AAXO announces ROAR award judges and entry requirements

Press Release

November 2016
AAXO announces ROAR award judges and entry requirements

After announcing the exciting news of the first ever AAXO Organiser and Exhibitor Awards set to take place on 26 January 2017, the Association of African Exhibition Organisers (AAXO) is proud to announce further details regarding the judges of this groundbreaking event. At the same time, AAXO is making the award categories and entry guidelines public, in an effort to encourage industry professionals to celebrate their success by entering this inaugural industry awards.

To ensure that all industry professionals enjoy the opportunity to showcase their work and gain recognition for their efforts, AAXO’s Roar Awards have been divided into two sections. The first and perhaps most important section is the exhibitor section, as it is the first time ever that South African exhibitors will be included in industry awards. Together with this, exhibition organisers also have the opportunity to enter the awards in a variety of categories.

Including exhibitors in these awards was a focus point for AAXO. “Previously stands were judged only on the design and construction and awards were only given to the stand builders, without exhibitors even being invited to the industry awards despite the fact that they do drive business in the industry immensely. AAXO Exhibitor Awards is groundbreaking in that it puts the exhibitor on a pedestal. Without them there are no stands to build and there won’t be any exhibitions. ROAR applies to them too: RESPECT for their participation, OPPORTUNITIES to grow their businesses, ACHIEVEMENTS, acknowledging their success, RESPONSIBILITY, taking responsibility for their safe practice and participation in exhibitions” explains AAXO Chairperson Carol Weaving.

With such a broad range of categories, AAXO required a unique, talented and highly experienced group of professionals to ensure that judging takes place to the highest standard. This is why the panel of judges consists of distinguished specialists within exhibitions, communication, and marketing and have been selected for their years of expertise and commitment to the exhibitions and events industry.

For the exhibitor award section of this event, prominent industry players like the Wedding Group’s Amanda Cunningham, On Show Solutions’ Amanda Margison, Leatitia van Straten from Specialised, Dee Reuvers from SA Confex and Projeni Pather, Managing Director at Exposure Marketing have all come on board as judges.

The organiser award section judges include respected industry experts like Martin Hiller, Editor of Meetings and The MICE Planner at 3S Media, Kim Gentle from Gentle Trends, Dirk Elzinga, Managing Director of CIC Consulting, Martin Snoek from Marketing Services and Communications Consultants (MS-CC) and Clinton Soutter, Franke South Africa’s National Sales Manager.

Entries will be accepted from five categories, including Trade Exhibition, Trade and Consumer Exhibition, Consumer Exhibition, Confex and Table Top Exhibition.

ROAR Organiser Awards entry guidelines include:

• It is compulsory that all entrants are members of AAXO.
• All AAXO approved companies who have organised an exhibition in Africa during
• 2016 are eligible to submit entries into the AAXO ROAR Awards.
• Companies may submit more than one entry as long as the exhibition was held in the year 2016.
• ABC AUDIT certificates must be in process for each entry and available by 17th
  January 2017.
• All outstanding AAXO invoices must be settled in full.

While ROAR Exhibitor Awards entry requirements are:

• All business enterprises, stand builders, public relation consultancies, advertising agencies,activation agencies, government bodies who have participated in an exhibition in Africa in2016 are eligible to submit entries into the AAXO exhibitor awards.
• Agencies, business enterprises and stand builders may submit entries on behalf of or together with their clients.
• Entrants may submit more than one entry as long as the exhibitor activation was in the year 2016.
• Entrants do not have to be members of AAXO to participate – it is open to all interested parties.

All entries need to be submitted by the deadline of 02 December 2016.To accommodate out of town participants, AAXO will be hosting the following training events to coincide with the awards:

(1) a two-day course on Safe Management at Events and Exhibitions (running the 23rd & 24th January and again the 26th and 27th January 2017)
(2) a one-day course on Directing Safely at Events and Exhibitions on Wednesday 25 January 2017

As a joint awards venture, the inaugural ROAR and EXSA-llence Awards is perfectly positioned for two much-anticipated industry award ceremonies to take place under one banner.

An industry first, the ROAR Organiser and Exhibitor Awards are aimed at recognising and promoting within local exhibition and events. The ROAR Organiser and Exhibitor Awards will be hosted in partnership with EXSA and the Exhibition Industry Awards – uniting the industry for what promises to be one spectacular event that celebrates the entire South African exhibition and organising community.

By promoting participation in the African exhibition and events industry and recognising excellence in exhibition organisation, this prestigious awards event will provide role players who contribute to all aspects of exhibitions and events with a platform to showcase their portfolio of work.

For more information on AAXO or the ROAR Awards, visit www.aaxo.co.za or contact Annamari Erwee on 011 549 8300 or at .

All membership inquiries, including a full list of membership benefits and information on how to join, can be directed to .

For more information on EXSA including a full list of membership benefits and information on how to join visit www.exsa.co.za or contact Thuli Ndlovu on 011 805 7272 or at