The Southwest Showcase Most Exciting Meeting Destination Change award recognizes any city, bureau, organization, group or company that has made a significant change to a destination of interest to the event industry.

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Eligible destinations include but are not limited to:

• Hotels

• Resorts

• A Region and Areas within a City or County

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An area clearly defined and previously recognized as such (i.e. a museum district featuring several similar institutions in close proximity, and including hotels or other venues for hosting meetings.)

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Ineligible destinations include but are not limited to:

• Individual attractions not of interest to meeting planners (i.e. waterparks)

• Cruise ships

• Individual museums, art galleries, theaters, etc.

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Criteria:

• The destination must be nominated by a person or organization that is a member in good standing of at least one association affiliated with the meetings industry.

• Nominations will be judged upon the scope, utility, and value of the project.

• High value will be attributed for creativity and innovation.

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Rules:

• Nominations must include photos (minimum of 5, maximum of 10), and a video that is 2 minutes or less.

• The project submitted must currently be in use and have been largely completed sometime in 2022 or 2023.

• The destination change must be of interest and value to event planners.

• The final selection is based on merit.

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How the entries will be evaluated.

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The Southwest Showcase Board, composed of the President, President-Elect, and Immediate Past President of each organization, and the Southwest Showcase Steering Committee, composed of three members from each organization, will evaluate all entries. There is no requirement to be a member of MPI THCC or IAEE-CTC, the member of any event-related association is welcome and all will be considered equally.

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Nominations:

Nominations will open October 2, 2023. Nominations must be submitted via a web form accessed from this page. Projects may be nominated by anyone, and there is no fee to submit a nomination.

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The destination award winner will be recognized at the 2024 Southwest Showcase Luncheon, receive recognition in the form of a graphic they can use on their website and elsewhere, acknowledgement on the IAEE and MPI websites for six months, and in a press release announcing their win.

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Timeline for the 2024 award will be:

• Applications open: October 2, 2023

• Application cutoff date: November 15, 2023

• Notify winner: End of November

• Award given: Southwest Showcase 2024