2023 Entry Guide
Below is a step-by-step guide to entering the 2023 Canadian Event Awards. When you are ready to enter, head over to the Enter Now button on the top right and start your entry. The entry portal is now open. Click Here to start your entry
We have moved to a drop-down style entry system that makes it easier than ever to enter while standardizing the data to assist in evaluations. You will also find new categories created to reflect current times and updated and more relevant judging criteria. For those companies that have entered before, we strongly encourage a thorough review of the documentation to get familiar with the new rules, criteria and entry requirements. We also suggest reading the requirements before you start building your entry. Good Luck.
Register
The entry portal is open from February 7, 2023, with the early bird deadline of March 5 and the final deadline of midnight PST on March 15 You must complete and submit your entry before midnight on Wednesday, March 15.
When you first arrive at the portal, you will begin by registering your company, filling in your contact details and choosing your categories explained in the next section. Be SURE to include the email address you want to use for all correspondence and the name of the person you want to appear in all published media related to your entry. If you are entering for your boss or colleague, use their name on the entry form.
Decide What To Enter
The category you enter must correspond directly to the work you do (i.e. if you enter Best Food Presentation, you must be the caterer, not the contractor). If you enter Best Wedding, you must be responsible for planning every detail you enter. You cannot submit the entire wedding if you only planned the reception.
Multiple Categories: A company or individual may enter the same event in more than one category but must complete a separate entry for each category, and each entry must be adapted accordingly. It will work against you during judging if you duplicate an entry and change the title. Choose ALL the categories you want to enter and add a selection for every joint entrant you wish to be listed on your entry.
Payment
Once you have completed the registration form, chosen your categories and added any joint entries, if applicable, you will submit and pay. If you are entering another company for the same award, this is called a JOINT ENTRY.
You will need to select the” ADD Joint Entry ” item and add it to your order for each entrant listed on your applications during the registration process. I.E., if you have yourself plus two others who want to be listed, choose two joint entries – not three.
After you submit it, you will be emailed a PIN. Once you have your PIN, you can go back and log in to your own personal entry portal and “assign” your joint entrants to the categories you want to add to your entry.
Confirmation & Pin
Your PIN should arrive in your inbox within 15 minutes. Use this PIN to access your portal and enter your events. All your chosen categories will be linked and listed in this portal for you to complete. If anything is missing, use the chat button to send us a message and let us know there is an error, we can go into the portal and quickly adjust your entry selection. NOTE: We cannot change your entries after they have been finalized, so be sure you have reviewed them and are happy with the content before hitting complete and submit.
Here is What You Will Need
The Canadian Event Awards are the industry’s most challenging and rigorous awards competition. We don’t believe events can be judged by a couple of pictures and a small write-up, so we ask you for enough information to allow the judges to understand your events, your process, your challenges and your success. Winning a Canadian Event Award is a true measure of excellence.
- Budgets – only if the category requests it. Budgets are kept confidential and never published.
- Reference letters and letters of recommendation if required by the category.
- Menus (if applicable for F&B categories)
- Photos and or videos – see category criteria for how many.
- Links to websites if applicable.
- Extended description of your event or event element.
- 300-word summary – this will be published; please ensure you write this in the third person and try to describe your event so that it’s clear and brief for readers.
- Supporting materials if applicable to the category. These may be critical paths, planning documents, floor plans, media brochures, social media posts, audio files etc.
- Videos, if applicable to the category. These must be loaded into Vimeo or Vimeo. Please do not upload actual video files; however, if nominated, we will ask for the file or excerpts of the file for the awards show.
Key Dates
- The entry portal opens on February 7, 2023.
- The early-bird entry deadline is midnight on March 5, 2023
- The final deadline to enter is March 12, 2023
- Nominees will be announced online and contacted for further comments and interviews.
- Winners will be announced live at the 26th Annual Canadian Event Awards gala on May 3, 2023
- A post-event “look book” will be released nationwide in June featuring the winners, and winning entries will have the opportunity to be featured in an upcoming issue of Canadian Special Events Magazine
Rules & Guidelines
- All entries /events must have occurred between December 31, 2021, and December 31, 2022.
- A separate entry must be submitted for each event.
- Joint entrants listed on the entry must be registered.
- All entries judged by dollar value must include a detailed budget. All budgets must be in retail pricing (the total amount the client was billed).
- Budgets are never displayed and are kept confidential except to the judges.
- Judges’ decisions are final.
- There is no limit to the number of submissions – additional categories will incur additional entry fees.
- No advance notice of winners will be provided under any circumstances.
- NOTE: Entries become the property of Canadian Special Events and may be published in Canadian Special Event’ publications or their associated websites. Unless otherwise instructed, event images and a copy may be used to promote the Event Awards.
- Winners receive digital badges which cannot be altered or transferred.
- Any of the stories, entry images or entrant content found on our website cannot be copied, downloaded or shared without express permission by CSE & the entrant. Contact us for media inquiries.
- The awards are open to any Canadian company or with offices in Canada. Events may have taken place anywhere in the world or online.
Judging Process
The Canadian Event Industry Awards is one of the most challenging award competitions in the world for event professionals. The judging is a 4-stage process, including pre-screening to eliminate non-qualified entries, a first-round analysis to determine nominees, an in-depth evaluation where the entry is examined in detail for its calibre and merit, and then final judging to select the winners. Canadian Event Industry Awards judges represent a diverse cross-section of our industry’s top experts and offer a breadth of knowledge on the critical elements needed to create successful events.
Prizes & Promotions
- All finalists receive a digital ad on social media and their website to promote their nomination. Winners receive an official badge.
- Winners receive a marketing bank between $10-$25,000 depending on the category, with Canadian Special Events valid for one year to market their business or event. This is in the form of credit and can be used for all CSE Marketing campaigns except for CSE Live exhibit space.
- Finalists will be featured on canadianspecialevents.com and canadianeventawards.com, along with social media posts and shoutouts.
- Winners will be featured in Canadian Special Events Magazine.
- Winners and finalists may be contacted for comments, quotes or interviews.
Gala
- The 2023 Canadian Event, Awards Gala, takes place in Toronto on May 3, 2023.
- The event is a ticketed dinner and awards show.
- We encourage nominees to invite clients to attend.
- Tickets go on sale mid in March.
- If you would like to sponsor the gala, please email us at cse@canadianspecialevents.com
