Below you will find details of the 2017 categories and criteria for each. These will be refreshed for 2018 - stay tuned for more information!

General entry criteria:

  • The Install Awards recognise high achievement in the field of professional audio, video and lighting integration in permanent or semi-permanent installations.
  • An individual or company may submit up to three entries – either in the same category or in different categories.
  • Any type of company involved with a project may enter – whether integrator, other contractor, consultant, distributor, manufacturer or any other company with a significant involvement. 
  • Projects entered for the Install Awards may be located anywhere in the world. However, we can only accept entries from companies with a UK presence (which can be the company’s own location or that of a distributor). 
  • To be eligible, a project must have been handed over to the client between 1 March 2016 and 28 February 2017.

Project category:

In all of the project awards, the judges will be looking for evidence of the following:
 
  • A high degree of integration between the different elements installed
  • Innovative problem-solving approaches
  • Elegant design – technical or aesthetic
  • The degree to which the client brief was met, or exceeded
  • Ease of maintenance/ongoing support
  • Expansion capability/futureproofing
Best Education Project:
This category includes schools, colleges, universities and other learning environments such as conference centres and corporate training centres.
Best Corporate/Industrial Project:
This category looks at facilities that are used by people while they are working, rather than by the public. It covers boardrooms, atriums, control rooms, simulation/visualisation facilities and the like.
Best Retail/DOOH Project:
This category covers the overlapping worlds of retail technology and digital out-of-home technology. So any installation in a retail environment, and any DOOH installation wherever located, is eligible.
Best Hospitality Project:
Hospitality covers installations in hotels, bars, clubs and restaurants: venues where design and ambience are important considerations.
Best Venue Project:
This category covers projects located anywhere that people have come to watch, and possibly participate, in a ‘show’ in the broadest possible sense. It includes, for instance, concert halls, stadiums, cinemas, arts centres, multipurpose halls - even houses of worship. There are no upper or lower limits on venue capacity.
Best Visitor Attraction Project:
This category is open to any installation in a museum, theme park, gallery or at a historical site – either new projects or system upgrades.

Star Product Awards

Both of these awards recognise the contribution made by a single product within installation projects. In a departure from previous years, we do not require entrants to the Star Product Awards to enter a Project Award. However, it is vital that entries make reference to the performance of the nominated product in the context of one or more integration projects, handed over to the client between March 2016 and February 2017. Entries that do not refer to completed installations will be rejected.
 
For the Star Product Awards, the judges will be looking for evidence of:
 
  • How the product fulfilled its function more efficiently, more cost-effectively or in some other way better than was previously possible
  • The best fit between the product’s features and the requirements of the project(s)
  • How the product emphatically sets a defining stamp on the project(s)
 
Business Star Product
Entertainment Star Product

Integrator's Choice: In-House Team of the Year

This category may only be entered by integrators, nominating in-house AV teams. It is designed to recognise the contribution made by in-house AV teams to successful projects. Entries can be related to either a single project or multiple projects during the period March 2016 to February 2017, and should cover:
  • Evidence of best practice by the in-house team
  • Evidence of effective communication and co-operation between the in-house team and the integrator
  • Evidence of how the project(s) broke new ground

Distribution Team of the Year

This award is open to any AV distributor working in the industry. For the period March 2016 to February 2017, we will be looking for evidence of:
  • New practices and why these were undertaken
  • Outstanding customer service
  • Examples of how the team has added value to their distribution offering
  • Improved turnover and/or margin figures
 

Marketing Team of the Year

This award is open to any industry marketing team – either in-house or external – serving the installed AV market. It can cover either a single campaign or overall performance during the period March 2016 to February 2017.
 
Entries should include evidence of:
  • Effective communication of product or brand messages
  • Consistent creativity through branding and messaging
  • The link between marketing activity and sales performance – please include illustrative figures and metrics
  • The impact of the project/product versus budget and resource level

Rising Star

Eligible nominees for this award are people under the age of 30, or who have been working in the industry for less than three years, as of 28 February 2017, who have made a major impact. 
 
Entries should include evidence of:
  • Progression within their role
  • Examples of outstanding work
  • Levels of responsibility gained
  • Testimonials from colleagues and/or clients

Project of the Year/Hall of Fame

Project of the Year:
This is a ‘best of the best’ award, given to the highest-scoring winner of the six project awards.
Hall of Fame - Grand Prix
This award will be given to a company that has made a major contribution to the industry over a number of years.
Hall of Fame - Outstanding Contribution Award
This award will be presented to an individual who has had a major beneficial impact on the industry in recent years.
Hall of Fame - Lifetime Achievement Award
This award will be presented to an individual who has made a valuable contribution to the industry throughout the course of their career.