The deadline for entering the 2020 ILDA Awards has passed. Thanks to everyone who entered.
The remainder of this page is left for reference, even though the Awards Entry deadline has already passed.
This page is for persons entering the 2020 ILDA Awards. You may enter laser shows produced or performed between January 1, 2019 and May 31, 2020. Winners of these Awards will be publicly presented at the ILDA Awards Presentation during the 2020 ILDA Conference.
There are three main Awards categories: Artistic, Technical and Career Achievement:
Details are below. If you have any questions or comments, please contact ILDA.
The deadline for entering all ILDA Awards categories is Sunday May 31, 2020, by 11:59 pm your local time. The countdown clock shows how much time you have left.
Sorry, the deadline for entering the Awards this year has passed. You will next be able to enter in 2021.
Any ILDA Member in good standing (dues have been paid, no Ethics or other issues) may enter the ILDA Artistic Awards.
Guide: Rules + Entry Form
The 2020 ILDA Artistic Awards Guide includes rules and the Entry Form. You can download the Guide in these formats:
• Microsoft Word format
• Adobe PDF document
Entry Spreadsheet
Entry information will be submitted on a single Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, one row per entry. You can download the spreadsheet using this link:
• 2020 Artistic Awards Entry Spreadsheet
Because the spreadsheet relies on some Excel-specific features, use only Microsoft Excel to fill out the form. If you do not have Excel, please check with an associate, friend, etc. to use theirs. If you have any problems, contact ILDA.
Send to ILDA
Make a single compressed “zip” file that contains the filled-in Entry Form, the filled-in Entry Spreadsheet, and your video and photo files.
Upload your Award entry zipped file to your own file-sharing service such as Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive. Then email to ILDA with the link where we can download your file.
There are no changes for 2020, except that the deadline has been moved two months later. (Previously the deadline was at the end of March; now it is at the end of May.)
The categories and rules are the same as in 2019.
The Fenning Award for Technical Achievement is given for outstanding technical achievement in the field of laser shows and displays. Entries may be a product, or a working technical demonstration. Examples include, but are not limited to: lasers, scanners, projectors, effects, hardware and software.
There are two categories; general technical achievement and “IDN Standards.” The latter is for entries which implement, use, extend or otherwise help to advance the use and/or capabilities of the ILDA Digital Network standards.
There are no changes for 2020, except that the deadline has been moved two months later. (Previously the deadline was at the end of March; now it is at the end of May.)
The categories and rules are the same as in 2019.
You do not need a special entry form to nominate someone for ILDA’s highest honor, the Career Achievement Award. You can simply enter by sending one or more nominations by email to ILDA by the extended deadline, Tuesday June 30, 2020 (at 11:59 pm your local time).
Who may be nominated
An ILDA Member can nominate any person who is an "exceptional individual with a distinguished history of achievement in the laser display industry." The nominee can be anyone -- they do not have to be an ILDA Member.
You can even nominate yourself, if you wish; this is fine! (To nominate yourself, you do have to be an ILDA Member since only ILDA Members can make nominations.)
Types of career achievements
In the past, there have been three broad categories of winners:
• Those who helped build significant laser display-related businesses
• Those who made artistic and technical achievements
• Those who worked to improve ILDA and the laser display industry
The nominee can have achieved in one, two or all three of these areas. In whatever area(s) they worked, the person should have made significant and lasting achievements in the field of laser display. Here is a list of past CAA winners.
How to enter
To enter, submit the nominee's name, plus a biography/description of the person. This can be a basic bio/description.
Later, after the deadline, we will ask for a more detailed biography/description. This should go beyond just a "resume listing" of places they have worked. It should include information about the career of the nominee and why his or her achievements are significant. If you are nominating another person, feel free to work with them, so they can help put together this document.
As a guide, past CAA nomination biography/descriptions have been from 1 to 10 pages, with the average about 2-3 pages.
Send your CAA nomination via e-mail to ILDA. Your nomination submission is confidential; no one will be told who made the nomination.
Automatic entries for 2020
Every CAA nomination is good for five years. This means that once a person has been nominated, they automatically are considered for the next five Awards years (or until they win, of course). These are the "automatic" nominees for 2020:
• Fred Fenning, Image Engineering (first nominated 2004, renominated 2019)
• Paul McCloskey, Laservision Mega Media (first nominated 2017)
• Dani Sawtell, Pyrotecnico FX (first nominated 2019)
We will use the most recent biography/description in our files. If you want to submit a new or revised biography/description, send this via e-mail to ILDA by the deadline.
Previously-nominated persons
The following persons were nominated more than five years ago. They will NOT be nominees this year unless someone re-nominates them:
• Carl Hannigan, Precision Projection Systems (first nominated 2004)
• Stephen Harvey, LM Productions (first nominated 2013)
• Olesya Kazantseva, Laser Artist Co. Ltd. (first nominated 2010)
• Chris Matthews, Laser Creations Int'l. (first nominated 2004, renominated 2013)
• Dick Sandhaus, Science Faction (first nominated 2004)
• Cory Simpson, LFI/Lightspeed/KOHR (first nominated 2007)
• Michael Sollinger, Laser Animation Sollinger (first nominated 2013; in 2014 declined nomination for any future years)
• Bernd Steinert, spectrabeam.de (first nominated 2006)
• John Tilp, Laser Images (first nominated 2007)
To re-nominate someone, email to ILDA by the deadline above.
Judging process
All nominations received by the deadline, plus the "automatic" nominees, will be listed on the ILDA website later in the year. ILDA Members will be able to vote via email for the CAA nominees. And, at the 2020 ILDA Conference, the winner of the 2020 Career Achievement Award will be publicly announced.
When you are completely finished and ready with your forms and videos, submit your ILDA Artistic and Technical entries by uploading them to your own filesharing service such as Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive. Then email to ILDA with the link where we can download your file.
• For Artistic Award entries, create a single compressed “zip” file containing your filled-in Entry Form, filled-in Entry Spreadsheet, video files, and (if entering Laser Photography) JPG files. If you have multiple entries, all of them should go in the single zipped file.
• For each Technical Award entry, create a single compressed “zip” file containing your filled-in Entry Form, and any supporting documentation such as videos, JPGs and/or PDFs of user manuals, product sheets, etc. If you have multiple entries, each one should be in its own zipped file.
Include your name (company or individual) in the zipped file’s name, so we know who it is from. Next, upload to your own filesharing service such as Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive. Then email to ILDA with the link where we can download your file.
Important: You can only upload one zipped file for Artistic Awards, and up to three zipped files for Technical Awards (one per Tech Award entry). Once you have uploaded a file, do not upload new versions — ILDA will use the first (and hopefully only!) version. If there are any technical problems with the files, we will notify you.
For more information, visit our other ILDA websites:
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