AWARD CATEGORIES

The SportBusiness Sports Event Management Awards recognise the best practitioners and programmes in the business of major international sport events.

This is the time to recognise the achievements of our peers. Winning a SportBusiness Sports Event Management Award is the pinnacle of achievement and due recognition of outstanding contribution to the major sports event business.

The categories for 2010 will be announced soon.

The categories for 2009 were:

BRAND PRESENTATION
This award will go to the entrant which provides the best examples of the effective and appropriate presentation of sponsor brands within the boundaries of an event. Judges will look for visual dynamism, creativity and synergy with the event, interaction with spectators and television impact.

Specific marketing objectives and overall ‘feel’ will be considered and the technical aspects of visibility in a number of mediums from perimeter boards and signage with particular attention to visibility on the field of play.

EVENT LOOK
The Event Look Award will go to the entry judged to have most effectively defined and captured the spirit of an event within and outside its venues and integrated from stadium dressing to ticketing and posters. Importantly the spectator view of the event within the stadium and its environs will be considered.

EVENT MARKETING
In selecting the winner of the award for Event Marketing, judges will consider the use of creativity and application of technology to create and execute an effective marketing campaign and its measured success against pre determined objectives (to be stated by entrant).

In particular judges will be looking for examples of aggressive Event Marketing used to stimulate and support interest in the event and enhancing ticket and hospitality sales, TV audiences, sponsorship, merchandising, licensing or any specific marketing or revenue aspect.

This could be by the use of any Promotional or Marketing discipline such as PR, Advertising, Sales Promotion, Online Campaigns, Direct Sales, etc.

EVENT OVERLAY / FACILITIES
The Event Overlay / Facilities award will be judged on the broad merits of a project based on the creativity, architectural and managerial skills demonstrated in order to overcome the challenges of scale, timing (deadlines), logistics and accessibility, availability of local resources and budget.

Overlay being the planning, design, installation and management (or any element of the proceeding) of temporary facilities to enhance the operations of a major sports event.

SPORTS EVENT INNOVATION sponsored by Group Partners
This is awarded by the judges to the entry they consider to be the most innovative project carried out in Sports Event Management arena over the year.

EVENT SERVICES sponsored by the networking site Sports Crowd 
Every major sports event draws upon a range of specialist services from catering and personnel training to accreditation and media management (see list below for full range of services). In this broad category, judges will seek evidence of the way that service providers have overcome specific challenges or delivered high standards of service, which have had a demonstrable impact on the success of an event.

• Accommodation
• Accreditation
• Broadcasting
• Catering
• Cleaning & Waste Management
• Logistics
• Merchandising and Licensing
• Press Operations
• Protocol
• Risk Management
• Spectator Services
• Technology
• Transportation and Traffic Management
• Workforce

HOSPITALITY & TRAVEL
The Hospitality award will go to the entry which best demonstrates how innovation and enterprise has fashioned a hospitality and / or Sports Travel offering whose success makes a major contribution to an event's revenues and spectator experience. In considering this the judges will take account of the creativity behind the offering - including creation of themed facilities and menus standards of services as well as sales and marketing. Also the particular challenges presented by an event will be taken into consideration.

MASS PARTICIPATION EVENT sponsored by G4S Secure Solutions (UK) Ltd
This award will be presented to the organiser of the most efficiently planned and delivered event involving more than 2,000 participants. Judges will consider a range of issues including the transformation of the city, logistics, transport and accreditation of participants, spectator facilities, support services, effective local authority partnerships and satisfaction levels among participants.

SECURITY
Judges will take an holistic view of entries in this broad category. They will consider the planning and implementation of a security programme, the application of appropriate technology, recruitment and training of staff and integration of established intelligence and security services against general or particular threats at the time of the event.

All elements of Security Service are encouraged to enter from Consultants, Police, Private Security firms, VIP and Close Protection, Stewarding and Security guarding all within the context of provision of Security at Sports Events.

SPORTS CITY sponsored by SportBusiness
Companies operating in event management will be asked to nominate city authorities for this award. Judges will consider the level of support and commitment made by a municipality in terms of funding and resource, legislation and planning as well as marketing and promotion.

OUTSTANDING CONTRIBUTION TO SPORTS EVENT MANAGEMENT sponsored by Rushmans Ltd
A personal award to the individual considered to have made the most significant contribution to the development of the Sports Event Management sector.