Call for Entries
The SEBC – the largest building industry trade show in the
Southeast and DesignIdeas magazine proudly announce the most
prestigious awards in the region – the 34th Annual Aurora
Awards. Open to Builders, Architects, Developers, Interior
Designers/Merchandiser, Land Planners and Architectural
Designers with projects in 12-Southeastern States and the
Caribbean. Applications are accepted via online submittals.
Deadline to Enter: Thursday, April 25, 2013
Enter at www.entry.theauroras.com
Recognition of Winners
Winners of the Aurora, Grand, Best in State and Golden Aurora will be individually honored at the Awards
Gala/Spectacular held on Saturday, July 13, 2013 during the SEBC 2013. Winners will also be included in
DesignIdeas, the official winner’s magazine and proud sponsor of the Aurora Awards. All entrants are on display in
the Aurora Awards booth, located on the SEBC show floor.
Eligibility
Projects must be located in the Eastern Caribbean and any of the following southeastern states Alabama,
Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Aurora's Best of State
All AURORA Award entries are eligible for consideration in the Best of State category. Each entry from the 12state southeastern region will be entered in this category. A winner will be chosen from each state to represent
AURORA’s Best of State.
Benefits
There are more reasons than ever before for a builder and other members of his/her development team to
enter the AURORA Awards competition. For example, you should consider entering because:
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Being an award-winner gives you increased public relations and marketing opportunities, and can be
the basis of an effective advertising campaign built on important third-party testimony about the
quality of your award-winning product.
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Your credibility, especially in the eyes of your buyers and other key market segments, is enhanced
when your peers recognize you with an award.
Everyone who is part of a winning entry will receive recognition on July 14, even if another member of
the development team submitted his/her home or project.
You have a unique home (and kitchen or bath), residential development, office or other project that
deserves recognition.
You have a unique landscape design or interior merchandising design that deserves special attention.
Most categories in this year’s competition are broken down by price range rather than square footage,
thus enhancing the opportunity to compete more effectively against entries within the same price
range.
An AURORA Award allows you to take pride in your product and showcase your talents.
JUDGING
The judges selected for this year’s competition are nationally recognized professionals from the fields of home
building, development, architecture, land planning, interior merchandising, marketing and media (building
trade publications).
Judges are new each year and must wait at least two years before being eligible to sit on the panel again.
Judging is based a point system that rates each entry on a specific set of criteria and its own merit. (See
Judging Criteria.)
Entries receiving a predetermined number of points will earn AURORA Awards, while the highest point-winner
in a division of categories (e.g. Detached Single-Family Homes/Production-Built, Categories 5-13) will earn a
Grand AURORA Award. Exceptions: For the “Affordable Housing Category –Attached and Detached -Under
$200,000, the judging criteria will include the sales price of home as it relates to the median home price of the
Metropolitan Statistical Area.
All winning AURORA Award entries are eligible for the Grand AURORA Awards in their particular category. All
Grand AURORA Award winners are then eligible for the Golden AURORA Award. The Golden AURORA Award is
selected from the Grand AURORA Award winners through a consensus of the judges, not on the basis of
points, and is considered the Best in Show.
Please note that GRAND Aurora Award Winners are determined by overall category not in each price point. For
example: Detached Single Family Homes has 9 price point categories you can enter and can be awarded
multiple Aurora Awards in any of these nine. The Grand Winner will be chosen from the Aurora Winners in
these categories but ONLY one Grand per overall Category, unless multiple winners are deemed by the panel
of judges.
Three levels of awards will be presented this year. In order of achievement they are: AURORA Awards, Grand
AURORA Awards and the Golden AURORA Award (Best in Show).
Awards Presentation/Tickets
Aurora, Grand, Best in State and Gold Aurora Winner(s) will be honored Saturday, July 13, 2013 at the
Rosen Centre Hotel during the Southeast Building Conference in Orlando, Florida. The Black Tie
Gala/Spectacular begins at 6 pm in Rosen Centre’s Main Ballroom. Finalists and members of the finalists
development team are urged to purchase their tickets and make table reservations for the
Dinner/Spectacular at this time, as there will be limited seating. The deadline for priority seating is June
27, 2013.
Notification
All AURORA Award finalists, team members, and entrants will be notified by mail on or before June 10,
2013, and will receive a ticket order form for the AURORA Awards Dinner/Spectacular.
Publishing Rights and Return of Materials
All entries become the property of the FHBA and the SEBC/Aurora Awards and will be used for the sole
purpose of promotion of the Aurora. The FHBA and the SEBC may publish and/or reproduce entries in
any FHBA publication and/or product as well as grant permission for the entries to be published or
reproduced in any trade, consumer publication or product.
Categories, Judging Criteria and Portfolio Requirements
See the Categories page for more information.