ATLANTA -- The Icon Honors call for entries opens today launching the 2017 competition for the home and gift industry's most celebrated and recognized mark of achievement.
Competition for Icon Honors recognition is open to the home and gift industry at large across all categories of trade and product and service sectors, including the design community. Retailers, manufacturers, sales agencies and service providers are eligible to compete in a broad field of 16 distinct Icon Honors categories. The 2017 Call for Entries is offered exclusively online with all submissions and nominations made at IconHonors.com through March 13, 2017.
"Icon Honors marks the extraordinary achievements of those who dare to reach beyond ordinary circumstances and conditions," notes Jeffrey L. Portman, Sr., vice chairman, president and chief operating officer of AmericasMart Atlanta and Icon Honors founding partner. "Year after year, Icon Honors gives voice to the dreamers, creators, achievers and change-makers who give the home and gift industry purpose and hope for the future. That is its mission and essential contribution to the industry we love," adds Portman.
Icon Honors is produced and staged by AmericasMart Atlanta in exclusive partnership with the Gift & Home Trade Association (GHTA) and other organizations including an affiliation with Gift For Life.
With a coterie of more than 65 honorees named over its first seven years from every dimension of the home and gift industry, Icon Honors in 2017 will again recognize superior achievement from a diverse field of submissions and nominations. Icon Honors are conferred annually in July in conjunction with The Atlanta International Gift & Home Furnishings Market.
The four Icon Honors recognition categories, with their individual subsections, include:
INNOVATION
Innovation 1: Technology Innovations/Marketing; Technology Innovations/Networking; and Technology Innovations/Selling.
Innovation 2: Product Innovations/New Products; Product Innovations/Redesigned Products; and Product Innovations/Licensed Products.
Innovation 3: Packaging Innovations/New Designs; Packaging Innovations/New Material; and Packaging Innovations/Eco-Friendly.
CONTRIBUTION
Contribution 1: Community Influence/Business Development and Community Influence/Outreach.
Contribution 2: Industry Influence/Leadership and Industry Influence/Cause-Related Product.
BRANDING
Branding/Identity: Brand Identity Development/Brand Launch; Brand Identity Development/Brand Continuity; and Brand Identity Development/Rebranding.
ACHIEVEMENT
Achievement 1: New Achiever.
Achievement 2: Career Achiever.
Icon Honors additionally confers special recognition through the Lifetime Achievement Honor, AmericasMart Medal of Excellence Honor and The GHTA/Gift For Life Honor of Excellence. These Honors are conferred at the sole discretion of the Icon Honors governing board representing the partners.
Honorees are selected through extensive adjudication by highly qualified experts drawn from the world of design, manufacturing and product development.