Says Karen Calitz, General Manager for EXSA: “This will be the first time that we will also present awards for excellence in events since that sector was incorporated into our Association. We will accommodate entries from EXSA members and non-members for this year only and would welcome submissions from event management companies, public relations consultancies who arrange events for their clients as part of their offering, as well as from corporate companies who employ in-house event staff for its own branded events. We are sure that this year will set the scene excellence for many years to come as our exhibition awards have always drawn interest from the entire industry.”
The competition will be divided into five categories: Events for clients with budgets of up to R100, 000, up to R500, 000, up to R1 million and over R1 million. A further award will be presented for the in-house category with any value where companies organize and manage their own events. Calitz says that the criteria for judging has been developed and points will be awarded for interpretation of the brief, objectives and how these were met, target audience and attendance, processes that were followed, effectiveness, programme and infrastructure, quality, value adding, creativity and more. Judges will be drawn from the corporate world, event organizers, the media, professional marketers and venue owners.
Says Calitz: “As there will be much administration involved we will charge a nominal fee of R900 per entry. Entries for events that were hosted between October 2008 and September 2009 will be eligible and must reach the EXSA office by 23 October. Judging will take place at the end of October in time for the presentations on 19 November. Winning entries will receive substantial exposure.”
Entry forms will be available from the EXSA office or from their website
www.exsa.co.za. Completed entries will have to be submitted with supporting visual documentation of the event to Zonica c/o the EXSA office at Gallagher Convention Centre.
