Voting Procedures and Protocols for Judging of the Spirited Awards®

Process
Nominations close on Saturday, March 30, 2013.  On Friday, April 5,2013, judges will receive the list of nominees for the categories they will judge on along with all pertinent information (supporting statements, menus, writing samples, etc.

The judges are broken out into two committees: USA and International. They will vote on the categories as follows:

International:
Best Bar Mentor
Best High Volume Cocktail Bar
Best Cocktail Writing – non-book publication
Best Cocktail Writing – author
Best International Brand Ambassador
Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book
Best New Product
Best Restaurant Bar
International Bartender of the Year
World’s Best Cocktail Bar
World’s Best Cocktail Menu
World’s Best Drinks Selection
World’s Best Hotel Bar
World’s Best New Cocktail Bar

USA:
American Bartender of the Year
Best Bar Mentor
Best High Volume Cocktail Bar
Best American Brand Ambassador
Best American Cocktail Bar
Best Cocktail Writing – author

Best Cocktail Writing – non-book publication

Best New Cocktail/Bartending Book
Best New Product
Best Restaurant Bar

Upon receiving all of the nominees and information for each category, each judge will vote using a ranking system of their top five choices in each category. This will result in a weighted system in which their first choice will get five points, their second choice four points, their third choice three points, their fourth choice two points and their fifth choice one point. These votes will be due on Friday, April 19, 2013.

Once all the votes have been received, each category will be narrowed down to the top ten nominees. These top ten will be announced on the Tales of the Cocktail® website on Friday, May 17, 2013. Once each category has the top ten nominees fairly chosen, the numbers will be tallied to determine the top four. These will be announced on the Tales of the Cocktail® website on Friday, June 7, 2013. The winner is the nominee in each category with the highest number of points. If there is a difference of five points or fewer between candidates in any category, there will be a re-vote among only those candidates.

Protocol
-       Judges may not vote in any category in which they are nominated.
-       Judges may only vote on the categories their committee is assigned.
-       Judges may not receive solicitations from any nominees and if they do, must report it to the Board Round Table and Claire Bertin-Lang.
-       Judges are encouraged to conduct outside research if they deem it necessary.
-       Judges are expected to keep the final three nominees confidential until the official announcement.
-       Judges should not discuss any tiebreakers for the winner (if necessary) except with the other judges.
-       The judges will not be notified of the final winners until the Spirited Awards®.