Description

Eligibility

Entries will be accepted for any incentive travel programs and campaigns held between 1 April 2019 and 30 June 2020.

*We will be accepting resubmissions for programs and campaigns held between 1 April 2019 and 30 June 2019 that did not win an award at the 2020 Crystal Awards Ceremony held in Vancouver.

IMPORTANT: The program must be a fully hosted incentive travel program with qualifying criteria that demonstrates business results. No “buy-in” or funding by participants whether partial or full is permitted.

Entry Fees

SITE members: $250.000 USD for first entry; $200.00 USD for additional entries.

Non-SITE members: $500.00 USD for first entry; $250.00 USD for additional entries.

You will be sent an invoice via email from SITE@SITEglobal.com for your entry fee payment. Please note that submissions will not be marked complete until SITE received full payment. We highly recommend that you use a credit card to expedite payment. We only accept payment in USD for Crystal Award entries.

Judging Criteria

All entries will be awarded points based on the criteria outlined in each specific category. There are 100 total points possible. Entries must receive at least an average of 85+ points to be eligible to win. If all entrants for a specific category do not meet the minimum point requirement, that category will not have a winner. There can be multiple winners per category. Winners and non-winners will be notified of their status in early September 2020.

All entries will be evaluated by a minimum of three judges. The panel of judges consists of reputable and experienced industry leaders in all disciplines, which remain anonymous until the Crystal Awards Ceremony.

Please note, to ensure all entries are judged fairly, it is required that all applicants ensure that their name/company name/picture/logos do NOT appear anywhere on the entry. Applications displaying the applicant company name will be disqualified. Displaying the client name (end-user) anywhere on the application is permitted but is not mandatory.

It is important to carefully review your submission including all supporting documents (budget/photographs, Powerpoint, Video, etc.) to absolutely ensure your company name is not revealed. Each year there have been disqualifications due to a company name being revealed.

Tips

As this system will automatically log you out after two hours of inactivity, we recommend that you save your work constantly.

Please read all the application questions before entering your answers. Make sure that each of your answers provides new information about the program and that it is not repetitive. The Program Overview field is meant to be a high-level summary of your program, while we will require more detail on specific aspects of the program in subsequent questions.

Please make sure to upload as many photos and video files as you have. However, keep in mind that we have a file size limit. We recommend that you load any video files to YouTube or Vemo and provide us with the link under the "Attachment" tab in your application. To share photography, please add your photos to a slideshow or a PowerPoint presentation, and upload only one file for all your photos.

Categories

1. Best Destination Based Experiential Incentive Travel Program

Purpose: The purpose of this category is to identify destinations that have done a superb job at proving their value as a top-notch location to deliver an incentive experience reward. Entries should highlight how the destination's infrastructure, history, culture, arts, gastronomy, etc. help deliver a world-class incentive experience. This category is open to entrants from all aspects of the incentive travel industry, however, DMCs, CVBs, and Tourist Boards are ideal entrants in this category.

2. Excellence in Incentive Travel:

• Africa/Middle East
• Asia Pacific
• Europe
• North America
• Latin America & Caribbean

Purpose: The purpose of this category is to recognize outstanding organizations for their work in creating and delivering an exceptional incentive travel program that resulted in a high return on investment (ROI) to the end-user. This category is open to entrants from all aspects of the incentive travel industry.  It is important to note that an entrant does not have to be based within the region they are submitting a program for (e.g. an entrant from Asia Pacific can submit a program, which took place in Europe). Corporate organizers, Incentive Houses, and DMCs are ideal entrants in this category.

3. Most Effective Incentive Marketing Campaign

Purpose: The purpose of this category is to identify incentive travel programs that have delivered business results. Entries should convey the business challenge and how the innovative design and consistent communications engaged participants from the qualification period through the completion of the incentive travel experience. This category is open to entrants from all aspects of the incentive travel industry but is best suited for corporate organizers/planners, incentive companies, marketing and communications firms, and third-party service providers.

4. Most Impactful Effort Toward Corporate Social Responsibility as Part of an Incentive Program OR Most Environmentally Sustainable Incentive Experience

Purpose: The purpose of this category is to recognize outstanding organizations for their efforts in incorporating practices and principles of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) within an incentive travel program OR to recognize outstanding organizations for their efforts in creating an exceptional incentive travel program that was delivered with sustainable principles and practices. Corporate organizers, incentive houses, DMCs, hotels, special event planners, and production companies are ideal entrants in this category.

5. Most Creative Solution Deployed at a Time of Crisis

Purpose: The purpose of this category is to award incentive travel professionals and their organizations who display uncommon levels of innovation, creativity, and ingenuity in identifying solutions for the continuation, deployment, and implementation of incentive travel awards at a time of crisis. Such solutions may be deployed during travel advisories/bans, cancellation of air access/carrier, bankruptcy, etc. or may be in respect of overcoming logistical or operational challenges caused by extreme weather, civil unrest, illness, acts of terrorism, epidemics that occur either before or during program operations. They can also apply to situations involving negotiations in respect of attrition, postponement or cancellation, cost containment, cost mitigation, or emergency response pre-trip or onsite. Finally, they can apply to situations where an in-person incentive travel program is required to be fully or partially replaced by a virtual or hybrid event.