The IAVM Education & Service Award recognizes member involvement through community outreach, education opportunities, mentorships, and internships that demonstrate excellence within our industry and give back to the community. Examples of community involvement may include: active in high school programs and career development; offering internships for local college students; mentoring through community outreach or within a university setting; educational offerings to staff; community involvement with youth or young adults.

IAVM takes pride in its members and strives further to celebrate those that give back to their communities. The Education & Service Award is one way that IAVM can help to recognize members who go above and beyond. All members who meet the criteria below are encouraged to apply. The IAVM Education & Service Award is given annually to no more than two (2) venues, companies, or universities and to one (1) individual.

Any member in good standing is encouraged to apply. Companies or venues that apply must have at least one current employee who is an IAVM member in good standing. Venues, companies, and individuals may nominate themselves or be nominated by others.

Each application submitted will be eligible for consideration for a three-year period. As an example, an application submitted for the 2025 award will remain in the application pool for 2026 and 2027 unless the applicant wins. No further action is required. However, applicants may update or modify their application prior to the annual submission deadline in 2026 & 2027. Please contact Angela Coleman, if you’d like to update or modify your past submission.

Monday, May 1, 2026 – All materials must be received via this form.

Application Format

Applications must be submitted in a MS WORD document. It must include a header and a word count at the top of each section.

Applicants must demonstrate how they excel in each of the areas listed. (1000 words max per area):

• Educational offerings (internal and/or external)
• Community outreach and awareness of the venue management industry
• Internships and/or mentoring opportunities

Photographs

Applicants must provide at least one photo (but no more than 5) depicting the services above. Photos need to be at least 300 dpi (print resolution), no smaller than 2MB nor larger than 30MB, and in .jpg format.

Scoring

Scoring of the IAVM Education & Service Award reflects IAVM’s six Value Statements: integrity, service, safety, education, advocacy and people first. Scoring of the Education & Service Award applications is performed by the Awards & Recognition Committee, with final approval by the IAVM Board of Directors. Award winners will be honored during VenueConnect.