BEST IN THE WEST AWARDS
2023
SPONSORED BY
Tuesday, May 2 - Awards Ceremony
Monday, March 20, 2023; 5:00 pm PDT - Submission Deadline
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The 'Best in the West' Awards 2023
A Celebration of Excellence
Best in the West Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in the BIA sector. Judges are looking for projects that show the best of what our sector brings to the support and promotion of our districts. Of particular interest are projects that could be replicable in other districts, in whole or in part.
You've worked hard, scored some real victories, and made a difference in your community...now it's time to take credit for your effort. Celebrate excellence - yours!
New in 2023 - only Awards of Excellence will be awarded.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:
- Categories for all projects.
- All entries will be judged against a standard set criteria vs. against each other. This means there can be multiple winners in any category – and this could be you!
- BIAs or projects with small budgets are not judged against large BIAs or budgets; every entry has an equal chance to be recognized with a Best in the West Award.
- Deadline: March 20, 2023; 5:00 pm PDT - this is a firm deadline, no extensions will be given.
- Download the judges evaluation form (below) to better understand how you will graded.
- Use the Marks of a Winner guide to see what judges will be looking for in an entry – and write yours accordingly.
FEES
BIABC members:
$50/per entry for members up to 3 entries.
Non-members:
$100/per entry for non-members up to 3 entries.
**Only online payments will be accepted. Must be made at time of application.
CATEGORIES
There’s a category for every project – so there’s no excuse for not entering your best work of 2021-2022.
1. Downtown Leadership & Management - Includes strategic planning, governance, financial management, advocacy efforts.
2. Economic & Business Development - Includes retail recruitment & retention, economic development initiatives.
3. Special Events - Includes events of any kind targeted at members or the larger community.
4. Programming & Partnerships - Includes member services initiatives or programs, partnerships with government, private or other collaborators.
5. Safety & Security - Includes ‘eyes and ears’ or ambassador-type programs, social enterprise partnerships or initiatives, law enforcement collaborations or projects, safety related member services.
6. Sustainability - Includes initiatives that facilitate a robust and resilient community focused on environmental programs, or social projects, or economic programs, or corporate social responsibility programs that focus on all three areas.
7. Marketing - Includes brand communication, marketing/promotion communication, external publications, advertising, public service announcements, audiovisual projects or digital communication such as websites, online stores, blogs, podcasts, social networks, democratized content networks, micro-blogging and content-sharing sites or the like.
8. Communications - Includes government relations, community relations, media relations, issues/crisis communication, member communications, internal publications, community/member consultation, engagement.
New this year: Entrants may submit multiple entries in the same category or in different categories. However, you must select one category for each project; you cannot enter the same project in multiple categories. You may submit as many entries as you wish, but separate entry fees apply for each entry (up to the maximum fees).
Click Here To Go To Entry Page
Please note a new window will pop up
CALL FOR ENTRIES
1. Work plans: Work plans or project descriptions are submitted through an on-line form (see #6 for Work Plan sections). You can create your submission in a Word document and then cut and paste it into the form. Please limit your work plan to 2,000 words total across all 5 sections.
2. Supplemental materials: Supplemental materials, other than photos) must be converted to a PDF. They can include: website or blog screen shots, publications, advertisements, speeches, sample media articles, training materials etc. Any materials that help illustrate your work plan. Include the URLs and/or passwords for websites or other online platforms within your work plan or supplemental materials for judges to view live at judging time if required.
Note: there is a limit of 6 supplemental materials. Two must be high-res photos that are suitable for use by the committee, should your project be selected.
3. Eligibility: The bulk of the project/initiative should have been completed between January 2022 and February 2023. Note: for long-term or ongoing programs, something new or different should have taken place within the eligibility period.
4. Entrant info:
Include the following information at the top of the typed work plan:
- Entrant name
- BIA/organization name
- Title of the entry
- Category
- Timeframe of the project
- Brief project summary (up to 100 words). This is the summary that will be used on the BIABC website should your project be selected.
6. Work plan: Submissions must address the sections below. Please limit your work plan to 2,000 words total, across all 5 sections.
Opportunity/Need:
Provide some background on your BIA/organization. Describe when this project took place. Most importantly, describe why this initiative was undertaken – what strategic goal was it addressing for your organization/community? What was the need or opportunity that presented itself that only this project could address?
Goal/Objectives:
Note your one visionary, high-level goal for this project. List the measureable objectives (suggestion: 1-3 are ideal). A reminder: objectives should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and timely) and be outcome vs. output focused. In other words, what behaviour change did you influence vs. what work did you do?
Audience:
Describe who your main audience was for the project; how you came to decide on this audience; other audiences; and what you knew about them that made this project the right fit for them.
Implementation:
Describe how you developed, created, implemented or rolled out your project. What role did you play? What other partners, staff or volunteers were involved and how? What was the budget? Did you have to ‘sell’ the project to your board or other partners? If yes, how did you do it? What challenges, if any, did you encounter and how did you overcome them?
Results:
Measuring against the objectives you set, what were the measurable outcomes of the initiative? How did you measure your success? What were the benefits to your defined audience?
CHECKLIST
Have you done/included the following:
- Registered and make payment for your entries
- Completed the work plan via new online form
- Included relevant supplemental materials; converted them into PDFs
- Included the relevant URLs or similar for live digital supplemental materials
- Included 2 high-res images
- Registered for the BIABC annual conference where the Best in the West Awards will be given out
- Patted yourself on the back for entering – congrats!
INQUIRIES
If you have any questions about which category to enter in or submitting your entry, contact Lori Baxter at info@bia.bc.ca. Note: there will be no extensions to the March 20, 2023 deadline.
HOW TO ENTER
- Think of all the great projects you’ve successfully completed from January 2022 and February 2023 – pick the best ones that might be unique or include robust measurement of your success or ongoing programs with a real track record or initiatives other BIAs can learn from or ones you’re most proud of.
- Register and pay online for your entries.
- Complete the work plan via the online form.
- Review the checklist below before you hit ‘send.’
- Submit the work plan and supplemental materials, online on or before March 20, 2023, 5:00 PDT. No extensions will be given.
- Register for the BIABC annual conference in Victoria, BC, April 30 - May 3, 2023; the Best in the West Awards will be presented on Tuesday May 2, 2023.