SELECTION COMMITTEE PROCESS

The Penticton Chamber uses an independent volunteer judging committee made up of thirteen (13) local business and community leaders who bring with them a broad spectrum of skills, expertise and insight to ensure fairness, integrity and transparency.

The selection committee is comprised of three (3) chamber board directors and ten (10) business leaders.  The Penticton Chamber strives to ensure the members of the judging committee reflect the diversity of the local business community.

We are excited to use the Awardify platform to ensure an unbiased judging process.

Our Judges: 

  • 19 years of age or older
  • An active and upstanding member of the local business community
  • Is not an employee of the Penticton Chamber of Commerce
  • Is not a nominee for an award in a category they will be judging

Commitment & Responsibility

  • attend a zoom meeting to learn about the process
  • complete an application form
  • sign a confidentiality and code of conduct agreement
  • remain objective and open minded
  • estimated time commitment 20-25 hours
  • review and judge all eligible nominee packages using an online platform
  • interview the (3) semi-finalists in person with co-judge
  • chamber membership is NOT a requirement to a judge

Judging Process

  • All complete award applications that meet the specific award criteria and are received by 4:00pm, August 30, 2023 will be passed onto the judging panel for review. 
  • The judging panel is comprised of local diverse business leaders from the community.
  • The judges will use their professional experience, knowledge of the business community and unique perspectives in reviewing each nominee package. 
  • Judges will review each application and rate the business or business person against the provided criteria through a private, online system.  The average of these rankings determine the top three (3) businesses, organizations, leaders in each category resulting in 30 semi-finalists. 
  • Judging criteria are listed with each category description and all applications are scored based on judging criteria.
  • Judges are required to sign a confidentiality and code of conduct agreement.
  • Judges are asked to recuse themselves from reviewing and scoring any nominee they feel they cannot score without a personal bias.   Each award category has its own award criteria and judging matrix to help guide the judges.
  • Judges will view all eligible nominee submissions with respect, fairness, and an unbiased view.
  • Judges are to remain objective and to advise Chamber staff if they have a conflict of interest with the nominees and/or co-judge.
  • Judges will be responsible for judging designated award categories determined by the Chamber.
  • Judges will only have access to their designated award categories and nominee submissions.
  • To avoid any conflicts of interest if a judge or judges' business is nominated for an award, the judge will be recused from judging that award category and will not have access to view the award applications for that award category.

STEP 1 

  • Judges will review all eligible nominee submissions received, using award criteria, judging matrix, nominee submission and their own notes and will evaluate and score each nominee to determine the (3) semi-finalists.
  • Judges may view nominees' website, social pages, google reviews etc.
  • During this stage Judges WILL NOT contact the nominees. They will only meet with the semi-finalist once they are revealed. 
  • All judging will be done in a confidential manner using an online platform that will tabulate the scores.
  • The Chamber will review all results and contact the judges should there be questions, or concerns.

*Award semi-finalists will be revealed at Total Restoration Services and will be made available to the public via Chamber website, eBlast, press release, and all nominees and semi-finalists will be notified by email after the reveal.

Notification will be sent to all nominees as soon as possible, advising them of their status and advise that they will be contacted by the selection committee. 

STEP 2 

  • Judges will meet with all semi-finalists in person or via zoom to learn more about their business. This is an important step in the final selection process before they make their final decision
  • Judges will review interview notes, nominee submission, criteria and judging matrix and will score each semi-finalist to determine the 2023 award winner
  • All judging will be done in a confidence using an online platform that will tabulate the scores
  • The Chamber will review all results and contact the judges should there be questions, or concerns

The award winner results will remain confidential and will only be revealed at the awards gala in October.