Judging Criteria

The Crystal Awards committee sets criteria and tabulates and certifies the results. A select panel of marketing professionals from outside the Houston area acts as judges. Judges make all decisions regarding eligibility, finalists and winners, and their decisions are final.

Each entry must include answers to the four (4) questions below (typewritten on 8.5" x 11" paper, three page maximum). On the top of each page, include the category number, category name and entry title. Judges score each answer on a 1 to 10 scale, with 10 being the highest. The entry with the highest number of points is the winner. The four (4) questions are:

1. SITUATION/CHALLENGE

What was the core, basic problem to be solved or situation to be addressed by the entry? Judges score on how clearly the challenge is stated.

2. OBJECTIVE(S)

What was/were the objective(s) to address the situation or challenge?
Judges score whether the objectives are sound, clear and measurable. If objectives aren't measurable, judges score whether they were clear enough to determine if they were achieved.

3. STRATEGY/TACTICS

What was the strategy and what tactics (actions) were undertaken for achieving the objectives?
Judges score how well the strategy/tactics relate achieving the objectives.

4. RESULTS

What were the results produced by the entry toward achieving the objective(s)?
Judges score how effective the entry was in producing results that tie to the stated objective(s). The results score receives TRIPLE WEIGHT, so it's extremely important to describe the results in as measurable of terms as possible to prove the objective(s) was/were achieved.