Who should enter?
Event or sponsorship professionals with under five years professional experience on the close of the qualifying period (7 April 2025), who demonstrate leadership and potential in the industry. Entrants may be directly involved in delivering or sponsoring events, or provide event support through a venue, supplier, or local government. Note: there is no age restriction.

Eligibility
Nominees for the Best Emerging Industry Professional award must meet the following eligibility criteria and may be requested to provide evidence to prove the criteria:

• Entries may be by nomination, or an individual can nominate themselves.

• The candidate must be a member of the New Zealand Events Association.

• Candidates must be a New Zealand based event professional.

Note: Finalists in this category may be considered for the NZEA Board Observer programme - a one-year opportunity to experience a governance role as an observer at all NZEA Board meetings.

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

CV
Each entry must begin with a brief CV (two-page limit) so judges can receive an overview of the candidate’s work experiences, training or education, and job specifications. Please also list events the candidate is involved in to ensure at least 50% have been undertaken in NZ with overseas work demonstrating a transfer of learning to a New Zealand context.

References
Each entry must provide two references or testimonials (with contact details of the named persons). Limit of 500 words per reference.

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Management (20%)
a. Over the 12 months of the qualifying period, what were the candidate’s responsibilities and management competencies and what were their outstanding achievements? E.g. organiser capability, commercial viability/financial sustainability and long-term business goals/stability), support/management of staff, etc.

2. Leadership (15%)
a. Over the 12 months of the qualifying period, how did the candidate demonstrate excellence in leadership in a range of event management contexts? E.g. resilience, adaptiveness, living organisational values, the leadership of staff, and participation in professional development.

3. Stakeholders (15%)
a. In the 12 months of the qualifying period, how did the candidate work with and deliver superior results to stakeholders in the event sector? E.g. the satisfaction of attendees, sponsors, and volunteers (if applicable) perhaps via marketing plan, regional/national/international profile, impact/media coverage, etc.

4. Innovation (15%)
a. Over the 12 months of the qualifying period, how did the candidate illustrate a commitment to innovation to constantly improve and develop their event strategy and/or event delivery? E.g. audience engagement, virtual/digital platforms, growth / business plan, marketing plan, driving domestic visitation, economic/social contributions to host city/region.

5. Contribution (15%)
a. What is the candidate’s contribution to the industry beyond the parameters of their core work? E.g. capability building, mentoring, governance roles, volunteer work, etc.

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)
a. What is the candidate’s commitment to sustainability? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. efinancial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

b. How did the candidate demonstrate this?

7. Informed insight (10%) (Judges’ discretion)

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Who should enter?
Event or sponsorship professionals with a significant career to date, with the 12 months of the qualifying period, in particular, demonstrating excellence and outstanding performance. It is likely the candidate has six years or more professional experience in event management or event sponsorship. The candidate may be directly involved in delivering or sponsoring events, or provide event support through a venue, supplier, or local government.

Eligibility:
Nominees for the Best Established Industry Professional award must meet the following eligibility criteria and may be requested to provide evidence to prove the criteria:

• Entries may be by nomination, or an individual can nominate themselves.

• The candidate must be a member of the New Zealand Events Association.

• Candidates must be a New Zealand based event professional.

Criteria/ How to enter:
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

CV: Each entry must begin with a brief CV (two-page limit) so judges can receive an overview of the candidate’s work experiences, training or education, and job specifications. Please also list events the candidate is involved in to ensure at least 50% have been undertaken in NZ with overseas work demonstrating a transfer of learning to a New Zealand context.

References: Each entry must provide two references or testimonials (with contact details of the named persons). Limit of 500 words per reference.

Criteria questions: Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Management (15%)
a. Over the 12 months of the qualifying period, what were the candidate’s responsibilities and management competencies and what were their outstanding achievements? E.g. organiser capability, commercial viability/financial sustainability and long-term business goals/stability), support/management of staff, etc.

2. Leadership (20%)
a. Over the 12 months of the qualifying period, how did the candidate demonstrate excellence in leadership in a range of event management contexts? E.g. resilience, adaptiveness, living organisational values, mentorship of staff, and participation in professional development.

3. Stakeholders (15%)
a. In the 12 months of the qualifying period, how did the candidate work with and deliver superior results to stakeholders in the event sector? E.g. the satisfaction of attendees, sponsors, and volunteers (if applicable) perhaps via marketing plan, regional/national/international profile, impact/media coverage, etc.

4. Innovation (15%)
a. Over the 12 months of the qualifying period, how did the candidate illustrate a commitment to innovation to constantly improve and develop their event strategy and/or event delivery? E.g. audience engagement, virtual/digital platforms, growth / business plan, marketing plan, driving domestic visitation, economic/social contributions to host city/region.

5. Contribution (15%)
a. What is the candidate’s contribution to the industry beyond the parameters of their core work? E.g. capability building, mentoring, governance roles, volunteer work, etc.

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)
a. What is the candidate’s commitment to sustainability? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

b. How did the candidate demonstrate this?

7. Judges’ discretion (10%)

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The Award
This award celebrates excellence in arts, cultural or heritage events. The event budget/organisation size is irrelevant.

Who should enter?
Organisations that own, deliver, or manage arts, cultural or heritage events. These may be exhibitions, or installation events, cultural performances or celebrations, or commemorations events, etc. Concerts and live music events are recommended to enter the Best Music Event category.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event. The event must be delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. The event must have either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive.

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand why the event was created, when it first began, the scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Strategy and Objectives (15%)
   a. What did success look like when you started planning the event? Outline your S.M.A.R.T objective(s)* . This may include desired outcomes for audience/sponsor/volunteer engagement and satisfaction, awareness raising, media/profile, and/or profit, driving domestic visitation / contribution to regional GDP, for example (include base metrics where possible)

   b. What was your strategy to achieve these outcomes?

2. Engagement (15%)
   a. Who are the various stakeholders (this may include sponsors, spectators, suppliers, media, participants for example) and how were they engaged

3. Execution (15%)
   a. How does this event demonstrate best practice across the planning and execution of your event? This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, health and safety, for example.

4. Effectiveness (15%)
   a. Did the event deliver on the S.M.A.R.T objectives outlined in 1a above? In other words, did you achieve what you set out to do? Provide evidence of your measurable outcomes where possible.

5. Excellence (15%)
   a. How did leadership, innovation, unique selling points and legacy outcomes (including broader economic / community / environmental impact, awareness raising, infrastructure, regional identity/pride outcomes) contribute to the event’s success?

   b. Why should this event win over and above other events?

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)
   a. What is your event’s commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. strategies to limit the negative environmental impact), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (15%) (Judges’ discretion)

*S.M.A.R.T objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Please address these aspects in your response to 1a.

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The Award
This award celebrates excellence in business-owned events of any size that are either ‘Business to Business’ (B2B) or ‘Business to Consumer’ (B2C) in nature. The event budget and size are irrelevant.

Who should enter?
Organisations that own, deliver, or manage business events delivered to achieve business outcomes. Business event activity can be defined as a conference, activation, awards event, corporate social responsibility event, exhibition and all other B2B or B2C styled activities.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event. Corporate events must be delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand why the event was created, when it first began, the scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Strategy and Objectives (15%)
   a. What did success look like when you started planning the event? Outline your S.M.A.R.T objective(s) . This may include desired outcomes for audience/sponsor/volunteer engagement and satisfaction, awareness raising, media/profile, and/or profit, driving domestic visitation / contribution to regional GDP, for example (include base metrics where possible)

   b. What was your strategy to achieve these outcomes?

2. Engagement (15%)
   a. Who are the various stakeholders (this may include sponsors, spectators, suppliers, media, participants for example) and how were they engaged?

3. Execution (15%)
   a. How does this event demonstrate best practice across the planning and execution of your event? This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, health and safety, for example.

4. Outcomes (20%)
   a. Did the event deliver on the S.M.A.R.T objectives outlined in 1a above? In other words, did you achieve what you set out to do? Provide evidence of your measurable outcomes where possible.

5. Excellence (15%)
   a. How did leadership, innovation, unique selling points and legacy outcomes (including broader economic/community/environmental impact, awareness raising, infrastructure, regional identity/pride outcomes) contribute to the event’s success?

   b. Why should this event win over and above other events?

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)
   a. What is your event’s commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (10%) Judges’ discretion

*S.M.A.R.T objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Please address these aspects in your response to 1a.

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The Award
This award celebrates excellence in an event attracting less than 3,000 participants delivered to meet local community needs or a cause-related fundraising or awareness-raising event. The event budget and size are irrelevant.

Who should enter?
Not-for-profit organisations (NFPs), or those who partner with NFPs, investing in or initiating event-related community, social or environmental initiatives, and charities or trusts who use events to deliver these initiatives. You may be an event manager, event owner, trust or charity.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event. The NFP or cause-related event must be delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter:
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand why the event was created, when it first began, the scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Strategy and Objectives (15%)

   a. What did success look like when you started planning the event? Outline your S.M.A.R.T objective(s) . This may include desired outcomes for audience/sponsor/volunteer engagement and satisfaction, awareness raising, media/profile, and/or profit, driving domestic visitation / contribution to regional GDP, for example (include base metrics where possible)

   b. What was your strategy to achieve these outcomes?

2. Engagement (15%)
   a. Who are the various stakeholders (this may include sponsors, spectators, suppliers, media, participants for example) and how were they engaged?

3. Execution (15%)

   a. How does this event demonstrate best practice across the planning and execution of your event? This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, health and safety, for example.

4. Effectiveness (15%)

   a. Did the event deliver on the S.M.A.R.T objectives outlined in 1a above? In other words, did you achieve what you set out to do? Provide evidence of your measurable outcomes where possible.

5. Excellence (15%)

   a. How did leadership, innovation, unique selling points and legacy outcomes (including broader economic/community/environmental impact, awareness raising, infrastructure, regional identity/pride outcomes) contribute to the event’s success?

   b. Why should this event win over and above other events?

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your event’s commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (15%) (Judges’ discretion)

*S.M.A.R.T objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Please address these aspects in your response to 1a.

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The Award
This award celebrates excellence in an event attracting more than 3,000 participants delivered to meet local community needs or a cause-related fundraising or awareness-raising event. The event budget and size are irrelevant.

Who should enter?
Not-for-profit organisations (NFPs), or those who partner with NFPs, investing in or initiating event-related community, social or environmental initiatives, and charities or trusts who use events to deliver these initiatives. You may be an event manager, event owner, trust or charity.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event. The NFP or cause-related event must be delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter:
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand why the event was created, when it first began, the scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Strategy and Objectives (15%)

   a. What did success look like when you started planning the event? Outline your S.M.A.R.T objective(s) . This may include desired outcomes for audience/sponsor/volunteer engagement and satisfaction, awareness raising, media/profile, and/or profit, driving domestic visitation / contribution to regional GDP, for example (include base metrics where possible)

   b. What was your strategy to achieve these outcomes?

2. Engagement (15%)
   a. Who are the various stakeholders (this may include sponsors, spectators, suppliers, media, participants for example) and how were they engaged?

3. Execution (15%)

   a. How does this event demonstrate best practice across the planning and execution of your event? This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, health and safety, for example.

4. Effectiveness (15%)

   a. Did the event deliver on the S.M.A.R.T objectives outlined in 1a above? In other words, did you achieve what you set out to do? Provide evidence of your measurable outcomes where possible.

5. Excellence (15%)

   a. How did leadership, innovation, unique selling points and legacy outcomes (including broader economic/community/environmental impact, awareness raising, infrastructure, regional identity/pride outcomes) contribute to the event’s success?

   b. Why should this event win over and above other events?

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your event’s commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (15%) (Judges’ discretion)

*S.M.A.R.T objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Please address these aspects in your response to 1a.

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The Award
This award celebrates excellence in food, beverage or lifestyle events e.g. food festivals, wine or beer festivals, garden shows, special interest expos, etc. Event budget/organisation size is irrelevant.

Who should enter?
Organisations that own, deliver or manage food, beverage or lifestyle events.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event. The event must be delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand why the event was created, when it first began, the scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Strategy and Objectives (15%)

   a. What did success look like when you started planning the event? Outline your S.M.A.R.T* objective(s) . This may include desired outcomes for audience/sponsor/volunteer engagement and satisfaction, awareness raising, media/profile, and/or profit, driving domestic visitation / contribution to regional GDP, for example (include base metrics where possible)

   b. What was your strategy to achieve these outcomes?

2. Engagement (15%)

   a. Who are the various stakeholders (this may include sponsors, spectators, suppliers, media, participants for example) and how were they engaged?

3. Execution (15%)

   a. How does this event demonstrate best practice across the planning and execution of your event? This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, health and safety, for example.

4. Effectiveness (15%)

   a. Did the event deliver on the S.M.A.R.T objectives outlined in 1a above? In other words, did you achieve what you set out to do? Provide evidence of your measurable outcomes where possible.

5. Excellence (15%)

   a. How did leadership, innovation, unique selling points and legacy outcomes (including broader economic/community/environmental impact, awareness raising, infrastructure, regional identity/pride outcomes) contribute to the event’s success?

   b. Why should this event win over and above other events?

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your event’s commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight(15%)(Judge’s discretion)

*SMART objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Please address these aspects in your response to 1a.

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The Award
This award celebrates excellence in events that are owned or delivered by local government. Event budget/organisation size is irrelevant.

Who should enter?
Local government organisations that own or deliver events. Events receiving local government support, but delivered externally are not eligible (these will be eligible to enter other categories).

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event. The event must be delivered in New Zealand and owned or delivered by a New Zealand local government organisation – i.e. Council, Regional Council, Regional Tourism Organisation, economic development agencies, or council-controlled organisations. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand why the event was created, when it first began, the scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Strategy and Objectives (15%)

   a. What did success look like when you started planning the event? Outline your S.M.A.R.T* objective(s) . This may include desired outcomes for audience/sponsor/volunteer engagement and satisfaction, awareness raising, media/profile, and/or profit, driving domestic visitation / contribution to regional GDP, for example (include base metrics where possible)

   b. What was your strategy to achieve these outcomes?
   

2. Engagement (15%)

   a. Who are the various stakeholders (this may include sponsors, spectators, suppliers, media, participants for example) and how were they engaged?
   

3. Execution (15%)

   a. How does this event demonstrate best practice across the planning and execution of your event? This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, health and safety, for example.
   

4. Effectiveness (15%)

   a. Did the event deliver on the S.M.A.R.T objectives outlined in 1a above? In other words, did you achieve what you set out to do? Provide evidence of your measurable outcomes where possible.

5. Excellence (15%)

   a. How did leadership, innovation, unique selling points and legacy outcomes (including broader economic/community/environmental impact, awareness raising, infrastructure, regional identity/pride outcomes) contribute to the event’s success?

   b. Why should this event win over and above other events?

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your event’s commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (Judge’s discretion) (15%)

*SMART objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Please address these aspects in your response to 1a.

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The Award
This Award recognises the successful hosting and/or delivery of an internationally significant event in New Zealand. The event will generate interest, profile or visitation from outside New Zealand. The rights to the event will generally be owned by an international body with a local delivery partner or local organising entity established specifically for the event.

Who should enter?
Organisations that own, deliver or manage major or mega events.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event. The event must be delivered in New Zealand and the majority of the management, execution of, and procurement for, the event be by and from NZ resident businesses. The event may be owned by an international body. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand why the event was created, when it first began, the scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Strategy and Objectives (15%)

   a. What did success look like when you started planning the event? Outline your S.M.A.R.T* objective(s) . This may include desired outcomes for audience/sponsor/volunteer engagement and satisfaction, awareness raising, media/profile, and/or profit, driving international or domestic visitation / contribution to regional GDP, for example (include base metrics where possible)

   b. What was your strategy to achieve these outcomes?

2. Engagement (15%)

   a. Who are the various stakeholders (this may include sponsors, spectators, suppliers, media, participants for example) and how were they engaged?

3. Execution (15%)

   a. How does this event demonstrate best practice across the planning and execution of your event? This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, health and safety, for example.

4. Effectiveness (15%)

   a. Did the event deliver on the S.M.A.R.T objectives outlined in 1a above? In other words, did you achieve what you set out to do? Provide evidence of your measurable outcomes where possible.

5. Excellence (15%)

   a. How did leadership, innovation, unique selling points and legacy outcomes (including broader economic/community/environmental impact, awareness raising, infrastructure, regional identity/pride outcomes) contribute to the event’s success?

   b. Why should this event win over and above other events?

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your event’s commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (Judge’s discretion) (15%)

*SMART objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Please address these aspects in your response to 1a.

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The Award
This award celebrates excellence in events that are focused on music to a target audience e.g. concerts, festivals, performances, touring and inhouse events, one-off shows or short run and series events. The event budget/organisation size is irrelevant.

Who should enter?
Organisations that own, deliver, or manage music events.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event or series of events (tours) delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand why the event was created, when it first began, the scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Strategy and Objectives (15%)

   a. What did success look like when you started planning the event? Outline your S.M.A.R.T* objective(s) . This may include desired outcomes for audience/sponsor/volunteer engagement and satisfaction, awareness raising, media/profile, and/or profit, driving domestic visitation / contribution to regional GDP, for example (include base metrics where possible)

   b. What was your strategy to achieve these outcomes?

2. Engagement (15%)
   a. Who are the various stakeholders (this may include sponsors, spectators, suppliers, media, participants for example) and how were they engaged?

3. Execution (15%)

   a. How does this event demonstrate best practice across the planning and execution of your event? This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, health and safety, for example.

4. Effectiveness (15%)

   a. Did the event deliver on the S.M.A.R.T objectives outlined in 1a above? In other words, did you achieve what you set out to do? Provide evidence of your measurable outcomes where possible.

5. Excellence (15%)

   a. How did leadership, innovation, unique selling points and legacy outcomes (including broader economic/community/environmental impact, awareness raising, infrastructure, regional identity/pride outcomes) contribute to the event’s success?

   b. Why should this event win over and above other events?

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your event’s commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (Judge’s discretion) (15%)

*SMART objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Please address these aspects in your response to 1a.

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The Award
This award celebrates excellence in sports events. The event budget/organisation size is irrelevant.

Who should enter?
Organisations that own, deliver or manage sports events.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event. The event must be delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand why the event was created, when it first began, the scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Strategy and Objectives (15%)

   a. What did success look like when you started planning the event? Outline your S.M.A.R.T* objective(s) . This may include desired outcomes for audience/sponsor/volunteer engagement and satisfaction, awareness raising, media/profile, and/or profit, driving domestic visitation / contribution to regional GDP, for example (include base metrics where possible)

   b. What was your strategy to achieve these outcomes?

2. Engagement (15%)

   a. Who are the various stakeholders (this may include sponsors, spectators, suppliers, media, participants for example) and how were they engaged

3. Execution (15%)

   a. How does this event demonstrate best practice across the planning and execution of your event? This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, health and safety, for example.

4. Effectiveness (15%)

   a. Did the event deliver on the S.M.A.R.T objectives outlined in 1a above? In other words, did you achieve what you set out to do? Provide evidence of your measurable outcomes where possible.

5. Excellence (15%)

   a. How did leadership, innovation, unique selling points and legacy outcomes (including broader economic / community / environmental impact, awareness raising, infrastructure, regional identity/pride outcomes) contribute to the event’s success?

   b. Why should this event win over and above other events?

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your event’s commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (Judge’s discretion) (15%)

*SMART objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound. Please address these aspects in your response to 1a.

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The Award
This award celebrates excellence in event marketing and creative concepts e.g. graphic design, design & build, design, theming, etc.

Who should enter?
Suppliers and organisations that own, deliver, or manage events or organisations or individuals who are contracted to deliver marketing or creative briefs for events. Note, if you were contracted to deliver creative services, you should enter with the approval of the event owner.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event or series of events delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand your product or service including the purpose and scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Product or Service Delivered (15%)

   a. What were your goals / the goals of the event manager in asking you to deliver that concept? Please be specific and measurable in your response.

2. Leadership and Innovation (15%)

   a. How did you/ your organisation show leadership and innovation in the delivery of the creative concept?

   b. How did you/your organisation contribute to the event’s success? i.e. how you helped achieve the event manager’s goals outlined in your response to 1a.

3. Degree of Difficulty (15%)

   a. Give examples of the issues you had to overcome to deliver a positive outcome. This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, health and safety, for example.
   

4. Customer Service (15%)

   a. Describe how the client/customer benefitted from the improvements or offerings you made.

   b. How did you deliver customer service over and above the norm?

5. Testimonials (15%)

   a. Please provide two testimonials (maximum 250-word count per testimonial) from the event company, or other key stakeholders, addressing why you should win over and above other suppliers.

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (Judge’s discretion) (15%)

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The Award
This award recognises outstanding technology innovations in the events sector. It may be a delivery service or product that supports the events industry (e.g. new products, apps, hybrid event services, gamification, augmented/virtual reality, web-based platforms, etc) or it may be technology innovations in event delivery, governance, operations, sponsorship, etc. The innovation must be technology-based.

Who should enter?
Suppliers or contractors providing solutions for the events industry, event owners, managers or sponsors. Please note that suppliers providing event marketing or creative services may prefer to enter those specific categories.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event or series of events delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand your product or service including the purpose and scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Product or Service Delivered (15%)

   a. What were your goals / the goals of the event manager in asking you to deliver the product or service?

2. Leadership and Innovation (15%)

   a. How did your organisation show leadership and innovation in the delivery of goods/services?

   b. How did your organisation contribute to the event’s success? i.e. how you helped achieve the event manager’s goals above.

3. Degree of Difficulty (15%)

   a. Give examples of the issues you had to overcome to deliver a positive outcome.

4. Customer Service (15%)

   a. Describe how the client/customer benefitted from the improvements or offerings you made.

   b. How did you deliver customer service over and above the norm?

5. Testimonials (15%)

   a. Please provide two testimonials (maximum 250-word count per testimonial) from the event company addressing why you should win over and above other suppliers.

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (Judge’s discretion) (15%)

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The Award
This award recognises outstanding service or product suppliers that support the events industry. Please note that suppliers providing innovative event products or services, marketing or creative services may prefer to enter those specific categories.

Who should enter?
This may include suppliers or contractors such as catering, labour hire, rigging, transport, logistics, technology provider, event agencies, PR, accommodation, security, waste management, security, communications, legal services, etc.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event or series of events delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand your product or service including the purpose and scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Product or Service Delivered (15%)

   a. What were the goals of the event manager in asking you to deliver the product or service?

2. Leadership and Innovation (15%)

   a. How did your organisation show leadership and innovation in the delivery of goods/services?

   b. How did your organisation contribute to the event’s success? i.e. how you helped achieve the event manager’s goals above.

3. Degree of Difficulty (15%)

   a. Give examples of the issues you had to overcome to deliver a positive outcome.

4. Customer Service (15%)

   a. Describe how the client/customer benefitted from the improvements or offerings you made.

   b. How did you deliver customer service over and above the norm?

5. Testimonials (15%)

   a. Please provide two testimonials (maximum 250-word count per testimonial) from the event company addressing why you should win over and above other suppliers.

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (Judge’s discretion) (15%)

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The Award
This award recognises outstanding environmental sustainability initiatives in the events sector. It may be related to an event or organisation, or a delivery service or product that supports the events industry.

Who should enter?
Suppliers or contractors providing solutions for the events industry, event owners, managers or sponsors. Please note that suppliers providing event marketing or creative services may prefer to enter those specific categories.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event or series of events delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand your initiative and the event including the purpose and scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Sustainability Initiative Delivered (15%)

   a. Describe the event for which the initiative was delivered. What were your goals/the goals of the event manager in delivering that product or service?

2. Leadership and Innovation (15%)

   a. How did your organisation show leadership and innovation in the delivery of the initiative?

   b. How did the initiative contribute to the event’s success? i.e. how you it help the goals above.

3. Degree of Difficulty (15%)

   a. Give examples of the issues you had to overcome to deliver a positive outcome.

4. Values and Culture Shifts (15%)

   a. Describe how you have integrated sustainability into your organisation or event’s values and culture i.e. venue requirements, policies and procedures, relationships with clients, stakeholders and partners, education and development of staff, etc.

5. Evidence of success (15%)

   a. Please provide evidence of the success of your initiative. This may be statistics or testimonials (maximum 250-word count per testimonial) from the event company addressing why you should win over and above other entries.

6. Future commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. Please outline your future commitment to sustainability and your strategy to achieve this.

7. Informed insight (Judge’s discretion) (15%)

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The Award
This award recognises outstanding diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the events sector. It may be related to an event or organisation, or a delivery service or product that supports the events industry.

Who should enter?
Suppliers or contractors providing solutions for the events industry, event owners, managers or sponsors. Please note that suppliers providing event marketing or creative services may prefer to enter those specific categories.

Eligibility
Entries must be related to an event or series of events delivered in New Zealand and owned by a New Zealand resident business. Entries must relate to events that occurred within the qualifying period (the event either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive).

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand your initiative and the event including the purpose and scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. DEI Initiative Delivered (15%)

   a. Describe the event for which the initiative was delivered. What were your goals/the goals of the event manager in delivering that product or service?

2. Leadership and Innovation (15%)

   a. How did your organisation show leadership and innovation in the delivery of the initiative?

   b. How did the initiative contribute to the event’s success? i.e. how you it help the goals above.

3. Degree of Difficulty (15%)

   a. Give examples of the issues you had to overcome to deliver a positive outcome.

4. Values and Culture Shifts (15%)

   a. Describe how you have integrated DEI values into your organisation or event’s values and culture i.e. venue requirements, policies and procedures, relationships with clients, stakeholders and partners, education and development of staff, etc.

5. Evidence of success (15%)

   a. Please provide evidence of the success of your initiative. This may be statistics or testimonials (maximum 250-word count per testimonial) from stakeholders addressing why you should win over and above other entries.

6. Future commitment to DEI (10%)

   a. Please outline your future commitment to DEI values and your strategy to achieve this.

7. Informed insight (Judge’s discretion) (15%)

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The Award
This award is for event venues. This may include stadiums, convention centres, private function venues, sporting venues, community venues, etc. This Award is for event venues that delivered an exceptional event during the qualifying period.

Eligibility
An entry in this category must be related to one event or a series of events that was delivered in the venue within the qualifying period (either started or concluded between 8 April 2024 to 7 April 2025 inclusive). Venues must be located in New Zealand and be a New Zealand resident business.

Criteria/ How to enter
Entries are to be completed within the online application portal at nzea.co/awards. You will be asked to provide the following and respond to the criteria questions as follows:

Overview
Each entry must begin with a standardised overview of the event so judges can understand your venue and the event you were hosting or service including the purpose and scale of the event, content, audience, and participants (maximum 500-word count for this overview).

Criteria questions
Entrants must respond to the following assessment criteria. Maximum 1500 words in total to respond to all questions.

1. Venue Offerings or Service (15%)

   a. Describe the event that you were asked to support in your venue.

   b. What responsibilities was the venue charged with?

   c. What were the goals of the event owner/manager?

2. Leadership and Innovation (15%)

   a. How did your venue show leadership and innovation in the delivery of the event?

   b. How did your venue contribute to the event’s success? i.e. how you helped achieve the event owner/manager’s goals outlined in 1c above?

3. Degree of Difficulty (15%)

   a. Give examples of the issues you had to overcome to deliver a positive outcome. This may include elements such as budgeting, marketing, responding to health and safety, for example.

4. Customer Service (15%)

   a. How did you deliver customer service over and above the norm? What were the outcomes of this?

5. Testimonials (15%)

   a. Please provide two testimonials (maximum 250-word count per testimonial) from the event’s stakeholders addressing why your venue should win over and above other venues.

6. Commitment to sustainability (10%)

   a. What is your commitment to sustainability and how did you demonstrate this? Note that your response should include environmental sustainability (e.g. mitigation strategies to limit the negative impact on the environment/reduce the impact on climate change), economic sustainability (e.g. financial stability, managing resources, etc, to ensure long-term viability), and social sustainability (e.g. governance, stakeholder relationships, social legacy outcomes, etc).

7. Informed insight (Judge’s discretion) (15%)

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The award
All finalists from the Excellence Award categories will automatically gain entry to this Award.
The event receiving the most votes from the public during the voting timeline will win ‘New Zealand’s Favourite Event 2025.

Process:
Public voting for New Zealand’s Favourite Event of 2025 will open in August 2025.
The New Zealand public will be able to cast their vote through a public poll for any of the eligible finalists.
The winner is determined through a first-past-the-post format – i.e. whoever gets the most votes wins! So, finalists have a great opportunity to get active with their audiences!  

The award
This Award recognises an individual or a team who has made an outstanding contribution to advancing the New Zealand events industry either over their career or through a specific multi-year project. The Award is by third-party nomination only, and there is no fee attached to this.

Nominations for this Award close 1 June 2025 (note this is later than for all other categories).

Do you have a person or team to nominate?
If you know of a deserving individual or team, please complete the short nomination form outlining who you are nominating and why you feel they deserve this accolade.

Judging process

1. Preliminary research will be conducted by NZEA on all nominees. Note that the NZEA Board may make nominations also.

2. The NZEA Board will identify a shortlist to be the subject of further research and consultation with industry leaders. The winner will be decided by the NZEA Board.

3. There will not be finalists in this category, the winner will be announced at the Awards Gala Evening.