It's Awards Season! That's right — the 2021 Community Industry Awards are here.The Community Industry Awards celebrate the achievements of the best in the community industry. Our inaugural awards saw staggering engagement from the community! You made it very clear that we weren't the only ones impressed by the people in our industry.This year, the awards are back, and they're bigger and better than ever.

Key dates:

• Nominations close November 11, 2020
• Voting opens November 18 and closes December 16, 2020
• Winners will be announced on Community Manager Advancement Day, or January 25, 2021.

Vote Now!

Categories

This year, there are 18 Community Industry Awards categories. Some allow you to vote for a community professional, and others allow you to vote for a community.

Best of the Year Awards

Think of these as essentially the Best Actor/Actress and Best Picture for the Community Industry Awards.Community of the YearThis award is given to a community that has shown resilience, growth, and incredible success over the course of 2020.Community Professional of the YearThis award is given to a community professional that has shown amazing resilience in their work, continued to grow and support their community, and had tangible success over the course of 2020.

Vote for a Community Professional

The Community Professional of the Year Awards are given to outstanding individuals working in community. These include:Community Professional of the Year for an Enterprise (B2B) CommunityThis person runs or manages a community that brings users and super-fans of a B2B brand together to meet, connect, and learn from each other.Community Professional of the Year for a Consumer (B2C) CommunityThis person runs or manages a community that brings super-fans of a consumer product together to nerd out with each other!Community Professional of the Year for a Nonprofit CommunityThis person runs a community space for a nonprofit organization.Community Professional of the Year for an Education CommunityThis person runs a community space for an education or edtech community or organization.Community Professional of the Year for an Independent CommunityThis person runs a community that is not affiliated with any brand or organization.Community Professional of the Year for a Developer Relations CommunityThis person runs a community space specifically to bring software developers together to learn from, and connect with each other.Community Professional of the Year for a Gaming CommunityThis person runs a community space that brings gamers together to learn from, and connect with each other.Community Professional of the Year for a Virtual Events CommunityThis person runs a community program that hosts virtual events on behalf of a brand or organization. Note: This could be a new program, or an in-person events program that adapted to virtual events due to the pandemic.Executive Leader of a Community TeamThis person is a leader of community professionals. They manage a team of community managers, and are an executive leader of a community team.Professional of the Year Leading a Field Marketing ProgramField marketers are often community leaders too, and this year this group of individuals has showed incredible resiliency during the shift to virtual.

Vote for a Community or Organization

The Community Awards are given to outstanding communities that are raising the bar for the industry. These include:Support and Customer Success CommunityMembers of these communities answer questions and solve problems for each other. This can also be a customer success platform, where members help each other to use a product more successfully.Product Ideation, Innovation & Feedback CommunityMembers share ideas and feedback in a community driving innovation and improvements for a given product. Companies can leverage this community for innovative feature ideas, or to identify the most needed product improvements.Acquisition and Advocacy CommunityMembers of these communities are ambassadors and advocates who drive awareness and growth for a given business.Content and Programming CommunityThese are communities contributing the content that makes up a given product or its assets. Collaborative consumption, crowdfunding, user-generated content, asset marketplaces and open-source communities are some examples.External Engagement CommunityMembers of these communities have a common interest related to a given brand or product. By identifying the common interests of their target customers and building relevant communities, these companies drive loyalty, advocacy, and—ultimately—sales.Internal Engagement CommunityThese communities connect employees, suppliers, or vendors to deepen engagement for those working with a given brand or company.

Frequently Asked Questions

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Can I nominate more than one person or community?

You can nominate one person or community per category.

Can I nominate a person, or a community, more than once?

Yes. You can nominate a person or a community more than once if they are relevant in more than one category.

Can I nominate my community or someone on my team?

Yes! We love to see community teams advocating for themselves.

Can I nominate myself?

Go ahead, toot your own horn!

How are finalists decided?

We look at the quality of the nomination: Are the questions answered in full? Does the nomination include evidence of why the nominee meets the criteria for the award? How relevant is the nomination for the category? Once the nomination has been approved, it move on to the voting stage.

How many votes do I get?

Each category allows you to vote for 1, 2, or up to 3 people or communities. Login to our voting system to check out which categories you can vote for!

When does voting open?

• Nominations are open from October 7 until November 11, 2020 at 11:59PM PT
• Voting to determine the top 10 in each category begins on November 18, 2020 at 12:01AM PT
• Voting closes on December 16, 2021 at 11:59PM PT
• Judge's panel voting closes on January 20, 2021 at 11:59pm PM

How are the winners chosen?

Public voting will determine the top five nominees in each category. Voting opens on November 18, 2020 at 12:01AM PT and closes on December 16, 2021 at 11:59PM PT.Once finalists are determined in each category, the judges will each select their top choice. We then tally up the judge's panel.

When are the winners announced?

The 2021 Community Industry Awards Virtual Ceremony will be held on January 25, 2021 at 10:00AM PT. Make sure to RSVP to the 2021 Community Industry Awards Virtual Ceremony to watch our winners be crowned.

What do winners receive?

Community Industry Award winners will receive:

• A free ticket to CMX Summit 2021
• A chance to speak at CMX Summit 2021
• One-year free membership to CMX Pro ($750 value)
• A Community Industry Awards trophy
• More prizes to be announced!

How do I receive my award?

You can receive your trophy in person at CMX Summit 2021. If you are unable to attend, your trophy will be sent to the address provided.

I still have questions and/or feedback!

Great! We’re happy to help. We love any and all feedback on how we can improve your Community Industry Awards experience. Please email Beth at team@cmxhub.com.