We at Cabling Installation & Maintenance are excited to announce that our 2020 Cabling Innovators Awards program is now accepting entries! We are ready to consider your newest project, application and/or product.
Companies are welcome to submit multiple separate entries. Honorees will be named for Silver, Gold or Platinum awards based on our third party judging panel's evaluation of each entry.
Below are some Frequently Asked Questions about the awards program. Good luck to all!
Is this a product awards program, analyzing and recognizing the characteristics of products that are available in the market?
Products are welcome as entries. Whenever possible, the program’s intent is to recognize the use of cabling products and systems in real-world applications. To that end, an entry could include information about how a product or system has been put to use. In many cases, a product or group of products will be the centerpiece of a entry—it is the innovation worthy of recognition—and this awards program is an opportunity for product manufacturers to showcase their products' characteristics and value. In these cases, we encourage product manufacturers, when practical, to use the entry form as an opportunity to tell us how your product, or a group of your products, can be deployed and value that comes from that deployment.
The entry form includes space to include multiple entities—companies, individuals—within a single nomination. When possible, please take advantage of this space to include people and/or organizations such as cabling installers, system designers, system end-users and others that participated in the successful deployment of a product, group or products, or system. The program has been structured this way intentionally, to give product manufacturers an opportunity to nominate themselves along with their business partners and customers.
Why enter?
High scoring companies will be recognized as a leader and innovator within the industry both at a live event (BICSI 2020 Fall Conference), as well in Cabling Installation & Maintenance's editorial coverage, including: magazine articles; web articles; eNewsletter inclusion. In addition to Cabling Installation & Maintenance coverage, you will receive: a physical award suitable for display at trade shows; a special award logo for use on your website or in your promotion; recognition on social media communities.
What is BICSI's involvement in the program?
BICSI has generously offered to help us promote the Cabling Innovators Awards program as we gather nominations, and also has allowed us to offer a discounted entry fee for BICSI members. Additionally, the judging panel that will review nominations will include individuals designated by BICSI.
Who can submit an entry?
Entries are open to any organization or person, of any discipline, involved in the specification, design, installation, or management of communications systems. The answers to the previous questions mainly apply to situations in which a product or group of products represents an innovation that has yielded benefits for users. However, we know that innovations take place in many other forms as well. Designers use creativity and innovative thinking to develop communication systems that save time, money, energy, or all of the above. Likewise cabling contractors frequently use ingenuity and innovation on a project site to overcome obstacles or add to the value of an installed system. Stories about these types of innovations are welcome and encouraged.
What if we've completed a worthy project but the end-user customer won’t allow us to publicize it?
We honor non-disclosure agreements and will keep confidential any information not intended for public consumption. In cases in which a user or other entity involved in a project will not allow public disclosure, the project can be described in general terms that do not "name names." For example, an entry can include references like "a university with approximately 17,000 students …," "a financial institution with a trading floor on Wall Street …," "a data center facility in the Pacific Northwest …," etc. With the user characterized in general terms yet remaining anonymous, the remainder of the project’s description can be more specific. For example, "a 20,000-square-foot student union with 130 network nodes ..." To the extent possible, please include details about the project that explain why it exemplifies innovation in some form or fashion.
Worried about non-disclosure agreements?
If you have an application that you would like to submit, but are worried that a non-disclosure agreement will prevent you from doing so, feel free to refer to the parties involved in general terms.
Do you have a question about whether your product or application would be a worthy entrant, or where it might fit?
Reach out on questions like these and any other by contacting Cabling Installation & Maintenance's Chief Editor, Patrick McLaughlin.