Event Awards Categories
These categories recognize excellence in events staged since January 1, 2023. Live, virtual, and hybrid events may be nominated. Nominations that won in the 2024 ABAs may be resubmitted for consideration in the 2025 ABAs. If they have been updated with recent achievements, they may be submitted to the same categories in which they won. If they have not been updated, they must be submitted to categories different from those in which they won.
Information to be submitted online for entries in these categories for the 2025 ABAs will include
a. An essay of up to 525 words describing the event: its genesis, goals, development, and results, OR a video of up to five (5) minutes in length describing the same.
b. Any number of supporting files and web addresses that you may upload to our server to support your entry and provide more background information to the judges. These may include video clips, photographs, press reviews, news articles, and so on
c. Optionally, you may list creative and production credits for your event - a list of the people and organizations that contributed to its development
G01. Art, Entertainment & Public
a. Art Event: dance, music, literature, street art, exhibitions, installations, performances, etc.
b. Celebration Event: for events created to celebrate an occasion, anniversary, milestone or anything that is important to an organization, community, or brand.
c. Cultural Event: all events that promote culture or cultural sensitivity including parades, shows, art events or exhibitions, music or dance events, festivals, fairs, theaters etc.
d. Entertainment Event: all events intended to entertain or bring joy are eligible to be nominated here.
e. eSports Event: gaming events, championships, tournaments, competitions or contests either played in front of an audience or live-streamed.
f. Fashion Event: fashion shows, fairs, pop-ups, parties and other fashion events.
g. Festival: music, film, art, food, dance or any other public or community festival that celebrates a specific theme can compete in this category..
h. Live Event: events that take place in front of a live audience, including, live performances and shows, fashion shows, competitions, games, comedy, theater, circus, concerts, live TV and radio broadcasts etc.
i. Municipal Event: all public events organized for/by a specific municipality including celebrations, concerts, festivals, shows, parades, art events etc.
j. Music Event: all events where music is the focal point belong here including concerts, music festivals, live vocal or instrumental performances and shows, etc.
k. Pop-Up Event: impromptu gatherings, spontaneous celebrations, anticipated but unexpected happenings or experiences which ultimately impress audiences and draw new crowds.
l. Public Event: all events open to the general public including all kinds of entertainment events, art exhibitions or installations, cultural or leisure events, fairs, festivals, sporting events, etc.
m. Roadshow: all events that represent a series of shows or events taking place in different places around a country, a region or the world. Could be entertainment events, art exhibitions, music events, information or educational campaigns, product launches, brand engagement events, celebrations, shows, fairs, etc.
n. Sporting Event: all competitions, tournaments, marathons, races, games, team sports, team buildings including sport activities and other sporting events are eligible for this award.
o. Tournament: Contests, competitions, championships, playoffs of a league or any other series of games or contests that make up a single unit of competition to single out a winner.
G02. Brand & Experiences
a. At-Home Experience: Brand activations or experiences that engage people at their homes and might involve physically delivered products / samples / items / tech such as online cooking classes, at-home-DIY activities, at-home food/drink tasting, at-home sampling kits experiences etc.
b. Brand Activation: any event or experience that enables your brand to engage directly with consumers and build a loyal brand community around your product or service, belongs in this category.
c. Brand Engagement Event: events that drive customers’ engagement to a brand, build great customer relationships, and have strong post-event impact fall into this category.
d. CSR Event: this category offers an opportunity to showcase your fundraisers, sustainable initiative events, educational and training events and any other event that contributes to the improvement of the social, environmental and economic development of local communities and society at large.
e. Exhibition Experience: this category is for experiences that are part of an exhibition, trade, or consumer show (event, show booth, stand, pavillion, or brand display) or whole exhibitions or consumer shows dedicated specifically to a brand/product.
f. Experiential Event: events organized to create engaging experiences and emotional draw towards a brand, product or service are welcome to this category.
g. Gamified Experience: Brand experiences or events that use gamification to engage the audience belong in this exciting category. Both in-person and hybrid formats are accepted here.
h. Guerilla Marketing Experience: Brand experiences/events using experiential guerrilla marketing, flashmobs, short/one-off live performances, publicity or street stunts to drive brand engagement.
i. Immersive Experience: Brand experiences that immerse the audience into an illusory environment with the use of VR, AR, MR, Holography, Telepresence, FPV drone flight, 3D displays, haptic, spatial sensing technologies etc..
j. In-Store Experience: any in-store events and experiences belong in this category including product launches, brand activations, brand engagement events, promotions etc.
k. Interactive Outdoor Event: this category includes literally any type of experiential event as long as it takes place outdoors and features interactive elements.
l. Launch Event: brand experiences or activations created to launch or re-launch a brand, product or service, should be submitted to this category.
m. Pop-up Experience: Masterfully planned impromptu gatherings, exquisite spontaneous celebrations, anticipated but unexpected happenings or experiences which ultimately impress audiences and draw new crowds.
n. Retail Experience: Retail brand experiences that enhance the purchasing process are welcome here, including in-store events, pop-up shops, street vendor experiences, experiential retail, retailtainment, etc.
o. Small-Budget Event (Less Than $10,000): this category honors the events on a budget who manage to create a high impact and deliver great results.
p. Sponsorship Experience: this category recognizes partnerships/sponsorships that create immediate and long-term brand experiences at an event. All experiences created to promote a brand at an event as a part of partnership or sponsorship agreement belong to this category including experiences at big sporting events, entertainment events, festivals, concerts, conventions, trade shows etc.
q. Thought Leadership: any event that invites high-profile speakers to express expert opinions around a topic of discussion with a goal to present a brand’s authority in a particular domain.
G03. Cause & Green
a. Cause Event: events which support or raise awareness about special causes will be recognized in this awards category.
b. CSR Experience: An opportunity to showcase your corporate social responsibility! Any event or experience that contributes to the improvement of the social, environmental and economic development of local communities or society at large is welcome. Both in-person and hybrid formats are accepted here.
c. Employee Giving & Volunteerism: Events and experiences that actively involve an organization’s employees in charity initiatives, volunteerism and employee giving. Both in-person and hybrid formats are accepted here.
d. Fundraising Event: this category showcases the most meaningful and effective fundraising and charity events around the USA.
e. Inclusive Event: This category showcases events designed so that everyone can participate and no one is excluded regardless of age, sex, sexual orientation, ethnicity, religion, physical disabilities, etc.
f. Sustainable Event: this category recognizes the most sustainable events, events using green practices and innovative strategies to event planning that show environmental consciousness.
G04. Conferences & Meetings
a. Association Meeting: any professional association event, no matter the industry, length or frequency can compete in this category.
b. Conference: any conference, regardless of topic, location, size and target audience, may be nominated.
c. Consumer Show: this category includes B2C expos, fairs, exhibits, demos and showcases of any size, intended to introduce consumers to relevant products or services.
d. Convention: this category is for large conferences and meetings based upon a specific industry, profession or fandom.
e. Educational Event: any internal or external training sessions, workshops, seminars, masterclasses and educational courses are eligible to be nominated in this category.
f. Fair: all kinds of fairs are welcome here, including thematic fairs such as art & craft fairs, food fairs, book fairs, Christmas fairs, career fairs, university fairs, etc.
g. Healthcare & Wellness Event: events dedicated to the topics of healthcare, wellness and well-being, mental health, healthy habits and lifestyle, and more. From conferences and expos to workshops and group activities, various types of events can enter this category.
h. Medical Congress: this category is for Medical, pharmaceutical and healthcare events.
i. Networking Event: any event that aims to be effective for networking among participants, including b2b matchmaking, speed meetings, thematic netwоrking events, memberships gatherings etc.
j. Pharma Conference: Pharmaceutical conferences, gatherings, congresses, forums and more belong to this category. Both in-person and hybrid event formats are accepted.
k. Scientific Congress: this category is dedicated to the scientific community and their professional gatherings, including congresses, conferences, conventions, symposia, forums, etc.
l. Summit: events or meetings of highest-level officials, leaders or experts in a particular field (government or business) that gather to discuss an important matter or topic.
m. Tech Event: all technology-related events, from geeky gatherings to high-tech trade shows, may be entered in this category.
n. Trade Show: all B2B trade shows and expos of all sizes and themes, nationwide, are welcome in this category.
G05. Corporate & Community
a. B2B Event: a category for all events created to build and reinforce business relationships including trade shows, conferences, corporate parties or shows, galas, etc.
b. B2C Event: events created to engage the end consumer belong to this category, such as consumer shows, exhibitions, promotional events (in-store, outdoors), celebrations, etc.
c. Budget Event: This category recognizes the events that managed to create a high impact and deliver great results on a relatively low budget. Both in-person and hybrid event formats are accepted.
d. Community Engagement Event: any event created to engage, reinforce or celebrate a community belonging to this category. That includes all interest-related conferences or meetings (like social media conferences, cooking classes, etc), professional-interest events (like marketers' summits, women entrepreneurs meetings, etc.), cause events, customer, employee or partner engagement events, etc.
e. Corporate Event: any business event intended to reward, honor, engage or educate the employees, partners, shareholders or customers (e.g. conferences, seminars, incentives, cycle meetings, corporate parties, retreats, team buildings, awards, etc.).
f. Customer Engagement Event: any type of customer-centric event created to foster the relationship and brand loyalty with existing customers or engage target customers (e.g. incentives, corporate parties, consumer shows, promotional events, product launch events, celebrations, etc.)
g. Gala: this category is for celebratory events with spectacular entertainments, unique performances, splendid themes and featuring special guests.
h. Green Event: This category recognizes the most sustainable events. Тhis includes all types of in-person or hybrid events using green practices and showing environmental consciousness.
i. Hackathon: hackathons, datathons or coding competitions.
j. Incentive Event: for corporate events intended to reinforce the relationship or achieve higher goals with customers, employees or partners through providing any kind of incentive, belongs to this category. This may include events part of reward, recognition or loyalty programs, corporate parties, retreats, incentive trips etc.
k. Partner Engagement Event: any corporate event intended to reinforce the relationship with partners, sponsors and stakeholders may be nominated in this category (e.g. corporate parties, celebrations, incentive trips, galas, trade shows etc.)
l. Team Building Event: events designed to increase motivation and promote cooperation in a team or company could compete in this category.(e.g. retreats, corporate parties, training programs, business runs, team outings etc.)