On October 31, voting and judging for the Aesthetics Awards will come to a close. Scores will then be carefully collated before the 2019 Winners, along with Commended and Highly Commended finalists, will be revealed at the glamorous ceremony in the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge ballroom on December 7. More than 800 guests who work across the specialty are expected to attend for an evening filled with excitement, entertainment and, of course, celebration! But before all that, the 60+ judges supporting the Aesthetics Awards have an extremely difficult job in carefully considering numerous entries in their assigned categories. So how does it work? And how is a fair process guaranteed? Aesthetics answers the most commonly asked questions…
Who are the Aesthetics Awards judges?
There are more than 60 Aesthetics Awards judges in total, who are mainly medical practitioners working within aesthetics. As the Aesthetics Awards is a ceremony for professionals, judged by those who are experts in their field, it’s important that doctors, dentists, nurses and surgeons all take part in the judging.
Other judges comprise company specialists, including business consultant, author and marketing specialist Wendy Lewis and PR consultant Julia Kendrick. Kendrick, who has been on the panel for four years. She said, “For me, the Aesthetics Awards really is the pinnacle of industry awards because the application and judging process is so thorough and really tailored to each entry. In such a closely-knit industry where many of us have worked together, the judges’ declarations and vetting to ensure impartiality is really important. I have always been given appropriate categories for judging and I believe the rigour of the whole process means everyone can feel justifiably confident and proud of being named a Finalist, Commended, Highly Commended or Winner!”
Does each judge review all the categories?
No! Judges usually assess between one and two categories each. One reason for this is they simply wouldn’t have time – with 26 categories and hundreds of entries, it would be a very busy few months for them! The main reason, however, is to avoid any conflicts of interest. Every judge must sign a declaration form before access to the entries is given. On this declaration, they must detail any categories they, or a colleague, has entered or plan to enter, any relevant financial disclosures and any reasons they would not be able to judge a particular category objectively. They must also sign to confirm that they will:
- Endeavour to score fairly based on the merit of each entry
- Treat any information contained within the entries sent in a confidential manner
- Not share the details of the categories they are judging or scores awarded with any external parties
- Not use the information contained within any entries judged for their own commercial or personal purposes
Before assigning categories, the Aesthetics team spends time researching the judge and judges are instructed to notify the team immediately if any further conflicts of interest arise after signing their declaration.
How do judges score entries?
Entries are scored on a special portal on the Aesthetics Awards website. Judges are provided with access to a page dedicated to their assigned categories, which they can log into, save scores and come back to it later, if necessary. The easy-to-use system means judges are able to really concentrate on the content of the entries. The entry is presented in the exact format it is submitted by the entrants and, of course, if entrants have provided supporting evidence, judges can view images and download any documents provided.
For each question, scores are given out of 10 and judges can make further comments at the bottom of each entry. Judges are advised that, although background knowledge of an entrant may inform judgement to a certain extent, they should base their decisions primarily on the entry that has been submitted. Aesthetics specifically asks them to consider the entry holistically and score based on sound evidence, along with a demonstration of commitment to clinical excellence, rather than choosing the most wellknown or biggest brand, company or individual.
What happens next for finalists?
Once all of the judges have submitted their scores, the Aesthetics team will gather results and very carefully total the numbers. If a category also has a voted-for element, then the number of votes will be measured alongside the judges’ scores in a 30-70 ratio, respectively. This all gets checked thoroughly by the team to ensure there are no mistakes, anomalies or outliers before the Winner trophies are engraved, certificates printed and those successful are announced on the night! If you haven’t booked your ticket yet, do so fast! Visit aestheticsawards.com to purchase individual tickets or tables of 10. See you on December 7!
