How many jurors does an award need?

Rules differ by country and by council. Ask your legal adviser.

The right number depends on what the award means and who can challenge it. The organiser's jury makes the final decision.

Use an odd number

An odd panel does not split evenly. This removes a cause for a tie. Write voting rules before nominations open. Wrong name, absent award recipient, contested decision says why a written process defends itself better than a memory.

Let the stakes set the size

A small club award can work with a small panel. A municipal distinction with public attention may call for a larger panel. A larger panel shares the decision-making burden and takes longer to meet.

An example, not a rule: three jurors for a small award, five or seven for a municipal distinction. Choose a number you can gather. A smaller panel that comes together may serve better than a larger one that doesn't.

Choose for independence and mixing

Prefer jurors with no interest in the outcome. Where the area is small and connections are likely, ask your legal adviser how to handle them.

Mix the panel. Those who know the area see one side of the candidacy. Those who know the audience, the history or the craft see another. A mixture makes the result easier to explain.

Plan absence

Life passes by. Choose a panel that still meets when a person is absent, and write down who replaces them before applications open.

Who decides, and what remains

The number of jurors is an edition rule, like the categories and eligibility. The criteria are written before the nominees are known.

The organiser's jury decides. Eventblox® does not choose the award recipient. The approved result is linked to the ceremony, and this is what answers a question months later. Plan saves the approved basis. What follows the name is in Celebrate.

Decide on an odd number that fits what is at stake. Prefer jurors with no interest in the outcome. Mix points of view. Plan an absence.