Deadline Approaching for Caribbean Travel Media Awards Submissions

Despite the ever changing faces of media, travel writers and photographers remain critical to helping the region tell the Caribbean tourism industry story. With social media having radically altered the way people consume news, platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snap Chat and YouTube, as well as blogs and vlogs have increasingly become important vehicles through which we reach consumers.

Therefore, travel journalists are using fresh and innovative ways to communicate effectively, reaching a broader audience via more creative means.

The Caribbean Media Awards celebrate the very best in US and Caribbean travel journalism and reward the individuals, organisations and destinations who produce and present exceptional work. This year we have added two new categories – the Up the Social Ladder award for best social media campaign by a CTO member country and the Look, I’m Going Social award for most outstanding social media coverage of an event/activity in or about a CTO member country by a journalist or influencer.

The closing date for entries is 6 April, 2018, with the shortlist to be announced on 7 May following a rigorous and robust judging process. The winners will be revealed at the Travel Industry Awards Dinner on Thursday 7 June, 2018, during Caribbean Week New York.

The judging panel will feature leading professionals in marketing, communications, advertising and digital, who will judge the submissions based on the criteria outlined below:

Awards will be presented to journalists from US and Caribbean-based media, in the following categories:

I Couldn’t Have Written It Better Myself

Best Feature Article in a US-based Consumer Newspaper

Been There, Wrote That

Best Feature Article in a US-based Consumer Magazine

Inner Circle King/Queen

Best Feature Article in a US-based Trade Publication

Oh Snap!

Best Photograph in Conjunction with a Feature Article

Golden Mic

Best Feature Broadcast

Virtual Visitor Award

Best Feature in an Online publication not including blogs

Up the Social Ladder

Best Social Media Marketing Campaign by a CTO Member Country

Look, I’ve Gone Social

Most Outstanding Social Media coverage of an event or Activity by a journalist or influencer

Me Too! I Rediscovered Home!

v Best Feature by a Diasporan Journalist in US or Caribbean Media

No Anansi Story!

Best Feature by a Caribbean-based Journalist that appeared in Caribbean-based media

Oh My Word, I Blogged!

Best Caribbean Travel Blog Posting

This award is given to the person voted as having written the best travel blog posting about the Caribbean or any CTO member country. The entry must have been posted during the 2017 calendar year. The winner is decided by public vote.

The deadline for receiving entries is Friday 6 April at 11:59 Pacific Standard Time. Voting begins on Monday 9 April at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time and ends on Friday 18 May at 11:59 p.m. PST.

SELECTION CRITERIA

• Only entries submitted by CTO government members, their public relations agencies or qualified media shall be eligible.

• Submissions by US-based journalists who contribute to foreign-based media are eligible.

• Minimum circulation for newspaper or magazine entries is 20,000 (1,000 for Caribbean media).

• All entries must have been published or broadcast in the 2017 calendar year.

• Only one entry per person per category will be accepted.

• Entries must be submitted by Friday 6 April, 2018.

• Submissions should showcase creativity and thoughtful knowledge of the Caribbean and have a provocative story angle.

• Award recipient agrees to allow his/her winning work to be published in part or in whole on www.onecaribbean.org,www.caribbeantravel.com and www.CaribbeanWeek.com.

• By submitting an entry, the participant grants the CTO an irrevocable, royalty free and perpetual license right to use without restriction and reproduce all submitted work, whether article or photo, including without limitation the copying, transmission, distribution and publication for display or promotion purposes. The participant will be credited every time the article or photo is used.

• By submitting an entry, the participant represents and warrants that he/she is the author of the article or photo entered for the award and shall defend and hold CTO harmless from any action, claim, loss, damage, liability and/or expense arising from or connected to the infringement of intellectual property rights or copyright with respect to the submitted work.

• The winner agrees to allow his/her photograph to be taken and utilized for publicity purposes.

• Awards will be presented on Thursday, 7 June, 2018 at the Caribbean Tourism Awards Dinner in New York

• Where the Selection Criteria herein stated have not been met, the entry shall be disqualified.

GUIDELINES FOR SUBMISSION

• Only entries submitted by CTO government members, their public relations agencies or qualified journalists shall be eligible.

• No fee is required to submit.

• The relevant category being entered must be clearly specified with each entry.

• Entries (except Best Caribbean Travel Blog) must be submitted in the following formats via https://ctomediaawards2018.pgtb.me/8qDjlG

• Print: A scanned copy from the publication(s) in pdf or jpeg and, where possible, a web link.

• Broadcast: A copy of the script (to include transcript of the SOTs and lead ins) and a digital link to the feature

• Photo: One jpg copy of the photograph and one electronic copy of the publication (to include the photo) in which the photograph appeared, in pdf.

• Online: A link to the feature.

• Social: A description of the campaign/coverage together with documentary support – a collage of photos, links, etc in jpeg, png or pdf

• Print (newspaper and magazine) entries must clearly show the name of the publication, the date of publication, the title(s) and the name(s) of the journalist(s).

• Broadcast entries must include name of entity that broadcast the piece, the date and time of broadcast and the names of the producer(s) and presenter(s).

• Eligible participants may enter as many categories as they wish but may not submit more than one (1) entry per category.

• For the Golden Mic (Best Broadcast Feature), where an entry is a series or serial, only one programme from the series or serial shall be submitted.

• Entries for the Best Blog Posting award must be submitted at https://ctobesttravelblog2018.pgtb.me/z5k1wP Entries will not be accepted after the stated deadline.

JUDGING PROCESS

• The CTO’s communications department shall scrutinize all entries upon receipt and tabulate for the judging process those entries which meet the selection criteria and adhere to the submission procedures.

• The CTO shall appoint a panel of judges and shall designate from among them a Chief Judge.

• The size of the judging panel and its modus operandi shall be determined solely by the CTO.

• Criteria for the judging of entries shall be:

• Content – Relevance, accuracy, cohesiveness of material and adherence to journalistic standards.

• Structure & Form – Relevance of topic, clarity, pace, structure (introduction, development and conclusion), presentation of information & ideas.

• Title – Relevance of title, concision & clarity.

• Quality of Language – Use of language, quality of syntax, quality of sentence structure.

• Originality – Originality of ideas, ability to spark audience’s curiosity, boldness, creativity.

• Additionally, criteria for the social media awards shall include

• Best representation of the Caribbean/destination as an attractive region/destination to travel to

• Best representation of the destination featured

• Best promotion of the key unique selling points of the destination featured

• Originality of the piece and overall a great campaign, feature, video or blog

• Depending on their assessment of the standard of entries, the judges may withhold awards in any category as they see fit. They may also ascribe “Special Mention” (without award) to an entry where warranted.

• Decisions of the judges shall be final.