TMAC AWARD SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

As we open and welcome submissions for the 2022 TMAC Awards, we are excited to see submissions from our members that represent excellence within the Travel Media Profession, from Canadians. 

SUBMISSION TIMELINE for JUDGED AWARDS:
OPEN for Submissions: January 10, 2023
INFORMATION SESSION: Hosted Jan.13 WATCH THE RECORDING NOW
CLOSE for Submissions (deadline): February 20, 2023
FINALISTS announced: May 2023
WINNERS announced: June 17, 2023 at the TMAC Awards Gala in Sudbury, Ontario
*Dates may be subject to change

2022 TMAC AWARD CATEGORIES
Annually the Award Categories are adjusted based on member feedback and changes in travel media channels.
Review the 2022 TMAC Award Categories HERE, noting there are a few **NEW** categories this year.
 

As you consider the Award Categories, and prepare for submission:

• REVIEW the Award Submission Guidelines below, CAREFULLY ... and read them again, just to be sure!
• NOTE all entries/submissions are welcomed via the online TMAC 2022 Awards Entry Form.
• IMPORTANT: Any entry that does not follow the guidelines below may be disqualified.

AWARD SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS 

1. The TMAC Awards presented in 2023, are for works created in 2022 - is that correct? 
Correct. While the TMAC Awards are presented in 2023, work being submitted for consideration is for the previous year, or as noted below. 
Entries for ALL Award Categories must have been published between January 1, 2022 and December 31, 2022; except in the category of Travel Book, in which entries may be published between January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022 due to this being a new category.

2. Who is eligible to enter the TMAC AWARDS?
Only current TMAC members may submit for our Awards. There are two phases to our TMAC AWARDS, Judged Awards and Member Voted Awards:

2a. There are 12 JUDGED Award Categories, who is eligible to enter?
The 12 Judged Awards are OPEN to submissions from TMAC MEDIA MEMBERS ONLY.
Members must have their 2023 membership fees paid in full to enter work for consideration (renew now).
These Awards are reviewed, and judged, with winners being selected by an external, independent panel of judges.
Submissions must be published between January 1 - December 31, 2022; EXCEPT within the category of Travel Book, in which the eligible timeline is January 1, 2018 to December 31, 2022 due to it being a new category. 

2b. Who is eligible for the 6 MEMBER VOTED Awards becoming available in March?
The 6 Member Voted Awards are OPEN TO BOTH MEDIA & INDUSTRY as specified within each category description.
Submissions for these Awards will be welcomed beginning in March.
View Member Voted Award Categories and guidelines here.

2c. Are submissions for the 'Judged' Awards and 'Member-Voted /Chapter Awards treated separately?
Yes. They are completely separate. Please submit up to a maximum of 6 entries within the Judged Awards. Your submissions within the Member-Voted/Chapter Award Categories are not included within the maximum of 6.
Similarly, you are welcome to submit the same story in each the Judged and Member-Voted/Chapter Awards if you wish.

3.  What are the Minimum Criteria for Award Submissions?
ALL entries (article/photo/self-published website/book...etc.) must meet the same content criteria and minimum circulation figure for media membership qualification/re-qualification. This means work created as advertorial or sponsored content is accepted.  You can view the Media Membership Points Table here. If your submission would not meet the requirements to be a member of TMAC, it does not qualify for our Awards program. It is the responsibility of the Member to ensure their submission meets these criteria. Failure to do so will result in your submission being disqualified.

4. For Judged Awards, how many submissions can I enter?
The total number of submissions by a member across all 12 Judged Categories is capped at a MAXIMUM of SIX (6).
Any submissions above the first six (6) submitted will be disqualified and removed from the Award category.

5. How many submissions per Judged Award Category can I enter?
You may enter UP TO TWO (2) submissions per award category. Submissions by co-creators count as one creator/member. Any submissions beyond the first two entries per category will be disqualified.

6. For JUDGED Awards, can I enter the SAME story/photo etc., in more than one (1) category?
NO. A single submission can only be submitted once in one of the 12 Judged Award Categories. This also applies to any part of a story. Ie. A story with images can be submitted under the written categories HOWEVER, you cannot submit a photo from that same story in the visual categories.
If a member enters the SAME story/photo multiple times Multiple entries of the same article/photo/book etc. will be disqualified.
*NOTE: If you submit a story/image within the Judged Awards, you can submit it again (once) within the Member Voted Awards.

7. Is there a FEE to submit for the Awards?
You may enter up to six (6) submissions in total. The first three (3) are FREE, each additional submissions is $25 per entry.
An invoice for the additional submissions will be issued to the member for payment following the Judged Awards deadline. This fee must be paid prior to Award finalists being announced in May. 
*NOTE: Member Voted Award limitations can be reviewed here.

8. Are Co-Creators or Co-authors eligible to enter, and what if not all who contributed are TMAC members?
Only the creator/co-creators of the entry may submit it, NOTING only work done exclusively by TMAC members is eligible.
EXCEPTIONS:
a) It is understood that entries in the Emerging and Broadcast Media Award category may be created by teams. In this event, to be eligible, the creative lead on the project must be a TMAC Member.
b) Travel Books Books must be either authored by a TMAC member, or in the case of co-author (s) the submitting TMAC member must have contributed no less than 40% of the book and must be the author of the excerpt for the submission. 

9. Do I need to have my 2023 Membership paid to enter the Awards?
YES, your 2023 TMAC membership dues must be paid in full prior to submitting for the TMAC Awards.
Need to renew? Media renew here; Industry renew here. 

10. Is there a chance that any of the Award Categories could be 'cancelled'?
Yes, there is a minimum of 10 entries required in each Award Category to be considered active. If this threshold is not met at the time of Award Submission closing, the category will be removed from the slate of awards.

11. Who judges the JUDGED Award Categories?
Annually, your TMAC National Awards Committee, as part of their work in curating the TMAC Awards program, seeks out and secures a panel of judges for our Awards. These individuals, have expertise and experience related to the categories they will be judging. Independent from TMAC, they are meant to be selected from outside our TMAC Membership, they are not biased. They are instructed to review each submission independently against the criteria and scoring matrix as provided. Judges are paired up with at least one other judge for each category, their final scores are combined, those scores then determine our top five finalists, and our winners.
MEET OUR JUDGING PANEL.

12. What are the prizes for the Winners of the Awards?
There are cash prizes for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners as noted below, along with certificates for these and honourable mentions.

• First prize for each category: $650
• Second prize for each category: $400 
• Third prize for each category: $200
   

13. When are the Winners of the TMAC Awards Announced?
The TMAC Awards will be presented, with winners announced, at our annual Awards Gala at our TMAC Conference and Media Marketplace.
In 2023, this will be June 17 in Sudbury, Ontario. Those not in attendance will be mailed their certificate, monetary prizes are e-transferred within a week of the awards presentation.  

AWARD SUBMISSION DETAILS/REQUIREMENTS

TMAC Awards require the member to submit their entry by completing the online Award Submission Form . 
The online form will request/prompt you to provide confirmation of Title of Submission, Date of Submission, related links or file uploads to your submission - the process is very similar to your original application or re-qualification process.
IMPORTANT: All requirements, as outlined below and when prompted online must be provided.
Failure to do so, will disqualify your submission.

**CHANGES for 2022 Submissions**

• A separate 'judges' copy with your name removed (an anonymous copy) is no longer required. Given the increased use of URLs which often cannot be provided anonymously, we have removed this requirement. Retaining the integrity of our judging and evaluation program, our Judges will continue to undertake their reviews and evaluations of submissions based on the submission itself - the author of any submission is not relevant to our Judges. 
• NOTE: FILE SIZES and URLS:
  When uploading a PDF or an image you will be asked for a jpeg, jpg, png or PDF - maximum file size is 56MB.
  In the case of URLS, you will be limited to 128 characters. If your link is longer, please use a link shortening software like bitly or Short URL, or your preferred shortener. (Please note we are not recommending which software to use.)
• ALL files for submissions must be uploaded within the forms, third party file transfer platforms will not be used.
• Uploaded files will be assigned a file name based on YOUR name, Category and Submission TITLE, however, we ask that you continue LABELING your files with YOUR Name, and the NAME of the Submission. 
• DO NOT use emojis in your file names, titles etc., it will deliver an error message for your submission.
   

1. WRITTEN WORD entries:
Submit one PDF or URL in the field when prompted to in the online form. Entry must demonstrate the title of the submission, publication name and date.

2. **NEW** SELF-PUBLISHED TRAVEL WEBSITE (includes blog) entries:
Provide the URLs of the three (3) blog/story entries that you wish to have judged, noting that the overall site will be taken into consideration by the judges. 

3. VISUAL entries:
Please make sure that your photos are labelled properly, with your Name, Title of the Image.
You will be required to upload the images, as jpeg, jpg or PDF documents, within the online form (transfer of files via WeTransfer will not be accepted).

4. **NEW** BEST PHOTO SERIES entries:
Upload four (4) images from one story to be considered for this Award Category. You need not have been the author of the written words accompanying this story. All images must have been included within the same story - not from a collection of separate stories.

5. EMERGING & BROADCAST MEDIA entries:
Submissions will come in many forms, from links to uploads. For this reason, entrants in this category submit a maximum two page PDF describing the project, including any relevant links. Please submit your PDF, along with any other relevant media using the uploading options or URL option as prompted. ENSURE THEY ARE LABELED reflecting your name and the name of the submission.
FOR ALL REQUIREMENTS FOR THIS SUBMISSION CATEGORY, REFER TO THE AWARD DESCRIPTION

6. **NEW** TRAVEL BOOK entries:
Submit one (1) PDF document which includes; cover of the book, table of contents, 200-500 word synopsis of the book and one chapter (2000 word maximum) OR up to a 2000 word excerpt. If this is not adhered to, your submission will be disqualified.
REMINDER: Books must be first-edition OR substantially revised editions, published after January 2018 and is either authored by a TMAC member, or in the case of co-author (s) the submitting TMAC member must have contributed no less than 40% of the book and must be the author of the excerpt for the submission. 

BY SUBMITTING YOUR WORK,  AS A TMAC MEMBER IN GOOD STANDING:
 

• If you win, you agree to allow TMAC to use your entries for promotional purposes at no charge.
• TMAC reserves the right to add or remove categories at any point during the Awards competition at its discretion. Any member who has submitted in those categories will be advised immediately and any charges will be reimbursed. All members will be notified.
• The decisions of the award judges and award administrators are final.
• You acknowledge, the deadline for submitting your entries for the 2022 TMAC Awards is February 20, 2023.
• You acknowledge that the work submitted meets the guidelines and criteria as described for the 2022 TMAC Awards.

TMAC MEMBER VOTED AWARDS

For information on Member Voted Awards please refer to the appropriate page here on our website. 

TIMELINE For Submissions (subject to change)
OPEN for submissions: March 1, 2023
CLOSED for submissions: April 3, 2023
WINNERS announced at TMAC Awards Gala on June 17 during Conference in Sudbury, Ontario.

GUIDELINES Specific to MEMBER VOTED AWARDS:

Please note that the 2022 Awards are presented in 2023 but are based on work performed/completed in 2022, unless otherwise specified.

Q. Do nominees have to be members of the Travel Media Association of Canada (TMAC) or can they be anyone?
A: Nominees must be TMAC members whose membership fees are fully paid for 2023 BEFORE submissions are eligible to be submitted.

Q. Can I nominate myself or does someone else have to nominate me?
A:  For ALL Award Categories as the member, you can only submit your own work for consideration - no one can submit on your behalf.
*EXCEPTION: Industry Member of the Year and Volunteer of the Year which are nomination based.

Q. Do my entries have to have been published?
A: YES, the entry for all categories are subject to our Media Membership Criteria. Submissions  must have appeared in a publication or digital posting between January 1, 2022 - December 31, 2022, unless otherwise stated.

Q. Can I re-enter a submission that did not win in 2022 but was published within the time period?
A: No.

Q. I have a story or image that I'd like to submit for one of the 12 'JUDGED' categories, but would also like to submit it for one of the 'MEMBER VOTED ' categories - can I?
A. YES! The 12 'Judged' Awards are separate from the Member Voted/Chapter Awards and therefore you are able to enter a piece of work in each category of awards - the same story/visual or a different one. AND if you have submitted your maximum of 6 entries in the Judged Awards, the Member Voted/Chapter Awards are considered separate and therefore you are eligible to submit.

Q: How do I submit my entry(ies)?
A: Please use the online 2022 TMAC Awards Entry Form.

HAVE ADDITIONAL QUESTIONS?

We want you to be as informed as possible, if you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to reach out to Donna at donna@travelmedia.ca.