Who can enter?

The Best Practice Awards are open to all current paid up members of the Trade Association Forum.  You may submit more than one entry in any given category and may also enter the same initiative for more than one category.  

Entry submission date

Entries for the 2020 awards must be received by 5pm on Thursday, 9th April 2020.

Eligibility

The TAF Best Practice Awards are open to all members of the Trade Association Forum.  Please note that your subscription MUST be paid up-to-date in order for your organisation to qualify for entry.  Failure to adhere to this will result in your entry being disqualified.  No refunds for entries will be given under these conditions.

Submission statements together with supporting evidential documentation must be submitted before the published closing date for the Awards in order to be considered.

Unless otherwise stated, all documentation submitted should be in electronic format, except in the case where hard copies are necessary to demonstrate the quality of the entry. Where hard copies are submitted, a minimum of eight copies should be sent to the organisers, clearly labelled with the Award Category.

Publicity

The names of trade associations that have submitted entries for the Awards may be published in lists of entrants, Finalists or Winners on the Forum website and elsewhere as deemed appropriate by the Trade Association Forum.  

Images submitted as part of entries, including photos, document covers, web pages, etc, may be used in connection with the Awards presentation and Judges’ reports and must be declared free from copyright or other restrictions in connection with reproduction.  

Data Protection 

Any data collected with entries will be stored in a database and may be used in future to send out information that the Forum feels may be of interest to members.  By taking part in the Awards you are agreeing to this.  

Confidentiality

The Trade Association Forum recognises that some information submitted in support of entries may be of a sensitive or confidential nature.  

The Forum will do its best to ensure that, where information is indicated to be confidential, confidentiality will be respected and maintained in both the judging process and in any resulting publicity.  

Please note that Award entries, together with supporting documentation may from time to time be made available for viewing by other associations in order to share best practice.  If you wish to keep information strictly confidential (e.g. financial information), please submit it separately and mark it ‘Confidential’, so that it can be detached or excluded from such viewings 

Method of Judging  

 The judging process will be in two parts:  

  1. A sifting stage to select the Awards Finalists. The sifting panel will comprise of impartial volunteers from the Forum’s membership together with a chosen expert for each category wherever possible. 
  2. A Final Judging Panel will meet to select a winner for each category of Award.  This Panel will comprise of impartial judges from the industry and Civil Service.

There will normally be one winning submission per category.

The Judges will take into consideration the merit of the entries and the extent to which the entries meet the awards criteria as well as the quality of the supporting documentation submitted.  The Judges will also recognise that smaller associations may not necessarily have the resources of larger associations.

Consideration will be given to how generally applicable each entry is to the wider TA world and other associations.  

The Judges reserve the right to withhold awards where entries are deemed to be of insufficient merit.  TAF is not liable for any associated costs incurred by any entrant in connection with this. 

The decision of the Judges is final.  No correspondence will be entered into. The Judges reserve the right to move an entry from one category to another without payment of an additional fee.  In the event of this, the entrant will be notified. 

If you would like to take part in the sifting process, please contact Norah Fidgett.  

Announcement and Presentation 

The Award Winners will be announced at the Annual Awards and Networking Dinner due to be held at Drapers Hall, London on Tuesday, 14th July 2020. 

No information regarding the Winners will be given out prior to the event. The Winners in each category will receive an Award trophy and a Certificate.   All finalists will also receive a Certificate. 

Results will be displayed on the Trade Association Forum website.  

Winners of the Awards may also be asked to share their experiences at the TA Best Practice Exchange or other events which TAF may hold.  There is a strong expectation that winners agree to commit to this activity if asked to do so. 

How to Enter 

Step 1  

Decide which categories to enter. It is permissible to enter as many awards as you like and to enter more than one project/activity in each category.  Please note, that there is a separate charge for each entry for every award entered, with the exception of the special awards which are free to enter 

Step 2  

There are set criteria for each separate award.  Please ensure that the criteria are adhered to in order to ensure you fully qualify for entry and secure the best chances for success. 

Step 3  

Complete the online entry form for each submission and ensure that you submit all of the necessary supporting documentation in line with the criteria for each category.   If you are unable to do so, please state clearly why this is the case. 

Step 4  

Any enquiries should be directed to the organisers:  

Linda Cavender
Trade Association Forum Ltd
T: +44 (0)20 3869 8650

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