Awarded to the event that best took the message out of the board room. Includes user groups, sales meetings, multi-day meetings, summits, annual shareholder events, proprietary events, conferences, road shows, conferences, new product introductions, media tours or client visit tours.

The best philanthropic or community event campaign. A tie to a charity or community cause must be at the heart of the program. Judges will look for integration of causes into the experiential program and the benefits that the campaign brought to both sides (the brand, and the cause).

Awarded to the most innovative brand-driven experiential program born out of a celebrity, movie, music or television partnership/sponsorship.

The campaign that best connected a brand to the red-hot esports and gaming sectors with strategy, creative, reach, and results.

Awarded to the campaign that achieves all stated objectives while adhering to a budget under $500,000. Judges will consider innovation, creativity, execution and results.

Awarded to the campaign that achieves all stated objectives while adhering to a budget between $500,000-$1 million. Judges will consider innovation, creativity, execution and results.

From food and wine festivals to music festivals to state fairs, and beyond, we honor the brand experiences that solved attendee pain points, offered a vital service, or commanded attention in a crowded landscape with design and functionality.

They’re sharers. They’re tech natives. They’re creators. And they’re putting their spending power where their mouths are. This category honors the event campaigns designed to capture the coveted Gen Z demographic.

Recognizes an in-person event that offered a defined digital extension or experience for virtual audiences that was marketed with, and tied into, the overall program. Judges will consider the content and engagement and platforms that targeted both audiences.

Awarded to the best integrated influencer partnership that leveraged the reach and power of an influencer (or influencers) via a live and in-person or virtual event to drive interest in a brand or product.

Recognizes highly engaging virtual environments brands are leveraging across the metaverse and beyond. Judges will focus on the quality of the experience, the engagement, and the strategy. Both b-to-c and b-to-b programs (sponsor activations, exhibits, networking experiences, and more) may enter.

Awarded to the best mobile marketing campaign, where a vehicle is at the heart of the program—not the fact that a tour moves around. Judges will look at the marketing vehicle and its design, and the overall strategy, footprint, and experience. (For programs that move around, submit to the Best Multi-Market category.)

Awarded to the best mobile marketing campaign, where a vehicle is at the heart of the program—not the fact that a tour moves around. Judges will look at the marketing vehicle and its design, and the overall strategy, footprint, and experience. (For programs that move around, submit to the Best Multi-Market category.)

The best event-powered campaign hatched to reach diverse communities, including BIPOC, cross-cultural, and other rising multicultural audiences. Judges will focus on the idea and execution, as well as the attention to detail and the messaging.

More b-to-b marketers are turning to nimble event programs that go directly to their customers or audiences. Awarded to b-to-b event programs that involved multiple, targeted events across different markets, within a region, or as a series within a single market. (For programs that took place on a mobile vehicle, where the vehicle was central to the experience, refer to the Best Mobile Marketing Tour category.)

Awarded to b-to-c event programs that involved multiple, targeted events across different markets, within a region, or as a series within a single market. (For programs that took place on a mobile vehicle, where the vehicle was central to the experience, refer to the Best Mobile Marketing Tour category.)

Awarded to an event program that anchored an omnichannel strategy, and that inspired 360-degree engagement with product, digital, social, and p.r. extensions. Entries should demonstrate the integration of at least two other marketing channels, and prove how experiential steered a strategy for the organization.

This award recognizes the activations that best leveraged the great outdoors to create magic with attendees. This trophy will go to the brand that found fresh ways to make an outdoor experience central to the effectiveness of the campaign with creative installations and engagement. This category is also appropriate for pandemic-era pivots that transformed indoor events into outdoor events.

Awarded to the temporary storefront, in-retail program, shipping container, lobby, indoor or outdoor experience that turned a client’s objective into a must-attend, limited-time engagement. Judges will be looking for a clever concept, new approaches, unconventional ideas and interactives and activities that reinforce the marketing goals.

This category recognizes the press event that used creative tactics to invite the press, get them to show up, and wrap them around your finger with solid messaging, awesome thematics, and an A+ presentation. Note: Journalists must be the primary target, and virtual experiences will be accepted.

Behind the scenes and way in the back of the backstage, there is a helluva lot going on. This category’s Ex will go to the most creative, extensive, outrageous, ambitious, and delicious production of a consumer event. The lighting, the music, the script, and the entire ensemble. Judges will look for you to take them through the actual production with insights into the long process between idea and execution.

Behind the scenes and way in the back of the backstage, there is a helluva lot going on. This category’s Ex will go to the most creative, extensive, outrageous, ambitious and delicious production of a business event. The lighting, the music, the script, the entire ensemble. Judges will look for you to take them through the actual production with insights into the long process between idea and execution.

For one-shot events staged for one simple reason: Gain eyeballs and media hits. Awarded to the best, craziest, most creative p.r. event that served up hits and buzz, increased public awareness, overcame damage control, and uncovered measurable results. Events from both the b-to-c and b-to-b worlds are welcome. Note: Events that invite media to attend and stage the event around the media attendees should be entered in the Best Press Event category.

Awarded to the best trial-based campaign that used a live engagement to get a consumer to try a product.

Awarded to the most strategic, most creative, best-performing single-market event program. Did you make it memorable? Will the attendee ever forget?

Awarded to the most innovative event program leveraging sports or a sports sponsorship. Judges will rate the activations (of all sizes and lengths) on creativity, results, message, and method of activation. (Note: Enter all esports programs in the Best Esports or Gaming Experience category.)

Recognizes the activations, installations, eye-catching engagements, photo-sharing experiences and more that take place within a trade show or a trade show exhibit environment.

Handed to the footprint that went way beyond stoic space and used a trade show floor as a canvas to paint an experience to drive traffic, funnel leads and identify prospects. Judges will look at the overall immersion, from the total physical footprint and structure to visitor experience, functionality, creativity, materials, engagement, and use of media.

A category created to shine the spotlight on the powerful use of events as content generators. Awarded to the best event campaign that served as a platform for content creation. From events used for YouTube videos to events used for TV spots to events used for social media content… and beyond. Open to both b-to-c and b-to-b programs.

Awarded to the event or trade show program that effectively leveraged technologies and/or social media to take the experience to the next level. Entry should focus on the actual technology leveraged, how it was leveraged, and what results said technology helped generate.

From holography to touchscreens to customized consumer interactives to social media platform integrations, some of the most innovative technologies, and uses of technologies, are coming out of the event industry. Awarded to the consumer event program that effectively leveraged technologies and/or social media to take the experience to the next level. Entry should focus on the actual technology leveraged, how it was leveraged, and what results said technology helped generate.

This is your chance to get recognized for the online experience that supported your event marketing this year. Judges will consider the use of virtual engagement tactics, content programming and delivery, site design, user experience and overall alignment with marketing objectives.

This is your chance to get recognized for the virtual conference that supported your event marketing this year. Judges will consider the use of virtual engagement tactics, content programming and delivery, site design, user experience and overall alignment with marketing objectives.

This category honors bold and brave event ideas and executions, from pandemic-era transformations, to tough-to-permit locales, to planning processes with a story, and beyond. Judges will look at the risks involved, leaps of faith taken by both the agency and the client—and the reward that the big risk generated.