The Competition
| • | Awarded annually since 1987 by MerComm, Inc./The International Academy of Arts & Sciences, Ossining, N.Y. |
| • | For annual reports of public and private companies, organizations and associations, including non-profit organizations |
| • | Participants: In 2010, approx. 1900 entries from 27 countries |
| • | The ARC award (ARC = Annual Report Competition) is thus the largest annual report competition in the world. |
The Judging Process
| • | Competition criteria: how well does the report communicate the company's story/how is this communicative task solved? |
| • | The panel evaluates this with reference to various aspects such as title, foreword, design impact, quality of the photography, text, company information, financial information, relationship between financial data and report, communication of the story, communication of the company philosophy and culture. 10 points are awarded for each aspect. |
| • | The reports are evaluated by sector-specific groups. Within these groups, another distinction is made according to the scope of the report so that smaller companies with fewer financial resources can also compete. |
The Judges
| • | The panels of judges consist of more than 200 experts from the fields of investor relations, PR, journalism and design. The judges are not paid and do not judge reports with which they have a connection. The majority of the judges are US citizens. MerComm is however working on creating a more international panel. |
The Awards
| • | Prizes: depending on the score achieved, Gold, Silver, Bronze and Honors awards are conferred. In other words, the best report from a particular category does not automatically receive the Gold award, but only if it has achieved the score required for this. The same applies for Silver, Bronze and Honors Awards. |
| • | From among the Gold award-winners, some reports are awarded the GRAND Awards, the "Oscars" of the annual report world. The awards presentation banquet takes place in New York's Ritz-Carlton Hotel. |
| • | The overall winner of the competition earns the title "Best of Show". |
Further details: www.mercommawards.com