Building a digital strategy company in Colombia in 2009 wasn't the obvious path. Social media was still emerging. Political campaigns were just starting to take digital seriously. The ecosystem was immature.
But you believed in us anyway. Our clients took a chance on our approach. Our team dedicated countless hours to execution. Our advisors provided guidance when we needed it.
The Real Prize
The trophy is nice. The recognition is validating. The press coverage helps.
But the real prize is confirmation that doing great work matters. That obsessing over details pays off. That strategy combined with execution delivers results. That the infinite hours aren't wasted—they're investments that compound over time.
Lessons for Builders
- Keep expectations in check, but dare to hope: Protect yourself from disappointment, but don't rob yourself of ambition
- Celebrate the wins: Recognition moments are fuel for the long journey ahead
- Express gratitude publicly: The people who believed in you deserve acknowledgment
- Use momentum wisely: Awards open doors, but execution keeps them open
- Remember why you started: Awards validate the work, but the work is the point
Modern Context: Awards in 2025
Looking back from 2025, the landscape of recognition has changed:
- • Social proof is distributed: Twitter followers, GitHub stars, and community respect matter as much as formal awards
- • Users vote daily: Retention metrics and growth rates are the real awards for products
- • Building in public creates recognition: Sharing the journey generates more credibility than trophies
- • Revenue is validation: Customers paying for your work is the ultimate award
But the core truth remains: great work deserves recognition, whether that comes from industry awards, user growth, revenue, or community respect. The form changes, but the need for validation is human.
Thank You
To everyone who supported us, believed in our approach, and trusted us with their projects: this win is as much yours as it is ours.
To builders everywhere: keep putting in those infinite hours. Keep obsessing over details. Keep believing that great execution matters. The recognition will come in whatever form it takes—and when it does, celebrate it, learn from it, and use it as fuel to do even better work.