SMPS Announces Call for Entries for 37th Annual Marketing Communications Awards Program

The Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) is accepting entries for its 37th Annual Marketing Communications Awards (MCA) competition. The MCA program is the longest-standing, most prestigious awards program recognizing excellence in marketing communications by professional services firms in the design and building industry. The entry deadline is March 3, 2014. SMPS members and nonmembers are eligible to enter.

Each year, this competitive awards program receives entries from around the globe. Firms can select from among 21 marketing communications categories in which to enter their work, ranging from advertising, annual reports, and corporate identity, to media relations, social media, and Web sites. There is no limit to the number of categories a firm can enter. Most categories are open to both print and electronic projects.

Entries will evaluated on April 5, 2014, in Tulsa, OK, by 100 distinguished jurors including professional services marketers and business developers, communications and public relations professionals, graphic designers, architects, engineers, contractors, and media. Jurors use a numerical scoring system based on five criteria to assess each entry’s effectiveness and return on investment, in addition to quality, message, and design.

Jana Monforte, Associate – Marketing and Business Development with Wallace Engineering, and Lee Jarboe, CPSM, Director of Client Services with McCarthy Building Companies, Inc., are serving as co-chairs for the 2014 competition. “Wallace Engineering is thrilled to host Judging Weekend in its offices in Tulsa on April 4–5. We expect 100 esteemed members of the A/E/C community to spend the weekend collaboratively evaluating entries that are the best of the best,” said Monforte. “In 2014, SMPS has added more detailed submittal requirements to further guide participants as they prepare their MCA entries.”

Co-chair Lee Jarboe observed, “The MCA program is one of the most important programs that SMPS organizes each year. It is a celebration of the work that we as marketers do every day, and it provides a venue to recognize the best in our business. The competition provides a critical benchmark: It allows us to see where the leading edge in marketing communications is and raises the standard of excellence we must all attain as professional services marketers.”   

Visit www.smps.org/mca for detailed competition information, including categories and submittal requirements, a comprehensive FAQ, and a downloadable brochure and entry form, plus examples of previous winning entries.

Award winners will be announced and honored on July 31, 2014, at a formal Awards Gala during Build Business 2014, the SMPS Annual Conference (www.buildbusiness.org), in San Antonio, TX. Winning entries will be on display throughout the conference. Building industry editors and association leaders will be invited to select the Best of Show recipient from among the first-place-winning entries. Award winners will be announced on the SMPS Web site and via press releases sent to national industry publications.

About SMPS
The Society for Marketing Professional Services (www.smps.org) represents a dynamic network of 6,000 marketing and business development professionals working in architectural, engineering, planning, interior design, construction, and specialty construction firms located throughout the United States and Canada. The Society and its 50+ chapters benefit from the support of 3,700 design and building firms, encompassing 80% of the Engineering News–Record Top 500 Design Firms and Top 400 Contractors. SMPS’s mission is to advocate for, educate, and connect leaders in the building industry.