Experts
The main conceptual peculiarity of determination of the laureates of program «Person of the Year» and the holders of the prize «Prometheus – prestige» is the system of expert interview. It is based on several principal peculiarities, which present this process as scientifically grounded and legitimate.
Firstly, this process of expert applicants’ determination is based on the principle of free will expression of ever expert. An expert is not provided beforehand with the list of surnames and activities, with the help of which he can make the choice. On the contrary, every expert is free to offer any applicant in accordance with personal motivation and the criteria which are specified in the expert ballot paper.
Secondly, every expert during the term of the concrete program realization has the opportunity to ‘vote’ several times. So every expert, acknowledging professional and public achievements of his candidates, monitors the process in the dynamics throughout the year and therefore can hold or change his point of view.
In such a way, the form of expert’s work, when every expert can vote several times per year is on of main «know-how» of Program and is used from the first steps of its development.
Besides the opportunity of every expert’s multiple voting, this form of experts’ work organization gives the opportunity to sum up the preliminary results of «applicants competition» and in such a way to keep so-called intrigue. In particular, the principle of multiple experts voting enables the program organizers to inform the society and mass-media about top tens, then top fives of the applicants for the laureate titles, and finally announce the final three winners in each nomination.
The third peculiarity of the organization of expert determination process within the framework of the project «Person of the Year» is the formation of specialized expert groups and their positioning in main directions of annual nomination program list: social-political, finance-economical, mass-median and humanitarian. This separation of expert groups into principal professional directions enables the experts to determine the applicants very accurate and scrutinous.
The qualitative composition of experts during the years of project realization also underwent dramatic changes. During fifteen years the number of experts raised from 200 to 500 people.
This year in annual applicants determination for obtaining laureates titles of fifteenth nationwide program «Person of the Year» take part more than 500 experts, delegated by 170 organizations, institutions, establishments, associations, companies, funds and mass-media.