FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Feel free to contact premiere@iidamac.org with any questions not listed below.

We would like to gently remind Entrants that all recipients of premiere@iidamac.org emails are volunteers of IIDA MAC. We are excited by your interest in the IIDA MAC Premiere Design Awards and make our best effort to provide responses to questions within a 24 hour period. However, IIDA MAC cannot guarantee that a response will be provided prior to the deadline if the email is received on the final deadline date of February 24, 2023. Entrants are strongly encouraged to begin the submission process early, as it is the Entrant's responsibility to provide a complete submission by the final deadline in order to be eligible for an award. Incomplete submissions with paid registration fees will not be refunded.

Q: Are there any changes to the Design Awards in 2023?
A: We've added six new award categories this year. Please reach out to us with questions pertaining to which category or categories your project qualifies for.

Design is storytelling made up of many people, processes, parameters, problems and poignant statements. We feel capturing all of the project's ideas, emotions, challenges and successes in only 10 images and a single project statement short changes the meaning that you, the designers, are trying to convey. To help you more fully express your project (and even your design firm's) story, we're asking for responses to design prompts and questions, instead of a traditional project statement. They are questions related to project team, processes, materials, concept, challenges, etc and may be sentence format statements, lists or even prompts that only eliciit single word answers. All responses will be viewable by the judges and used in their evaluation, as well used by IIDA MAC in the Premiere Design Awards show production. We want to help you fully tell your stories, but just a reminder that all responses need to still remain anoymous for fair judging (so you'll have to continue to keep any identifying information of the firm, design team and project partners out of the responses.)

Q: What is the submission process? 
A: Select 'SUBMIT ENTRY' from the top menu options or the selection button on the Event Information page. Create an account (new users) or login with your previous Open Water account information. Register the project with Project Name, Firm Information, Entry Contact and Project Category (registration information is not viewable by Judges, only Submission Materials). You must complete registration and pay the submission fee before entering the project details information and uploading images and floorplans. All entries may be saved and returned to at a later date for completion, so early registration is encouraged even if you don't finalize the submission materials until just before the deadline.

Q: Can you extend the deadline for me?
A: To be fair to all entrants, the deadline is firm.

Q: What are the Achievement Awards?
A: To recognize ESG Advancement, DEI Advancement, and Technology advancement in the interior design field, ONE award will be selected for each recognition award.  This will not overlap with the award winner of each category.

Q: I am having issues uploading the documents. Why?
A: Many entrants wait till the last day. This can overwhelm our server. Wait a few minutes and try again. We also suggest getting your entry in early. In an effort to alleviate server congestion for last-minute entries; we have modified the due date times (>11:59PM) and provided an early bird, reduced entry fee option. Refer to EVENT INFORMATION page for key dates. 

Q: Who decides the winners?
A: A jury panel of (3) respected designers from outside the Mid-Atlantic Chapter select the winners. All jurors are professional members of IIDA with influence and involvement in the interior design profession. Judges remain anonymous until after the judging period is complete and all project scores are tallied to maintain fairness.

Q: What happens if I accidentally leave the name of the firm in the project description or title block?
A: The Premiere Design Awards Co-Chairs and committee reviews entries and if discovered, will remove the firm names from the text. However, if the text is not discovered and goes to the jury, they will disqualify the entry.

Q: What is the difference between 'Design Team Members' and 'Project Team Partners'? 
A: Design Team members refer to the designers and/or architects that are employees of the submitting firm who substantially worked on the project. Project Team Partners refers to any and all individuals and additional firms who helped contribute to the project's success (for example, but not limited to: contractors, engineers, furniture dealers, furniture manufacturers, consultants, etc). All Design Team Members and Project Team Partners will be listed at the Premiere Design Awards show and on IIDA MAC website and social media if chosen as a winner. 

Q: Does someone on my team need to be a member of IIDA? Can I include subcontractors such as engineers or lighting designers on my team list?
A: If submitting a project under the Member pricing category, then at least one member of the design team must be an active IIDA Mid-Atlantic Chapter member. Non-Member entries are available at a higher submission cost. Subcontractors may be listed under 'Project Team Partners'. 

Q: What if I don't know the IIDA number of the design team member?
A: You can get it from IIDA headquarters; their phone number is 1 888 799 4432. 

Q: How Do I join IIDA?
A: You can join here.

Q: Can we enter multiple projects? Can we enter multiple projects in the same category?
A: Yes, a firm may submit as many projects as they wish and is strongly encouraged!

Q: Can you tell me if my entry won?
A: Winners are held strictly confidential until announced at The Premiere Event and after the event the information will be posted on the IIDA MAC website. Tickets for the Premiere Design Awards event are available on IIDA MAC website.

Q: Can you change the names on the award? Can a name be added to the award?
A: The firm name and designers names are printed as entered into application, please check it carefully. Up to 20 design team members and 20 project partner members may be included on the submission.

Q: Do you have any suggestions for a better entry?
A: The best assurance for a successful entry is to start early. Open Water allows entrants to save and return to the submission as often as needed before submitting. Use this capability to prepare the written descriptions away from the computer screen and only return to Open Water to enter the information. Triple check the submission to ensure there is no reference to your company name in the submission.

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