About the Ovation wOw Awards 2019
We are pleased to announce the second edition of the Ovation wOw Awards 2019. The goal of these awards is to showcase the outstanding quality of individuals, institutions or organisations whose passion, talent and expertise that made the greatest contribution to the development and advancement in the MICE industry all around the world.
Winners wOw Awards 2018
THE PROCESS
A judging panel consisting of Ovation Global DMC directors and senior managers chose the nominees for each category based on their expertise and success in the industry.
- wOw of the wOws 2019: an individual, institution or organisation, which has highly contributed to the advancement of the MICE industry within the last 2 years by creating a favourable environment for MICE players to have an impact in their area.
- Leading Event Partner 2019: an institution or organisation, which has worked with any Ovation office within the past 2 years helping to deliver outstanding solutions and exceptional service, and has assisted in production, logistics or execution (e.g.: airlines, hotels, convention centres).
Leading Event Partner Nominees: Håbo Buss (Sweden) – Cvent (USA) – Belmond (Copacabana Palace and Hotel das Cataratas) (Brazil) – FIRA Barcelona (Spain) – Europalco (Portugal)
- Leading Destination 2019: a Convention Bureau which has worked with any Ovation office within the past 2 years and has provided great business opportunities for the MICE industry by transforming existing resources to improve the legacy of the destination.
Leading Destination Nominees: Vienna Convention Bureau (Austria) – Switzerland Convention & Incentive Bureau (Switzerland) – Rio Convention e Visitors Bureau (Brazil) – CVB Madrid (Spain) – Algarve Tourism Bureau (Portugal)
Voting for the Leading Event Partner 2019 and Leading Destination 2019 categories is performed only by employees of Ovation Global DMC and other MCI Group companies.
Our stakeholders are warmly invited to take part in the voting process by submitting their desired candidate by Tuesday 3rd of September 2019, 16:00 pm GMT. (Only submissions from corporate email addresses will be accepted)
Winners will be unveiled at the Ovation wOw Award Ceremony taking place on Tuesday, September 10th, 2019 at the Ovation Global DMC booth at IMEX America. (B3425)
MEET THE FINALISTS OF THE wOw OF THE wOws 2019
We invite you to vote for one of the below nominees that according to you, has greatly contributed to the advancement of the MICE industry within the last year creating a favourable environment for MICE players to have an impact in their area.
Natalia Bayona (Spain) – Senior Expert on innovation and Digital Transformation – World Tourism Organization
Natalia Bayona is the leader of the Innovation and Digital Transformation Strategy of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) specializing in promoting tourism responsibly, sustainably and accessibly. She is part of the World Economic Forum network as a European Digital Leader for IE Business School. Her impact in the MICE industry is more and more visible working together with Spanish MICE organizations and associations to become leaders in digital transformation and innovation among our industry.
Didier Scaillet (Luxembourg)– CEO of SITE
CEO for both SITE and the SITE Foundation, Didier Scaillet has a deep background in the meetings industry and association management, having spent 18 years in various roles at Meetings Professionals International, including as vice president of global development. More recently he served as vice president business development at Cruise Lines International Association. With such an amazing record and constant forward-thinking, Didier is constantly trying to push the MICE industry to the next limit.
Andreas Huber (Germany) – Publishing Director CIM Magazine
It is great when you have a magazine like CIM supporting the meetings and incentives market with a full understanding of the underlying reasons why companies and associations meet and what the real power of incentive travel as a motivational tool is. CIM constantly challenges all the players in this industry to be innovative, creative and surprise our audiences. Operating in the German-speaking markets they publish – online and in hard copy – in German and English so that all stakeholders are served and connected around the same cause. One of their latest inspirations was to create the ‘16 over sixty club m’ of reverse mentoring
Melissa van Dyke (USA) – Departing IRF President and AVP of MCI USA
Melissa has been President of the Incentive Research Foundation for over 5 years, during which time she has tripled the organization’s research and education footprint. She was selected as Incentive magazine’s 2007 “Rising Star in the Incentive Industry” and co-authored the chapter on “Nonmonetary Awards: Experiential, Tangible, and Cash Equivalent Awards”. Van Dyke has been instrumental in educating and supporting our industry to let companies understand the value of the incentive industry and the benefits of non-cash rewarding.
Eric Mottard (Spain) – CEO Eventoplus
Eric studied business administration in HEC (Paris) and started as a business consultant before launching Eventoplus in 2000, the largest meeting resource group in Spain. Since then his life has been about informing, connecting, and professionalizing the meetings and events industry in Spain as much as he could through EVENTOPLUS’ activities: portal, networking club, newsletter, a magazine dedicated to event planning, and various events (a trade show, an awards ceremony, and two conferences) dedicated to meeting planners. Eventoplus also manages the IBTM world show daily and FITUR Daily, specific trade shows on-site publications.
Carina Bauer (United Kingdom) – CEO Imex Group
CEO of the IMEX Group Carina Bauer graduated from Oxford University, UK, in Politics, Philosophy and Economics. Throughout her career, Carina has been an active member of the meetings industry. She was Chair of the Marketing Committee for MPI’s European Meetings & Events Conference, London (2008), has served on the Board of the MPI UK Chapter, the MPI International Multicultural Committee and on PCMA’s Global and Advocacy Taskforces. She is a pillar in the MICE industry and irreplaceable as a person.
Gilmar Pinto Caldeira (Brazil) – Founder of the first incentive company in Brazil and CEO of Honour Experiences
Working for the incentive marketing industry since 1978, in 1984 Gilmar founded the first Incentive company in Brazil, Incentive House, becoming an international reference, having more than 2k clients. Gilmar received several important Brazilian prizes along his career. Nowadays, he’s one of 12 members of the Brazilian Academy of Marketing and Vice-President of the Brazilian Sales and Marketing Association, giving lectures and seminars in Brazil, Europe and USA.
It’s time to vote