Is this a good way to get links? You build a nice site which is doing ok already, but that is not enough. You put a gold award application. People apply. You give gold award banner to high pr sites. Webmasters proudly place that banner on their sites. We were offered gold award by relibrary. When we asked what this means, we got no response. Anyone needs platinum award?
I've seen some sites use if pretty effectively. I think it is a way to help make a site an authority site. I've seen sites that each week will give out a variety of awards to sites. All of these sites display the award. At the very least you get additional links. If done right you'll increase your traffic.