At FITUR in Madrid, Spain, the Excelencias Awards were announced last month. These awards aim to encourage excellence in different areas of the tourism industry.

Ramon Alvarez, president and founder of Convenco - GSAR Marketing, who passed away in July 2012, received the Posthumous Excelencias Award for a whole life dedicated to the tourism industry. The award was collected by Charo Trabado, general manager of GSAR Marketing.

As a recognition of his achievements and contributions to the tourism industry, the Excelencias Group has created the Ramon Alvarez Award in his honor. This award will be part of the Excelencias Awards from the next FITUR edition going forward, and it will be delivered to a personality in the tourism field.

To learn more about Alavarez, please see Michael Pinchera's blog entry from last July.

A new awards program spearheaded by the Convention Industry Council (CIC) honors accomplished industry supporters and emerging leaders in the meetings and events community. Called the Pacesetter Awards, the program will pay tribute to individuals in the following categories, as achievements are brought to the CIC worthy of industry recognition:

• Community Service/Humanitarian
• Innovations & Best Practices
• Environmental Leadership/Corporate Social Responsibility
• Public Elected Official
• Young Professionals
• Lifetime Achievement
• Friend of the Industry

For this first Pacesetter Award presentation, CIC has chosen Amy Spatrisano—principal at MeetGreen and renowned sustainability expert—to receive the 2012 Environmental Leadership Pacesetter Award, and four Young Professional Pacesetters nominated from CIC member organizations to receive the 2012 awards.

Spatrisano was one of the driving forces behind the development of the industry’s first sustainable meeting standards, the APEX/ASTM Environmentally Sustainable Meeting Standards, released earlier this year. As Chair of the APEX Green Meetings and Events Panel and later as a member of the ASTM E60.02 Committee, she oversaw the development of the standards, a four-year process that included expertise from 300 planners, suppliers and sustainability experts from within the industry, as well as the standards, engineering and materials science experts that make up the ASTM membership.

The 2012 Young Professionals Pacesetter Awards will be presented to the following individuals:

• Joe Capitanelli, regional marketing director, Global Spectrum, nominated by International Association of Venue Managers, for his leadership and influence to foster more involvement from local non-profits, city government, staff and volunteers in “Helping Hands for the Holidays.” The event seeks to provide food and services for those in need within St. Charles County, Missouri, and has grown from annual event serving 150 people in its first year to one of the largest charity events of its kind serving more than 1,200 meals,offering flu shots, winter coats, canned food, various health screenings, transportation and family activities to those in need.
• Krzysztof Celuch, manager, Poland Convention Bureau, nominated by International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA), for his role in the execution of the ICCA Forum for Young Professionals, and for his work in helping to organize the inaugural IMEX Challenge Poland, a biennial humanitarian event designed to promote the power of corporate social responsibility.
• Mary Catherine Tagg, DMCP, national sales manager, Destination King, nominated by Association of Destination Management Executives International (ADMEI), who has risen to president of the Memphis Attractions Association, earned a Fellow of Leadership Academy Memphis and serves on numerous ADMEI committees and earned a Rising Star Award all within five years in the DMC industry.
• Sarah Vining, marketing manager, The National Conference Center, nominated by International Association of Conference Centers, serves the IACC Board as a non-voting associate to advise on emerging trends from the Millennial perspective and Chairs its Emerging Trends Committee. Sarah created “Meeting Discoveries,” a series of white papers on compelling industry topics.

Beginning in 2013, the Pacesetter Awards will be a part of and presented during the CIC Hall of Leaders gala, a program that was started in 1985 to represent the industry's highest honor and lifetime of achievements and contributions to the industry. This class of emerging professionals will be honored alongside Spatrisano at an invitation-only luncheon hosted by CIC on Oct. 8, 2012, in Las Vegas during IMEX America. In this inaugural year, individuals were selected only within these categories and in outward years those honored will be expanded to include Community Service/Humanitarian Pacesetter Award, Innovations and Best Practices Pacesetter Award, Public Elected Official Pacesetter Award and a Lifetime Achievement Pacesetter Award.

Meeting Professionals International’s (MPI) member magazine, One+, has been named as a "Top 10 Magazine of the Year" by the American Society of Business Publications Editors (ASBPE) Azbee Awards of Excellence.

One+ is one of 25 magazines named as finalists. “Just to be named a finalist is quite an honor for One+ and for MPI,” said One+ Editor in Chief David Basler. “What makes One+ such a successful publication for the meeting and event industry is that we take the time to listen to our members, and we focus our content and design on what they want from their member magazine. This honor is something we share with all members of MPI—this is their magazine.”

In addition to being named in the Top 10 category, One+ also won the following regional awards:

• Gold—Opening Page/Spread - Computer Generated ("Disaster!" January 2011)
• Gold—Original Research ("The State of Corporate Social Responsibility") 
• Bronze—Feature Article - Design ("Tales of Adventure," January 2011)
• Bronze—Front Cover - Computer Generated (July 2011)

In its first four years of publication, One+ has quickly become the most recognized magazine in the meeting and event industry. The magazine has amassed 40 awards and honors in that time. One+ replaced MPI’s previous publication, The Meeting Professional, in August 2008.

The ASBPE Azbee Awards of Excellence competition is one of the most competitive for business-to-business, trade, association and professional publications. The awards recognize outstanding work by magazines, newsletters and digital media, including websites, e-newsletters, digital magazines and blogs. The competition is open to all U.S.-based publications.

Past winners of the Magazine of the Year honor include: Fortune Small Business, CIO, Computerworld, The Scientist and Meetings & Conventions.

Ovation Global DMC wants to know. Following the success of its 2009 and 2010 awards, the DMC has unveiled its third annual Huggability Award campaign, recognizing individuals who make a real impact within the meetings industry. Among the nominations already received:

• Michael Burke, conference and travel services manager for The Hanover Insurance Group in Boston, nominated for "being a true professional who does a huge amount of charity work particularly through his golf classic"

• Fernanda Nielsen, account executive for SEI Meetings & Incentives in Dallas, nominated for "her work beyond the call of duty"

• Bonnie Boyd, president and CEO of BBC Destination Management in New Orleans, nominated for "infectious Southern drawl and larger than life personality"

• Renato Grieco of Ovation Switzerland, nominated for being "well known and much loved" and his "impeccably planned Christmas party costumes"

Nominations can be made through Sept. 28 at www.ovationdmc.com.

The winner will be announced during the inaugural IMEX America, Oct. 11-13 in Las Vegas, where Ovation will exhibit at stand 415.

Congratulations to Ilona Kauremszky, one of frequent contributers. She recently won a 2011 Discover American Travel Writer Award for her article, "More Than Amusement," which appeared in our January 2011 issue. 

The story won in the “Best Trade Article” category and focused on the behind-the-scenes efforts that go into the International Pow Wow (IPW) show. Taking the perspective of the host destination and the event’s management company, Kauremszky explored the planning, logistics and endless hours that go into producing the event, as well as the positive economic impact the trade show has on its host city Orlando, Florida. 

Sponsored by the U.S. Travel Association and CityPASS, the 2011 Discover America Travel Writer Awards received more than 150 entries from travel journalists and editors who attended IPW 2011.

During their evaluation of the entries, the judges looked for articles that featured original ideas and exceptional storytelling skills, as well as prose that would inspire readers to travel to the U.S.