Judging Information
As New Zealand's only programme dedicated to celebrating excellence across the business events sector, The Bizzies will honour the outstanding achievements, innovation, and contributions of the individuals, partners, and events shaping the future of our industry.
As a judge you provide integral support to The Bizzies steering committee in reviewing the entries and scoring them based on specifically weighted criteria.
Key Dates
Entry Submissions Close: 6 July 2026
Round 1 Judging: 3 August - 15 August 2026
You are required to use the weighting criteria we will provide to score each entry and then submit your scores to us.
Round 1 Judging confirmation of finalists: 19 August - 21 August 2026
Online meeting with other judges in your category to review the scores and choose the finalists.
Round 2 Judging: 1 September - 3 September 2026
Head of Judges meets online or in person with all Executive judges. The Executive judge advises finalists and the winner, and the Head of Judges facilitates this meeting and ratifies the winners for each category.
Round 2 Judging: 10 September 2026
Head of Judges confirm winners.
Awards Gala Dinner: 28 October 2026
The Judging Process
Round 1 Judging (online):
Online and in your own time. You’ll judge every entry within your assigned category and score based on the weighted criteria to reach on overall score out of 100.
Round 1 Judging (online):
Each judging panel will meet to discuss results and recommend finalists.
Results are reviewed and ratified by the Head of Judges
Finalists are announced
Round 2 Judging:
The Executive Judge of each judging panel will meet with the Head of Judges to discuss the finalists and suggest the winner, Head of Judges to facilitate the meeting and ratify results to confirm the winners.
Round 2 Confirmation:
The Head Judge will confirm the winners for each category.
Category Information
- There are seven (7) categories, two (2) of which are for individuals and five (5) for groups/organisations.
- Some awards can be entered by the potential recipient, while others require a nomination from a third party.
- Further category details can be found HERE.
Judging Tips and Tricks
Using the Judging Portal for:
- Logging in (guide to accessing and navigating)
- Contact info for issues
Do a read through
- Given you are judging an entire category we recommend you read all entries once to help gauge what to expect and then go back in for scoring.
Criteria
Use the specific weighted criteria to guide you into scoring each aspect, this will then give you an overall score out of 100.
Check the time
- Judging can require a significant time commitment. We recommend judging 2 or 3 entries straight away to give you a better idea on how long it will take as there are multiple documents submitted per entry.
- Don’t underestimate the time required to review each entry.
Take notes
- Within the judging site there is an area for you to include notes. We strongly recommend you take the time to note down where you think an entry is especially strong or weak.
Conflicts of Interest
- Judges must abstain from scoring entries with which they have a conflict of interest. If you aren’t sure if you have a conflict with an entry, please contact thebizzies@theconferencecompany.com with the situation and we will respond with the Committee’s guidance.
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