FAQs About our New PrepperShowsUSA.com Awards!

We are happy to announce that in 2018, PrepperShowsUSA.com will begin awarding the annual SHOW OF THE YEAR and EXHIBITORS’ TOP PICK Awards! Our goal is to inspire show organizers to put on great preparedness shows by encouraging competition, improving feedback, and generating community support.

Our overall mission at PrepperShowsUSA.com is to help Americans be prepared by promoting preparedness trade shows and helping businesses in the industry be successful. These awards are an extension of that mission. We believe that preparedness shows perform a valuable service to our nation by raising awareness and providing important education about preparedness issues. Preparedness and survival skills, training, equipment, and supplies are vital, and we want to help give as many people as possible access to quality events and vendors.

AN IMPORTANT NOTE ABOUT THE AWARDS…

To be clear, while there will only be one show that earns the SHOW OF THE YEAR AWARD, multiple shows can earn the EXHIBITORS’s TOP PICK AWARD. This award will be awarded based on achieving an overall level of excellence as determined by exhibitor feedback. More information on how winners are chosen below.

HOW DO THESE AWARDS HELP THE PREPAREDNESS COMMUNITY?

We want to give the preparedness community the ability to proactively influence the quality of shows across the USA, because by increasing the quality of shows in the industry we will impact more people, help vendors to become successful and offer better training. There are three keys to improving the quality of shows…

FEEDBACK. Our new program is more than just a voting system. Each attendee and exhibitor who participates in a show will be given a survey that grades the shows on many different levels. In addition to a grading system, participants will be able to provide their own feedback to show organizers to tell them exactly how to improve the show for future years. Participants will be able to provide this information anonymously if they choose.

COMPETITION. Competition is good and it’s healthy. By earning the SHOW OF THE YEAR AWARD or EXHIBITORS’ TOP PICK AWARD the show organizer will demonstrate their commitment to putting on a professional, high-quality show that provides maximum benefit to attendees and exhibitors. Winners will receive recognition and it should also increase the demand from exhibitors— including those who don’t currently participate in trade shows— who want to work with proven show organizers,.

RECOGNITION. Winners will receive recognition in the industry for their efforts, as well as increased promotion of their show for the following year. The winner of the SHOW OF THE YEAR AWARD will receive a considerable amount of free publicity from PrepperShowsUSA.com.

HOW DO THESE AWARDS HELP EXHIBITORS?
Trade shows are extremely important for exhibitors. These awards will help exhibitors identify and invest in the shows that provide exceptional experiences for attendees and a good return on investment for exhibitors. Exhibitor feedback will help show organizers know what they’re doing well and how they can improve. The competition that these awards will create will give show organizers the incentive to put on the best possible show.

HOW DO THESE AWARDS HELP SHOW ORGANIZERS?
Exhibitors want to exhibit at the best shows that will give them the best return on their investment. And these awards will allow exhibitors to identify the shows that are a level above the other shows, as determined by attendees and exhibitors. By improving the quality of the shows, and by earning recognition from the industry show organizers will earn the trust of exhibitors, and even attract businesses who don’t currently participate in trade shows.

HOW DO ATTENDEES AND EXHIBITORS VOTE?
Attendees and exhibitors who attend a show have a one-week period to visit PrepperShowsUSA.com and complete a survey about the event. The survey should take less than 2 minutes to complete. Show organizers have the option of offering a raffle for a gift card for participants (raffle is managed by PrepperShowsUSA.com) – so not all shows will offer this incentive to vote. To vote, go here.

HOW DO THE AWARDS WORK?
Attendees and exhibitors who attend a show can visit our site and complete a survey about the event. The survey is both a way to vote for shows, and a means to give feedback to the show organizers. Each show that is listed on our site will be automatically enrolled in this program.

To access the survey, people can click on the VOTE HERE button (located on our home page). Voting will be open from the first day of an event and for one week after it closes. For example, a show that runs from Friday through Sunday will have a ten-day voting period from the opening Friday through the following Sunday.

Shows can earn positive and negative points, based on the surveys submitted. For example, if someone gives a show one out of five stars, that will count negatively against an event. A five-star rating, on the other hand, is worth more than a four-star rating.

We will attempt to verify votes to ensure that the exhibitor or attendee who completes a survey was on site at the event. Thank you all for participating, and thus playing an important part in improving the prepper industry. Please review the rules below.

SHOW RULES:

• Show Organizers can encourage attendees and exhibitors to vote, but you MAY NOT enter votes for them.
• Absolutely no fraud will be allowed. PrepperShowsUSA.com reserves the right and has the sole authority to determine whether fraud is suspected and has the right to disqualify or penalize anyone if fraud is suspected at our discretion.
• You can incentivize attendees and exhibitors to complete the survey, but you may not incentivize them to give you a high score. For example, you can enter people into a raffle if they vote (see our Amazon Bonus Program), but you can’t give extra tickets to people who give you a high rating.
• PrepperShowsUSA.com reserves the right to change any aspect of this program at any times.
• By posting a show or event on our site, you agree to our rules and conditions and any changes to rules as we see fit, and you will hold us harmless from any affect this program or any aspect of our business has on your business.

HOW SHOW ORGANIZERS CAN ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TO VOTE:

• Put a link to our surveys on your website. We will give show organizers a unique link for their show.
• After the show, you can email attendees and exhibitors your unique link to your survey and remind them to vote. If you would like us to mail to your attendees and exhibitors, this service is available. Please arrange this with us prior to the show if possible. Contact us for more information.
• Hand out fliers at the show that encourage people to vote for the show. You can download a PDF that you can print here.
• Purchase postcards to hand out to attendees and vendors at the show. Order postcards here.
• Participate in our Amazon Bonus Program by offering people who vote a chance to win a $50 gift certificate to Amazon. Order this option here.

HOW WE CHOOSE THE WINNERS:

• The winner of the SHOW OF THE YEAR AWARD will be chosen based on the number of points the show earns from attendee and exhibitor surveys.
• The event(s) that earn the EXHIBITORS’ TOP PICK award will be chosen based on achieving an overall level of excellence based on exhibitor feedback. This designation may be awarded to multiple events.
• Shows can earn positive and negative points, based on the surveys submitted. For example, if someone gives a show one out of five stars, that will count negatively against an event. A five-star rating, on the other hand, is worth more than a four-star rating.
• Exhibitor votes are worth more than attendee votes.
• We may designate “Trusted Exhibitors.” Trusted Exhibitor’s votes will be weighted higher than regular exhibitors, because these exhibitors are known to us, attend a lot of shows, and we trust their judgement. Show organizers and attendees will not know who these Trusted Exhibitors are, nor are they allowed to identify themselves as such.
• Exhibitors and attendees will only be allowed to vote once per show.
• We will attempt to verify vote submissions. We will ask show organizers to verify exhibitors who were at their event.
• We reserve the right to adjust scores if we suspect that someone is trying to manipulate the scores.
• If we suspect or know that a show organizer is trying to manipulate the voting process, we reserve the right to declare a show ineligible to earn one of the awards. Fraud of any kind in the voting process will not be tolerated.
• We will attempt to be an impartial observer of this process. Purchasing advertising, vendor email blasts, or other service from PrepperShowsUSA.com will not increase a show organizers chances of winning these awards.
• The winner of the SHOW OF THE YEAR and those events that earn the EXHIBITORS’ TOP PICK awards will be announced during the first week of January the following year.

IMPORTANT NOTE: PrepperShowsUSA.com has high standards. Shows must meet minimum standards to earn awards. We reserve the right to not give awards to shows that do not meet these standards. And we reserve the right to NOT award a SHOW OF THE YEAR AWARD for the year if the winner doesn’t meet our high standards.

DO YOU HAVE QUESTIONS ABOUT THE AWARD PROGRAM?
Please post your questions in the comments below.