And the 2022 SITE Crystal Award Goes to…

April 28, 2022

Representatives of the six 2022 SITE Crystal Award winners took to the stage during the SITE Global Conference in Dublin, Ireland, last week to be recognized for earning the incentive industry’s highest honors.

The 2022 SITE Crystal Award winners were celebrated during the SITE Global Conference last week as they took to the stage to accept their awards. The six winners earned their SITE Crystal Awards for their creative, practical and memorable incentive programs — most of which took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was about as unfriendly an era for incentive travel as the industry has ever faced. Five of the six winners were recognized for incentive programs that either had to migrate online due to COVID restrictions or were among the first in-person trips to take place once those restrictions began to ease.

“This is an incredibly special group of Crystal Award winners,” said Kevin Edmunds, MS, CITP, Vice President, AIC Hotel Group and SITE President. “They are all leaders in our industry, with the programs we recognized at this year’s Crystal Awards Gala standing out as shining examples of incentive travel programs being run smoothly and safely that still achieve the exacting, incredibly high business aims all of us set out to deliver.”

The six award winners this year were:

Liberty Mutual Insurance Company earned the Excellence in Incentive Travel: North America award for its Trek to Quebec incentive, the only program honored this year that took place before the COVID pandemic hit. Kristal Cardone, Director, Reward & Recognition Events, said that the program not only allowed winners an opportunity to network with senior leadership in a unique and intimate setting, but also “afforded them the chance to experience a new part of the world with memory-making activities, and return to the office recharged and armed with plenty of brag-worthy moments! It hit all of the hallmarks of a great incentive program and with over 1/3 of the winners ultimately getting promoted and staying loyal to our company — we couldn’t have had a better outcome.”
H&R Block and Maritz Global Events received the Most Creative Solution Deployed at a Time of Crisis award for its 2021 Top Performers program. Designing and delivering the individual experiences was hard work, said Tim Simpson, Brand and Engagement Chief Strategist, Maritz Global Events. “But when we started to receive the emails and texts and photos from the winners — when we heard their stories — it confirmed that it certainly was work worth doing! The winners will never be the same as a result. We commend H&R Block for having the vision and the commitment to see this through.”
• Motivation Excellence won the Most Creative Solution Deployed at a Time of Crisis award for its Gem Club 2020: From Kauai to Concierge program. “Being honored within the industry with the SITE Crystal Award means a great deal to our team! We work to Inspire Extraordinary Performance with every client and every participant. But it starts within our own company. We appreciate this recognition as it truly shows the care and passion we value internally and produce externally,” said David Jobes, President and CEO, Motivation Excellence.
Forever Living Products International won the Best Standalone Virtual Celebratory Event award for its Forever Global Rally at Home 2021 program. “As an industry, we have been in uncharted waters for almost two years and the innovation required to keep incentive events relevant and engaging to our audiences has been a real challenge. This recognition is a result of the creativity, risk and dedication that defines business events,” said Nick Woodward-Shaw, the company’s Vice President of Communications, as he thanked SITE for the award.
Event Partners Ireland DMC earned the Best Virtual Motivational Experience for its the Cream of the Crop incentive, which gave the company a way to communicate with its clients in a unique and engaging way during a time when face-to-face meetings were impossible due to the pandemic. “Winning the SITE Crystal Award stands testament to the success of the collaborative approach we took with our partners, during incredibly challenging times,” said Nicola McGrane, CEO of Event Partners Ireland.
HMI Performance Incentives won the Most Impactful Effort Toward Corporate Social Responsibility as Part of an Incentive Program award for its Manning Destination Club incentive. Winning the award, said Paul Ferreira, President and Founder, HMI Performance Incentives, is “a testament to our entire group travel team, their hard work, and the mission-driven approach we at HMI take each and every day.”

Crystal Awards Chair Ellie MacPherson, CITP, Senior Vice President, Canada Operations, Creative Group and a member of SITE’s international Board of Directors, said the industry was “sending a strong signal as to the immense power of incentive travel and its global business impacts,” with its celebration of the award winners at the in-person SITE Global Conference. “Our industry will continue to rebound and recover, with incentive travel set to play an increasingly important role in generating business results for corporations while also reinforcing values and company culture.”

Next year’s SITE Global Conference, which will also be a celebration of SITE’s 50^th anniversary, will be held in New York City in February 2023.