Frequently Asked Questions

What are the European Excellence Awards?

The European Excellence Awards are created to honour the most outstanding achievements of communications professionals in their field. The awards also provide an excellent networking forum for all attendees and take a comprehensive look at communications achievements across Europe.

Who is the host?

The awards are hosted by Communication Director, the Magazine for Corporate Communications and Public Relations in Europe. Communication Director is also a co-host of the European Communication Summit, the largest European gathering of communications professionals. Communication Director features news, opinion, studies, and introduces new European communications professionals.

How much is the entry fee?

The fee for the first nomination submitted is 240 Euros. For any additional applications, the cost is reduced to 190 Euros for each application. Please note that these prices exclude VAT, which will be applied as appropriate. The application fee applies per project per category entered.

Who can apply?

The awards are open to public relations, communications, brand building, and reputation management professionals from companies, consultancies, associations and NGOs, whose work has displayed exceptional talent and ability in 2010.

Can universities or institutions apply for the European Excellence Awards?

Yes, we encourage entries from universities and institutions, and would advise you to apply for any categories that you feel showcase your innovative approach to communications.

I work for an agency and want to nominate a campaign we worked on for a client. How would that work?

Both the client and the agency can submit campaigns to the competition. All communication, such as the announcement of shortlists and winners, will mention both the client and the agency.

How many categories may I apply for?

Projects can be entered in more than one category, and it is possible to apply in as many categories as you are interested in. Please be aware that nominations for the "Accomplishment" category (numbers 1-3) have different application forms than categories 4-58.

Can I submit a campaign in more than one category?

Yes, that is not a problem. You can submit an entry into as many appropriate categories as you like, and you can (although you do not have to) tailor your supporting documents for each category, even if the campaign being entered is the same. However, you will have to fill in a separate application form for each entry into each category, and you will be charged per application form.

Can the jury members nominate their own companies/agencies?

Companies or organisations of jury members may still enter the award competition. However, the juror is not allowed to take part in the judging process for any category into which their organisation/consultancy has submitted projects.

What do I need to send in?

All submissions must be completed in English. Entered projects must have taken place after September 30, 2009 (i.e. an integral part of the project must have taken place after this date to be considered). The application for each nomination must contain the following elements:

1. Completed application form. Please note that there are different application forms for categories 1-3, which can be found at www.excellence-awards.eu.
2. A document with a written text of at most 2000 characters (including spacing and punctuation) with an outline of the project you are applying with. This should include: a) the situation which led to the creation of the project b) the objective of the campaign c) the strategy involved in the campaign d) how the project was implemented e) the results achieved by the campaign.
3. A short document with bullet points, outlining: a) time frame of the project (Start, peak, end) b) Budget in Euros (This information will not be distributed and plays a major role in helping the jury to assess your project) c) Number of staff working on the project d) Weblink to the project (if applicable) There should also be a short summary of your project at the end of this document, which should be no more than 300 characters long (including spacing and punctuation).
4. Supporting material should be carefully selected to illustrate the main points and essence of your project. There is a limit of up to 3 documents (one document equals one digital file or one hard copy). The material accepted as supporting material includes, for example, planning documents, press releases, press kits, pictures, brochures, Powerpoint presentations of no more than 10 slides, movies of no more than 3 minutes and any online material or other unique media.
5. Include one picture that best represents your project (for example, the cover of a report, or a picture of your event) which will be used to illustrate your project to the jury, and if it is shortlisted.

All entries should be made in hard copy and in digital form. Please be aware that all applications will be uploaded to the online intranet used by our jury. The submitted material can not be returned.

Hard copy

Please enter the application form and the text document in one copy, plus three copies of all printed supporting material, such as publications or posters, per project. Original documents should not be submitted. All entry material should be carefully marked with the category, project title, name of the organisation and the name of the consultancy.

Digital format

Please submit your application via email to (up to 5 mb), or on a CD or USB stick. The following file formats can be accepted:

For text:

.pdf, .doc

For pictures:

.jpg/.jpeg,.gif, .png. (Ideally in print quality, 300dpi)

For videos/movies:

.mov, .flv, .avi, .mpg/.mpeg (no more than 100 mb)

For presentations:

.pdf .ppt (Ideally convert powerpoint into pdf. No more than 5 mb)

Can I submit articles in my native language?

You can submit publications in your native language to support your application; however we ask that all application material (for example, the application forms and the project description) are submitted in English.

What do you mean by 2000 'characters'?

By characters, we mean all letters, spaces and punctuation marks. The easiest way to count these is to use the word count function in Microsoft Word, if you have access to it. As all texts are uploaded onto the jury intranet, and space is limited, texts will automatically be cut off after the 2000th character.

What do you mean by 'entered works must have been published after September 30, 2009'?

Projects started before September 30, 2009 will be considered for awards if they had their main roll-out and impact after this date. Projects completed before this date will not be considered.

I am unable to provide budget details - can I still enter the Awards?

Yes, you would still be able to enter the awards, although one of one of the criteria the entries are judged upon is cost-efficiency, and this is very hard to assess without financial data. All such information is treated with utmost confidentiality, all will never be published or released, should you decide to provide it.

When is the deadline?

The postmarked deadline for all applications is October 8th, 2010. Postal applications that are received after October 16th, 2010 cannot be accepted.

Who are the judges?

The jury is comprised of over 30 leading communications professionals from companies, agencies, and universities, as well as governmental spokespersons.

How will the entries be judged?

Upon receiving your application, we will first send you a confirmation of receipt by email. This may take a few days to receive. Thereafter, our jury will review all entries and choose a shortlist of five projects in each of the available categories. The winners will then be voted on anonymously. The entries are evaluated on the following criteria: strategy, innovation, creativity, cost-efficiency, results.

Do I have to register for seats at the Gala at the same time as I enter?

No, you do not. You can register at the same time, but most entrants usually wait until after the shortlist is announced before booking their seats or tables for the Awards Ceremony.

How do I pay the entry fee?

After we have received your application, we will send you an invoice for your application(s), complete with our bank details and instructions for transferring the money to us. You do not need to make payment before, or at the same time as, submitting your entries.

When will the winners be presented with their awards?

The winners will be announced and presented with their awards at the European Excellence Awards gala ceremony on December 9th, 2010 at the Žofín Palace in Prague.

Do you give feedback on entries?

Unfortunately, due to the extraordinarily high number of entries we receive, we are not able to give individual feedback for entries.