Sessionboard vs OpenWater.
OpenWater is the association default for application-and-review: awards, grants, scholarships and fellowships on one forms contract. Sessionboard is built for the association that runs awards and an annual meeting: nominations and review rounds on the same contact record as speakers, so winners become faculty and reviewers return every cycle.
SIDE BY SIDE
Where each one does its work.
Read from the approved comparison, not from a feature checklist. Where we could not verify a OpenWater capability from their own material, the cell says so.
| Capability | Sessionboard | OpenWater |
|---|---|---|
| Awards and nominations | Nominations, review rounds and winner showcases on the same forms, review plans and portals as sessions. | Awards, grants, scholarships and fellowships on one forms contract; multi-round scoring and reviewer assignment. |
| Review rounds and rubrics | Review plans with rounds, committees, rubrics and conflict-of-interest rules. Your team changes forms and review steps without a services ticket. | Published rubrics, multi-round scoring and reviewer assignment for application-style review. |
| Call for papers and abstracts | Submission forms with logic per track and format; abstracts, disclosures and files on one submission. Returning speakers arrive with their history. | Application-style abstract collection and review. |
| After the decision | Branded speaker portal with task lists, agreements and e-sign; the Coordinator agent reminds whoever is late. | Review ends at the decision; speaker portal, agenda and on-site operations sit in another product. |
| Agenda and attendee program | Agenda builder with speaker and room conflict detection; program site, embeds and the Attend app update as it changes. | varies |
| Winner and session promotion | Share kits with tracked links for speakers, sponsors and attendees; registrations traced back to the share. | varies |
| Transcription and media library | Live Transcribe in the room or from Zoom, ON24 and Goldcast; transcripts, captions, clips and quote cards in a library searchable across events. | varies |
| AMS and CRM | Two-way sync with HubSpot, Salesforce, iMIS, Fonteva and Nimble AMS; public API, webhooks and an MCP server. | Integrations for iMIS, Salesforce and Higher Logic; ASAE Strategic Partner. |
| Registration | Stays where it is. Accepted sessions and speakers sync to Cvent, Swoogo, Bizzabo and others. | varies |
Many associations keep grants on a forms tool and consolidate awards plus the annual program on Sessionboard so member identity is not split three ways.
WHERE IT DIFFERS · ONE RECORD
This year’s winner is next year’s keynote. Same record.
Nominees, reviewers, winners and speakers share one contact across cycles. A winner is invited to speak without re-entering a thing; a reviewer who served in May is on the roster in January; the awards site and the program site read from the same place.
- One contact across cycles
- Reviewers return
- Winner showcases
- Awards site
GROWSMember engagement and non-dues revenue
WHERE IT DIFFERS · THE NINE MONTHS AFTER
The awards season ends. The audience keeps growing.
Winner announcements and session promotion go out as share kits with tracked links, and what comes back lands on the member’s profile. Pathways drafts the renewal note from the awards and sessions they actually took part in.
- Share kits
- Registrations traced
- Pathways · renew
- AMS sync
GROWSMembership and the next call for nominations
Questions, answered
How do we migrate awards from OpenWater?
Bring the next cycle’s program over first: categories, rubrics, reviewers and past winners import onto contact records, so returning nominees and reviewers are already known.
Can we keep OpenWater for grants and move awards and the meeting?
Yes. Grants mid-contract can stay on a forms tool while awards and the annual program run on one record. Registration stays wherever it is.
Can we export nominations, scores and winners?
Yes. Every nomination, score, reviewer assignment and winner exports by CSV, the public API and webhooks.