A Look Ahead to the 2018 Parnelli, “IT” and Hometown Hero Awards Nomination and Voting Time Frames

As you may have heard, the next Parnelli Awards will be taking place in Anaheim, CA, coinciding with Winter NAMM 2018. Along with the geographic shift, of course, the time frame for the awards has changed from autumn (Oct./Nov.) to winter (Jan. 26). Accordingly, the time frames for reader nominations and voting periods have shifted a bit as well. Here’s a heads up on when everything’s happening this year:

Hometown Hero Awards:

As in years past, the Hometown Hero Awards will be based on nominations and voting from PLSN and FOH readers ahead of the nominations and voting for the Parnelli Awards themselves. This will allow the winning lighting and sound companies from five U.S. regions plus Canada to be chosen in time for their names to appear on the final Parnelli Ballot.

This year, Hometown Hero Nominations will be open from Aug. 1-Aug 31. This year’s Hometown Hero ballots for lighting and sound will be prepared, based on nominations from PLSN and FOH readers, and posted online for voting on Sept. 1.

Hometown Hero Voting will take place from Sept. 1-Sept. 30. Readers who vote will help narrow the field down from the 36 Lighting and Sound companies on each of the ballots to just six regional winners (six for lighting, six for sound).

Regional winners will automatically earn a spot on the Parnelli Award ballot for a final round of voting to determine the 2018 Parnelli Hometown Hero Lighting (and Sound) Companies of the Year.

Indispensable Technology (“IT”) Awards:

The IT Awards honor products that garner praise from PLSN and FOH readers who have put them to use — actual products used in the field, not just conceptual products that will be shipping at a later date. To qualify for the 2018 Parnelli “IT” Award, products should have been launched in the mid-2016 to mid-2017 time frame. This year, “IT” Award Nominations will be open from Aug. 15-Sept. 30. Top nominated products (Lighting, Staging, Video, Audio) make it onto the Parnelli Awards ballot for a final vote,

Parnelli Awards:

Nominations for all the other Parnelli Awards categories honoring people (i.e., Lighting Designer of the Year, FOH Engineer of the Year, Production Manager of the Year, etc.) and companies (i.e., Lighting Company of the Year, Sound Company of the Year, Staging Company of the Year, etc.) will take place from mid-September (Sept. 18, to be precise) throughout the month of October (Oct. 31).

Parnelli Award Voting will then take place throughout November and into December (Nov. 1-Dec. 15).

Winners, of course, will be announced during the show itself, when the envelopes are opened at the podium at the Anaheim Hilton on Jan. 26.