ENTRY CRITERIA (RULES OF ENTRY)

  • The New Zealand Energy Excellence Awards are organised by Freeman (“the organisers”) and are open to New Zealand energy sector organisations such as retailers, generators, network companies, energy technologists, energy distributors, pipeline owners, petroleum explorers, producers, large energy users, and individuals working for these organisations.
  • Entries must be made using the entry forms provided.
  • Third party award nominations must be made with the full knowledge and co-operation of the nominated organisation/nominee.
  • Organisations cannot enter the same project or initiative in different categories.
  • Organisations can nominate more than one entry in each category, but separate nomination forms must be completed for each entry and each entry must be treated as completely separate.
  • The organisers reserve the right to publish information contained in the nomination at the time of finalist and winner announcements. We will advise finalists of any planned publicity.
  • Information that companies do not wish publicised should be clearly marked (commercially sensitive, do not share), in which case it will only be viewed by those involved in the judging process and they will treat it as confidential.
  • All finalists are required to submit and/or participate in the production of audio-visual material supporting their entry for broadcast at the awards ceremony.
  • Nomination material should include the applicant’s logo in high resolution as a JPEG file. The organisers have permission to use this logo in association with the event.
  • Should the entrant be announced as a finalist, the entrant agrees to attend the formal awards presentation ceremony.
  • The judges’ decision is final and that no subsequent correspondence will be entered into.
  • The judges undertake to observe the confidentiality of entries where required and to declare or avoid any potential conflict of interest.
  • Each entry will be judged on the material in the entry form. The material must be accurate and complete (i.e. not misleading by omission), and this must be certified by the person submitting the entry.
  • Entries cannot be amended after they have been submitted, so please ensure all of the information is accurate and correct prior to submitting.
  • The judges reserve the right to request additional material to support claims made in any nomination.
  • Entries must be submitted by 5pm 8 May 2024 to energyawards@freemanmedia.co.nz
  • Awards night 28 August 2024, Cordis Auckland

ENTRY PREPARATION ADVICE

QUALITY OF ENTRY

Make sure you allow enough time to complete your entry so that it best represents your achievements. Questions in the entry form are for your guidance only, so you do not necessarily need to answer them directly. However, be aware they are a prompt for the type of information the judges are looking for.

Get to the answer succinctly and focus on what the entry is about rather than what your organisation does more broadly. Back up any statements you make, either in the body of the entry or in a supporting appendix. Videos, links and photos are encouraged. Any sources used should be referenced and an appendix can be used for proving points of fact otherwise not available in the public domain. Avoid repetition across the different sections in any one entry – refer and cross-reference where appropriate. Follow the instructions on the entry form – it will tell you what you must fill in, and what is optional (where relevant). A winning entry will be a good story, well told. It is over to you to convince the judges why your project, professional, initiative is worthy of winning.

 

BUSINESS AS USUAL

Your business-as-usual might be so excellent as to take the award home on the night - don’t be discouraged from entering if your day-to-day operations are best in class.

 

CONFIDENTIALITY

If there is any commercially sensitive information that you would like to remain confidential, please clearly state this in the entry. While entries are only viewed by those involved in the judging process, some information is used for promotional purposes.

 

SIZE OF ENTRY

A high-quality entry will overcome the need to submit an overly long entry. The average size of previous years’ winning entries was 4000 words.

 

SAVING TIME

The CEO and others on the executive team will often want to be involved in compiling the entry and the final proof. One suggestion to save their time is to use someone to conduct an audio interview with these people, record the conversations, and then compose the entry, before getting final sign-off.

Get the team together to agree on the process, sign off and involvement levels.

 

REQUESTS FOR MORE INFORMATION

Do not rely on the judging panel to come to you requesting more information. The judging process takes an immense amount of time and additional requests for information are only sent in a “tie” situation with another entry.

 

PHOTOS/DIAGRAMS/CHARTS

Some award categories are well served by the provision of photos, diagrams and charts. Please submit these in “document resolution” – not high resolution. Under 500KB is fine. Please note that high resolution images may be requested from finalists.

 

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

  • Think strategically
  • Play to your strengths
  • Sense check – read your entry aloud
  • Create the final version and get it signed off
  • No extension will be given, so get started now
  • Get everyone booked in: input, review, sign off, awards dinner tickets, and travel/accommodation 
  • If unsure, email energyawards@freemanmedia.co.nz for advice