Azbee Awards: Judging & Scoring Process

The Azbee Awards of Excellence celebrate the highest standards in B2B editorial and design. At ASBPE, we pride ourselves on a competition judged with absolute fairness, resulting in honors presented exclusively to submissions that truly excel.

To maintain the prestige and integrity of the Azbees, our scoring and judging model is transparent, rigorous and rooted in objective excellence.

Our Mathematical Scoring Approach

The Azbee Awards do not rely solely on a top-three ranking or curved grading. Instead, entries are evaluated and awarded mathematically to protect the competition's long-standing prestige.

  • Rigorous Rubrics: Judges evaluate entries against strict criteria representing industry-accepted expectations for specific formats and platforms. Individual judge scores are averaged to produce a final composite score for each entry.
  • Objective Scoring Thresholds: To earn an award, an entry must meet a defined percentage of the total possible points in its category:
    • Gold: At least 80%
    • Silver: At least 72%
    • Bronze: At least 64.5%
  • Variance Allowance: To ensure fairness when award gaps occur, a standard 1.25% variance may be applied to elevate an entry to the next award tier.
  • Tie-Breaking Standards: To respect our volunteer judges' time while maintaining competitive clarity, judges break ties within the top three entries nationally (ensuring no national ties), while regional ties are permitted without additional review.
  • Comprehensive Quality Control: Each year, the Awards Committee conducts a thorough audit of all scoring data to ensure consistency and guard against category-wide scoring anomalies.

Why Certain Award Levels May Not Be Given Every Year

Because the Azbees measure entries against a standard of absolute excellence rather than a forced curve, not every award level is given out in every category every year.

  • In some categories, no entry reaches the threshold for Gold.
  • In others, entries may earn Gold and Bronze, but no Silver.
  • In categories with smaller submission numbers, top entries may capture Gold and Silver, but no Bronze.
  • Occasionally, only a single submission truly meets our benchmark of excellence.

Just as exceptional achievement requires mastery, an Azbee Award is earned only through outstanding work. We award the best of the best, regardless of how many entries are received in a given category.

Entry Volume and Transparency

While ASBPE publicly shares the total number of submissions received each year, we do not disclose entry counts for individual categories or regions.

Entry numbers have zero bearing on the scores given to individual entries. Whether a category has five entries or 50, every submission is judged against the same rigorous standard of journalistic and design excellence.

What We Expect From Our Judges

Our awards are as strong as the professionals who judge them. To guarantee absolute impartiality, our volunteer judges are held to high ethical standards:

  • Objectivity & Professional Standards: Judges evaluate entries through the lens of the intended B2B audience, follow strict scoring rubrics, practice style neutrality across diverse publication formats and writing styles, and set aside personal or professional biases.
  • Strict Conflicts of Interest Policy: Judges are strictly prohibited from scoring categories that they, their colleagues, their publications, parent companies, direct competitors, or former employers have entered. Any perceived conflicts must be reported immediately for recusal or reassignment.
  • Confidentiality & Non-Disclosure (NDA): Because judges review paywalled content, proprietary data, and recently published work, they are bound by strict privacy rules. They are prohibited from sharing, copying, distributing or using entry materials, and must maintain public silence regarding assigned categories and winners.
  • Constructive Entrant Feedback: Judges are strongly encouraged to leave positive or actionable, constructive comments on entries, creating an immediate return on investment (ROI) for participating publications.

Interested in joining our judge pool? Learn more about our judge guidelines, expectations, and Azbee Bucks reward structure on our About Judging page.

2027 Competition Timeline

  • March 10, 2027: Regional Finalists announced (on or around this date)
  • April 12–21, 2027: Regional Winners announced online and at Regional Awards Luncheons
  • April 22, 2027: Overall Excellence & National Finalists announced
  • May 20, 2027: National Winners, Stephen Barr Award, and Journalism That Matters Award announced during the National Azbee Awards of Excellence presentation 
  • For schedule updates, please visit our homepage timeline.

 

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