Caterer Awards nominations: the final countdown

All entries for the Caterer Middle East Awards 2017 need to relate to achievements during the 12 months ending March 2017, and entries in the ‘people’ categories must be supported by up to five customer and colleague testimonials.

The awards aim to recognise the achievements of a variety of F&B professionals, outlets and companies across the region. Attended by the crème de la crème of the regional industry, the awards are a chance to support high achievers in the regional F&B industry.

The deadline for companies and individuals wishing to submit nominations is 11.59pm on Wednesday March 22, leaving you and your colleagues just one week to put your names forward. After this date, submissions will no longer be accepted.
Nominations are only valid when made through the official nominations website — nominations in any other format will not be accepted by the editorial team.

You can also find more information on the Caterer Middle East Awards 2017 website.

The nominations will be judged by a jury of industry peers who will be announced in the April issue of Caterer Middle East.
Entries for this year’s event will no doubt be as diverse as they are plentiful; however one thing applies to every successful submission — each award winner started out as a well-prepared nomination.

With this in mind, Caterer Middle East has put together a handy guide detailing how you can give yourself, your colleagues, and your company the best chance of winning.

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Play to your strengths

The Caterer Middle East Awards 2017 invites nominations from individuals and companies across 16 categories. But don't employ a scattergun approach. No matter how big an organisation, it will be stronger in some fields than others and the same can be said of its employees.

Take a selective approach to nominations. Choose categories that best represent the key strengths and achievements of your company or nominated individual. Take time to consider why our judges should favour you over your competitors? What have you done that nobody else has? How have you gone above and beyond the call of duty?
It’s better to submit five nominations that play to your key strengths rather than enter every category in a haphazard manner.

Don’t be too humble

There are no rules that limit to the number of nominations that can be submitted by or on behalf of any company or its team. If, for example, you feel that you have multiple staff members who merit a particular award, feel free to nominate them all. Naturally, quality will always beat quantity but if you’re in the fortunate position of being able to submit several high-quality nominations, please do. We want to celebrate your achievements, so this is no time for modesty; instead this is your chance to tell the Middle East F&B community exactly what you’ve been doing and how well you’ve been doing it.

Don’t rush

Entries that have been thrown together at the last minute stand out for all the wrong reasons. No matter how impressive a concept, team or individual is, their excellence will not shine through unless the information is presented in a clear manner so that the judges do not have to work to decipher your points. The final decisions of our judges will be based primarily on the factual information offered, but the approach that you take to the nomination process should mirror the thorough, methodical strategy that you take during your day-to-day business activities. In planning and compiling your submissions, include every piece of pertinent information — you wouldn't want to lose out to a competitor because you neglected to mention something that they remembered.

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Think like a judge

Don’t be daunted by the judging process. Yes, our panel of judges are industry experts, but so are you. With this in mind, take a moment to think about the types of detail that would impress you if you were presiding over the entries. What is it about your company, concept, team or individual that makes it stand out from the competition? Don’t forget that although our judges will examine each nomination in detail, you are likely to be up against dozens of other entries, so make sure that your submission contains an element that will prevent it from blending in with the rest. Tell a story with a beginning, middle and end to ensure that the judges remember your entry long after they put down their papers for the day.

Don’t Miss out on a technicality
After putting in all this effort, you do not want to risk missing out on a technicality. The Caterer Middle East Awards nomination process is straightforward but it is one that must be followed rigidly in order to qualify. Make sure you stick to our word counts to ensure fairness among the vast number of entries. Entries that are too long will be penalised or disqualified. Please remember to only submit entries via the official website and read the entry guidelines beforehand at www.hoteliermiddleeast.com/catererawards. If you follow these instructions and our five simple steps, you can rest assured that you have given yourself the best possible chance of winning a coveted Caterer Middle East Award.

Good luck!