London International Awards offers a sneak peak into the judging room in Las Vegas
When the London International Awards team curates the 16 different judging panels, the team endeavors to ensure that each panel meets DE&I standards and is globally represented as to region, company, company type, network and/or holding company. All judging is done on-site in Las Vagas with no pre-judging.
A sneak peak into the judging room
It’s 9am in Las Vegas. The jury members are gathered in the jury room, talking and milling about with coffee in hand. The Jury President calls the room to order. The Jury President sets the tone and standards for judging and guides the room, but every jury member has an equal voice.
The jury members settle into their seats, iPads in hand. And so, it begins…
First Round – ‘In or Out’
Every piece of work entered is seen and individually voted on by all members of their respective jury during this round. Any piece of work that gets voted ‘In’ by the majority, or if it is an even split, advances to the next round.
LIA does not allow any juror to vote on their own work or work from their office in any round.
Second Round – ‘1 to 10’
On the second look of the entries that have made the cut, jurors vote ‘1 to 10’; one being the lowest and ten being the highest.
All votes are calculated to get to an average score. As a standard, any entry that scores ‘seven’ and above goes into the third round for discussion.
Third Round – ‘Statue Discussion’
The entire jury in their respective competitions review all the submissions that have made it to this round in order of score, highest to lowest. We encourage and empower robust discussions and debates – giving every piece of work the time and respect it deserves. Work that is loved gets elevated.
These discussions determine the Gold, Silver and Bronze statue winners and the Finalists. Statues are awarded based solely on the discretion of the jury; LIA does not set a minimum or a maximum number of statues awarded.
A juror can request a maximum of two pieces of work that did not make the cut to be brought back for further discussion and debate. In the past work that did not make it through the earlier rounds has been awarded a Statue. This is largely due to the diverse makeup of each of our juries. Cultural references and nuances that might have been missed could be explained by others in the room. Proving that when work is judged by the best – great work thrives.
The Review
After all the work from round three has been seen, discussed and awarded (or not), the jury members do a final review.
Grand LIA
Once the entire jury is happy with the final list of Winners and Finalists, comes the BIG question: Is there a Grand LIA amongst the Golds?
There doesn’t have to be one. It is at the discretion of the jury.
Only a Gold that stands head and shoulders above the other Gold Winners is worthy of the ultimate honour.
The decision to award a Grand LIA does not need to be unanimous. But it must receive a majority vote.
One final look at all the Winners by the Jury President and their jury, verifies all the results. This process is completely transparent. All jurors know all the results when they leave the judging room.
LIA allows Young Creatives, Global Excellence Managers and the Press in the judging room in real time to observe statue discussions from start to finish.
Time for a celebratory drink, or two.
Click here to view the juries
