About the Awards
Awards are given in each category in a typical year; however, awards might not be given in a category if the caliber of the entries is judged to be unimpressive. (This flexibility ensures the integrity of this competition.)
A First Place award is typically given in each category (but see above). The determination of this award is based on the evaluations by all judges assigned to that category (see The Judging Process). If more than one site receives high rankings, additional awards might be granted. Those might be Second Place and Third Place, or Honorable Mention, or a combination of these.
The decisions are made based on e-mail discussions among the judges and the competition director. The director typically sends a “short list” to all judges in the category and asks the judges to choose one for First Place. (The short list is based on the judges’ evaluations; see The Judging Process.) If there is one clear winner, only one award will be given in that category.
Award of Excellence
After winners in each category have been determined, the judges are asked to select a site for the Award of Excellence. The director e-mails a list of the URLs for all First Place sites to all the judges. All the judges participate in this decision.
Judges are instructed to recuse themselves if they have any conflict of interest in this part of the process. Judges are permitted to choose no site for this award (e.g. if they do not feel any single site stands out from the rest).
If there is no consensus among the judges (typically six to eight judges are involved), the director may select a site to receive the Award of Excellence or may choose not to give the award to any site in that year.
If a Second Place site has been selected in the category from which the Award of Excellence is selected, that site becomes the First Place site in that category; otherwise, no award is given for that category.
Presentation of Awards
Awards are presented at the annual AEJMC national convention. Winners in this competition are expected to attend the convention and to present their winning site as part of a scheduled convention panel. To attend the convention, the winner must become a paid member of AEJMC.