Throughout the year, the Academy for the Vendor Choice Awards meets to discuss the logistics and rules around nominating and voting for the upcoming season. The Academy is made up of the category winners from the prior year, so every sector of the wedding industry is present to provide feedback on their specific services and what makes the most sense for the other vendors within their category. Together they confirm the effectiveness of past regulations and create new ones to improve the quality of the platform of the Vendor Choice Awards year over year.
And when that work is done – they plan the party of the year for the entire industry!
ACADEMY MEETING: APRIL 5th
The first Academy of the season was hosted at Rochester Brewery and Roastery on the morning of April 5th. The representatives from each category enjoyed a cup of coffee as they sat for their first ever Academy meeting of the year.
To kick off the meeting Britney welcomed the members and explained the rules and regulations of being on the Academy – mainly just being respectful of other’s opinions when the topics of nomination and voting arise in the future. The Academy is a safe place for all differences of opinions to be voiced and considered.
From that point, Britney reviewed the logistics of participating on the panel – meaning that the members would have to sit out a year on being nominated, but it is their gift back to the industry to serve on the Academy and possibly provide services for the gala.
Once all questions were answered, the final topic was the date and location of the gala. A preliminary schedule was presented and ideas were taken on dates and locations. Academy members also voiced any concerns they had heard from the prior gala, so that we may build on and improve from them.
The meeting concluded with all members introducing themselves and their company before closing and departing.
The next meeting was scheduled for June 20th at 9:30 at the Abbott to discuss the logistics of the nomination process.
ACADEMY MEETING: JUNE 20th
The second Academy meeting of the season was hosted at The Abbot on the morning of June 20th. The representatives from each category piled in to review the logistics of the nomination process for the Vendor Choice Awards.
Britney went through the nomination process step by step to allow the Academy to ask questions or clarify details of how the current system works. From the current rules, counting process, technology used, and the reveal process for the finalist, everything was brought to light. The Academy then had the opportunity to make changes to the current steps in place and/or changes the rules.
Most of the logistics remained the same, but the timing and reveal of the nominees was adjusted. Instead of contacting the top 5 within each category for their documentation, Wed KC will contact each individual/company that received a nomination and request their business license and COI if they wish to be considered for the top three. This will create a pool of documentation that Wed KC can access to certify that the top three do have their correct documentation, without having to allude to who the top three are before the entirety of the public finds out.
Another addition to this notification is to allow an individual or company to with drawl their nomination if they wish to do so before the announcement of the finalists are made.
It has been brought to the attention that campaigning has become a small issue in years past, so the Academy has created the following guidelines in terms of trading for votes:
Buying nominations or votes is strictly prohibited and will result in a company and/or individual being banned from being nominated for the Vendor Choice Awards within all category for two consecutive years. The effort of buying nominations and/or votes is seen by offering cash, gift cards, trade of services, or physical items in exchange for nominations or votes for the individual or company they own/work for.
Those are the largest revisions and additions to the awards platform, but you can view the full meeting minutes by clicking the link above.
The next meeting was scheduled for August 28th at We Work to discuss the logistics of the voting process.
ACADEMY MEETING: AUGUST 29th
Coming Soon!