The MCA Jury

Overview
The SMPS Marketing Communications Awards (MCA) Program is the longest-standing, most prestigious awards competition that recognizes excellence in marketing communications produced by professional services firms in the design and building industries. The program provides an unparalleled opportunity for professionals to showcase their best marketing practices and to educate the industry about the critical role of marketing in a successful firm. This competition is open to SMPS members and nonmembers employed in the US and international professional services firms.

Judging is an excellent way to learn industry trends and evaluate exceptional content. MCA jurors play a critical role in the success of this program. The peer-review judging process ensures the high caliber of the work selected to win an award.

Jurors can submit entries, as well as be judge as long as they do not judge the category their firm or client has entered. Jurors will be moved to an alternative category if they have to recuse themselves due to conflict of interest. Jurors are assigned categories randomly; we cannot accept category assignment change requests unless your firm or client or any conflict of interest occurs by you judging your assigned category.

Annually, the MCA Call for Jurors is emailed directly to all current members of SMPS in January and the jury selection is based on a first come, first served.

Juror Requirements:

must be a current, active member of SMPS
agree to abide by the SMPS Code of Ethics
willing to have name, title, firm name, city, and state displayed in the program guide/presentation after the awards ceremony (category and entries assigned are not disclosed)
recuse themselves from any category that contains entries their firm (multi-office locations included) or by a third-party vendor with whom they are currently working with and notify the program director immediately for category re-assignment.
will not print, photograph, copy, or share any entry images and/or information that has been submitted into this competition
will hold all judging scoring and comments as confidential
understand that SMPS has the right to revoke a juror if they do not meet the above requirements at any time

MCA Juror Responsibilities

attend a one-hour juror orientation webinar which will take place in March.
dedicate up to 4-10 hours for judging, scoring, and providing comments for all assigned entries. Jurors for our larger categories (i.e. website, video, holiday piece) will be required to judge a second round to get a consensus on the final placements for those categories, therefore requiring more time.
be committed to having all assigned entries completed by the judging deadline.
notify the program director of a conflict of interest during the judging process.

Below are some frequently asked questions about judging the MCA program Be sure to reach out to molly@smps.org with any questions.

How to do I apply to become a juror?
As an SMPS member, you will receive email invitation in January with a link to the juror application.

All juror spots are given on a first-come, first-served basis, and assignments are done at random. The juror application will be available until February 15 or until the juror quota is met, whichever is first. There’s a limit to the number of jurors that will be accepted, depending on the number of entries submitted. Once the online juror application closes no additional applications will be accepted.

If selected, jurors will receive confirmation that they have been selected by February 28, 2025.

Who judges the MCA program?

The MCA program seeks judges who are SMPS members with the following areas of expertise:

Marketing Director/Managers
Business Development Directors/Managers
Communication Directors/ Managers
Editors
Graphic Designers
Photographers
Videographers
Web Content Directors/Managers
Web designers
Writers

Why Should I participate as a judge?
It is an excellent opportunity to serve your profession and gain knowledge from reviewing a vast selection of marketing communications content in the A/E/C industry. This is an opportunity to share your knowledge and expertise with your peers.

What are the dates of the Judging period?
Please note that all posted dates are tentative and dependent on judging progress and completion. Judging is tentatively scheduled for April 7 - 25, 2025 for the first round of judging. A second round of judging for large categories jurors only will occur after all scores/comments are submitted for the first round. The second round of judging is scheduled to take place in May 2025.

How much time should I allocate to judge?
You should anticipate dedicating up to 4-10 hours for judging. Jurors are required to provide scores AND comments for all assigned entries. Jurors for our larger categories (i.e., website, video, holiday piece) will be required to judge a second round to get a consensus on the final placements for those categories, therefore requiring more time. Judge and entry assignments are determined based on how many entries are received and how many judges sign up. Judges are assigned one category and then a certain number of entries within that category. In the past judges averaged 10-15 entries depending on the categories they were assigned. These numbers are subject to change based on entries submitted and the confirmed number of judges.

Can I enter the MCA competition and still participate as a juror?
Yes! To avoid a conflict of interest, all jurors are responsible for recusing themselves from judging categories their firm or their clients have entered and must notify staff immediately. You will be moved to an alternative category if you have to recuse yourself. Please review the Juror Requirements above. It is the juror's responsibility to report a conflict of interest.

Can I choose which categories I want to judge?
All juror assignments are done randomly on a first-come, first-served basis. We cannot accept change requests unless your firm or client or any conflict of interest occurs by you judging your assigned category.