Judging Criteria

Individual criteria differ by category, but the emphasis is on the overall quality of the entry: the merits of the claims to innovation claimed in the entry, relative to the judges' experience and their knowledge of the participant's industry, as well as the quality of the entry's content itself.

Judges tend to value well-written entries that are long on facts and short on fluff; that come close to the word-limit for their categories (i.e. that aren't perceived as being too short); and that are supported by attachments such as a link to a corporate website, press clippings, work samples, etc.

We recommend that you request an entry kit so that you can familiarize yourself with the criteria and submission requirements.

Judging

All entries are first reviewed by Stevie Awards staff to ensure that eligibility requirements are met, that entries are formatted properly in order to go forward to be judged, and that entries have been submitted in appropriate categories.

All judges receive written instructions about how to score entries. Judges are asked to score the achievements portrayed in each entry based on (a) their own experience, and (b) their understanding of how organizations and individuals in the nominee's industry performed in the eligibility timeframe, given the condition of the economy in general and the nominee's industry in particular.  For entries in creative media categories, judges are asked to read the brief submitted about the entry’s communications objectives, and to review and score the submitted media (web site, publication, live event, etc.) based on their originality, creativity, production values, and how well they believe the media meet the stated communications objectives.