With the end of festival season and a slew of autumn arena tours around the corner, it can only mean one thing for us at TPi HQ – we’re firing up the engine for the TPi Awards machine.
This year we have made some considerable changes to the TPi Awards categories and voting process. Firstly, the TPi Awards has made the difficult decision to retire the named dedicated awards – The Des Fallon Video Visionary Award, The Mark Fisher Set Designer of the Year, and The Dennis Sheehan Tour Manager of the Year. This was not a decision we took lightly, and those three individuals will continue to be honoured in other ways at our event and within the pages of TPi while also giving the opportunity to pay tribute to others that have dedicated their lives to the industry.
We’ll be making further announcements later in the year on how we’ll continue to honour these titans of the sector. It is worth noting that Tour Manager of the Year and Production Manager of the Year will remain as categories of the Awards.
The Des Fallon Video Visionary Award will now be split into two different categories – Content Creator of The Year and Video Specialist of The Year. Our hope is to ensure that we are shining the light on both those individuals and collectives creating outstanding visual content and not conflating them with those on-site Video Directors, Media Server Operators and Video Technicians responsible for producing high-tech solutions for the touring world.
Favourite Bussing Company has been expanded to Favourite Tour Transport Company, which will open the floor to all companies providing artists and crew with transport options – from ground transport and tour busses to private jets – any business involved in getting performing artists, support teams and crew from A to B in style. 2024 will also see the amalgamation of Favourite Staging Company and Favourite Set Construction Company.
Lastly, the Outstanding Contribution Award will be changing its name to the TPi Industry Recognition Award. Our aim with this accolade is to highlight an individual that made a real impact on the live events industry in the past 12 months.
For several years, the TPi Awards has been working on a one-time voting system, where we open the whole process to the entire industry to choose their favourite companies and individuals. However, after numerous conversations with voters, shortlisters and winners about how we can make this process better and more inclusive, this has led to the introduction of the TPi Awards Academy. Composed of last year’s individual winners alongside other prominent industry figures, the TPi Awards Academy will be responsible for curating the shortlist for each individual category. We will then call upon the wider industry to vote for their winner. This will mean that for the foreseeable, individuals can’t win at the TPi Awards for two consecutive years, ensuring that we continue to highlight new names and faces within the scene.
Another major change will be in the company awards, with businesses now required to submit a short application highlighting the events they’ve been working on for the past year. All the company entries will then be whittled down into a shortlist by the TPi Awards Academy before going out to the public.
The Green Award, which was introduced back in 2020 and has its own individual application process, will remain the same for the 2024 version.
These changes will lead to more exciting and engaging discourse and help consolidate TPi Awards as the global live touring sector’s favourite night out.
