The Exhibition and Events Association of Australasia has opened nominations for its Awards for Excellence as it prepares to celebrate its 20th anniversary.

The awards recognise outstanding merit and leadership within the industry and provide an opportunity for members to showcase their innovation, performance and success. Open to venues, suppliers and organisers, entries will be judged by a panel of independent industry experts.

EEAA general manager Joyce DiMascio said in order to keep the awards criteria relevant and current a Member Focus Group has undertaken a review which had resulted in some refinement.

“We have made some changes to the judging criteria as a result of the review, that better reflect the evolving nature of our industry,” said  DiMascio.

In addition the Best Supplier Award has been split into two, based on turnover, giving both large and small companies a better chance to compete fairly.

DiMascio said the Awards Presentation, to be held at the Great Hall, NGV International in Melbourne, on December 4, would be a dual celebration of the Association’s 20 years.

“The Awards night is extra special this year as we will also be marking 20 years as an association,” she said. “And for people who live to create and deliver events it’s a great opportunity to be bring their teams together to celebrate achievement and reward hard work and dedication.

“Every year we have seen the standard of entries rising as Members realise the commercial benefits that both winners and finalists enjoy from having this marque of distinction and quality. With so many first class events and exhibitions staged in the past 12 months we expect the quality of entries to be even higher this year.”

Nominations for entries open Monday August 27 and close at 5pm Friday October 5.

The entry kit can be downloaded from the website