WHAT ARE THE AURORA AWARDS?
The AURORA Awards are presented each year to builders, developers, architects, planners, interior merchandisers, landscape architects and other disciplines actively involved in projects in a 12-state southeastern region who have demonstrated building and design excellence.
Last year's winners were selected from among 72 categories by a panel of industry experts and were honored at the 28th Annual AURORA Awards Gala/Spectacular on Saturday evening, July 14, 2007, at the Southeast Building Conference in Orlando, Florida. View the winners of the 2007 Aurora Award.
Now in its 29th year, the AURORA Awards program is affiliated with the Florida Home Builders Association (FHBA) and the Southeast Building Conference (SEBC), one of two regional trade shows recognized by and affiliated with the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).
More information about Aurora's Best of State
Eligibility
Projects must be located in the following southeastern states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
An entry (with the exception of entries in Categories 42-45) cannot be more than two years old (January 2006). Please review the following information prior to entering:
- Review the list of categories in this Call for Entry and select the category(s) you want to enter.
- Fill out a Call for Entry application for each submission, and mail the check and application(s) to the SEBC office in Tallahassee by May 5, 2008. PLEASE BE ADVISED THAT BY SENDING IN THIS APPLICATION YOU HAVE NOT COMPLETED YOUR ENTRY INTO THE AURORA AWARDS AS YOU MUST COMPLETE AN ONLINE ENTRY PORTFOLIO THAT MUST BE COMPLETED ONLINE UPON RECEIPT OF APPLICATION AND PAYMENT. ENTRY APPLICATIONS CAN BE FOUND ON THE AURORA AWARDS WEBSITE AT WWW.THEAURORAS.COM BEGINNING MARCH 10, 2008.
- A LATE FEE OF $50.00 WILL BE ATTACHED TO EACH ENTRY AFTER MAY 5, 2008. ENTRIES RECEIVED AFTER MAY 5, 2008 MUST BE POSTED TO THE AURORA OFFICAL WEBSITE NO LATER THAN 5:00 P.M. ON MAY 12, 2008 AND INCLUDE A $50.00 LATE FEE PER ENTRY.
Aurora's Best of State
All AURORA Award entries are eligible for consideration in the Best of State category. Each entry from the 12-state southeastern region will be entered in this category. A winner will be chosen from each state to represent AURORA’s Best of State.
Benefits
There are more reasons than ever before for a builder and other members of his/her development team to enter the AURORA Awards competition. For example, you should consider entering because:
- Being an award-winner gives you increased public relations and marketing opportunities, and can be the basis of an effective advertising campaign built on important third-party testimony about the quality of your award-winning product.
- Your credibility, especially in the eyes of your buyers and other key market segments, is enhanced when your peers recognize you with an award.
- Everyone who is part of a winning entry will receive recognition on August 2, 2008, even if another member of the development team submitted his/her home or project.
- You have a unique home (and kitchen or bath), residential development, office or other project that deserves recognition.
- You have a unique landscape design or interior merchandising design that deserves special attention.
- Most categories in this year’s competition are broken down by price range rather than square footage, thus enhancing the opportunity to compete more effectively against entries within the same price range.
An AURORA Award allows you to take pride in your product and showcase your talents.
JUDGING
The judges selected for this year’s competition are nationally recognized professionals from the fields of home building, development, architecture, land planning, interior merchandising, marketing and media (building trade publications).
Judges are new each year and must wait at least two years before being eligible to sit on the panel again.
Judging is based a point system that rates each entry on a specific set of criteria and its own merit. (See Judging Criteria.)
Entries receiving a predetermined number of points will earn AURORA Awards, while the highest point-winner in a division of categories (e.g. Detached Single-Family Homes/Production-Built, Categories 5-13) will earn a Grand AURORA Award. Exceptions: For the “Affordable Housing Category –Attached and Detached -Under $200,000, the judging criteria will include the sales price of home as it relates to the median home price of the Metropolitan Statistical Area.
All winning AURORA Award entries are eligible for the Grand AURORA Awards in their particular category. All Grand AURORA Award winners are then eligible for the Golden AURORA Award. The Golden AURORA Award is selected from the Grand AURORA Award winners through a consensus of the judges, not on the basis of points, and is considered the Best in Show.
Three levels of awards will be presented this year. In order of achievement they are: AURORA Awards, Grand AURORA Awards and the Golden AURORA Award (Best in Show).
Awards Presentation
Saturday, August 2, 2008 the Rosen Centre Hotel during the Southeast Building Conference in Orlando, Florida.
Notification
All AURORA Award finalists, team members, and entrants will be notified by mail on or before June 6, 2008, and will receive a ticket order form for the AURORA Awards Dinner/Spectacular. Finalists and members of the finalists development team are urged to purchase their tickets and make table reservations for the Dinner/Spectacular at this time, as there will be limited seating. The deadline for priority seating is June 27, 2008.
Publishing Rights and Return of Materials
All entries become the property of the FHBA and the SEBC/Aurora Awards. The FHBA and the SEBC may publish and/or reproduce entries in any FHBA publication and/or product as well as grant permission for the entries to be published or reproduced in any trade, consumer publication or product.
Categories, Judging Criteria and Portfolio Requirements
See the Categories page for more information.