SPASA Australia Awards to be held at SPLASH!
For the first time, SPASA Australia will be hosting a gala event for the announcement of their awards: the SPASA Australia Awards of Excellence.
Aiming to make the biggest possible impact, SPASA Australia has elected to hold the awards at Australia’s largest trade event for the pool and spa industry, the SPLASH! Pool & Spa Trade Show on the Gold Coast.
The gala will be held on the evening of Thursday July 17, 2014.
National awards have been allocated for many years, selecting candidates from the winners of the State SPASA awards. However, an event has never been held before, and this gala and the subsequent marketing of the winners will significantly ramp up the promotion of the awards.
Additionally, there will be an overall Pool of the Year Award, something that had not been judged across state boundaries previously.
SPASA Australia CEO, Brendan Watkins, says the SPASA Australia Awards of Excellence will recognise achievement in design, construction, innovation and professionalism across the pool and spa industry, and that the Awards program gives recognition to SPASA members who have demonstrated the highest degree of competency and professionalism.
“This year SPASA Australia has reinvigorated our awards categories and now include various product and spa categories as well as the most prestigious builder award in Australia – the SPASA Australia Pool of the Year,” he says.
The SPASA Australia Awards of Excellence Gala Dinner will incorporate the fourth edition of the SPLASH! Environmental Awards.
The SPLASH! Environmental Awards were conceived in 2007 and have gained international recognition for their success in promoting achievements in environmental design, construction, manufacturing and marketing in the swimming pool and spa industry.
The double awards night promises to be a highlight of SPLASH Week, which includes pre-show workshops, educational sessions featuring international speakers, a golf day plus more than 100 companies exhibiting at the trade show.
“SPLASH! is the ideal occasion for the Awards to be presented,” says Simon Cooper, managing director of Interpoint, organiser of the SPLASH! trade shows.
“The week draws more than 2000 attendees from Australia, New Zealand and South East Asia. Since the first SPLASH! show in 1998, SPLASH! has become the essential meeting place for pool builders, contractors, retailers, manufacturers, architects and landscapers, and the educational stream is widely respected as the most comprehensive conference program in the Southern Hemisphere,” he says.
Stimulating consumer demand
Watkins says that SPASA Australia plans to use the awards as a vehicle to get consumers interested in buying swimming pools.
“The prime goal of the Awards of Excellence program is to generate an amazing array of images to stimulate immediate consumer demand. Our industry competes with many leisure and travel options, it’s time we stepped up and showed all of Australia the height of excellence that exists within the pool and spa industry,” he says.
“The federation of SPASA States, via SPASAC and more recently SPASA Australia, has conducted a national awards program for many years, but rather than continuing with an industry-focused program the intent in 2014 is utilise the awards as a promotional vehicle to consumers,” he says.
All award winners will receive exclusive use of a unique digital SPASA Australia Awards of Excellence logo, permanent listing and links on the SPASA Australia website as well as a framed Winner or Highly Commended Award. Watkins says that significant media coverage is assured.
The Awards of Excellence will be adjudicated by a panel of high-profile independent judges. All winners of the 2013 SPASA Australia member Awards of Excellence programs are automatically eligible for the national Awards program.
For more information contact Brendan Watkins or Asher Newton.
The Categories
1. Residential Concrete Pools – Traditional or Geometric up to $50,000
2. Residential Concrete Pools – Traditional or Geometric $50,000 to $100,000
3. Residential Concrete Pools – Traditional or Geometric over $100,000
4. Residential Concrete Pools – Freeform or Natural up to $50,000
5. Residential Concrete Pools – Freeform or Natural $50,000 to $100,000
6. Residential Concrete Pools – Freeform or Natural over $100,000
7. Residential Fibreglass Pools – up to $40,000
8. Residential Fibreglass Pools – over $40,000
9. Commercial Fibreglass Pools
10. Residential Vinyl Lined In-Ground Pools – modular or shaped concrete pools finished with vinyl lining
11. Residential Pre-Engineered Aboveground Vinyl-Lined Pools – kit type pools, whether free-standing, incorporating decking or erected partially or fully in-ground
12. Residential Enclosed/Indoor Pools
13. Display Pools – pools built in a display centre, where the prime purpose of the pool/s is for exhibition to potential customers. Entries featuring a pool built for a consumer which the builder has access to for display purposes, will not be accepted
14. Commercial Pools or Spas up to $250,000 – built of any material or method of construction
15. Commercial Pools or Spas over $250,000 – built of any material or method of construction
16. Renovations up to $25,000
17. Renovations over $25,000 – renovations include any type of construction, covering significant alterations including additions or alterations to the structure or shape of the existing pools. Photographs showing the pool before and after the alterations, together with a description of the work and history of the pool must be included with the entry
18. Innovative Pool and/or Spa – entry should display demonstrated skills in overcoming a difficult site, developing a new concept, new marketing ideas etc
19. Water Feature – features such as waterfalls, ponds and fountains, either as stand-alone items or part of a swimming pool or spa
20. Lap Pools – pools incorporating lane/s intended for swimming laps
21. Sustainable Pools – any pool construction/installation/renovation incorporating specific features or equipment resulting in energy, chemical and/or water savings
22. Best In-situ Portable Spa – this award is open to any compliant manufactured re-locatable, residential or commercial spa. There are no limitations on price or size
23. Sustainability Award: product – this award is open to any new product, service, activity or device that demonstrates a saving of energy and/or water. The initiative must have been released onto the market less than three years ago, and can demonstrate improvement to the sustainability of a pool or spa. For example, it could be a new pool water minimisation device, advances in solar heating products, automation, advances in pool cover technology, any low energy activity or device, or the promotion of a more sustainable use of existing systems or processes
24. SPASA Australia Pool of the Year Award – all winners of the 2013 SPASA Australia Awards of Excellence are automatically eligible for this award. The decision will be made solely on the judges’ discretion. If no pool reaches a level they deem worthy of this high honour, no award will be made. The Pool of the Year will be the pool or spa that that the judges feel is the best example of the pool builders’ art for the year.
