The greeting card publishing awards are now open for entries
The Henries 2022, the ultimate accolades in greeting card publishing, are now open for entries with a deadline of 15 June, 2022 – as ever, entry is free of charge and there is no limit to the number of entries a publisher can submit.
This year, for the first time, there will be a two-stage judging process. With all entries to be submitted via a portal on The Henries website (www.thehenriesawards.co.uk), the initial judging stage will also take place entirely online through an extensive panel of retail buyers who will be invited to judge at least six categories each.
From the the judges’ online votes, they will arrive at a shortlist of contenders who will be invited to take part in the live judging round, which will again be judged entirely by retailers, for which publishers will be asked to supply physical card samples.
The shortlisted entries will be mounted on boards and displayed for the judges to peruse in person, and their votes will decide the finalists and winner in all the product categories along with the Best Young Designer.
“The two-stage hybrid approach to The Henries judging process this year provides the best of both worlds,” commented Jakki Brown, managing director of Max Publishing which owns and organises The Henries. “The online submission means that the retail judges can carefully consider the entries over a number of weeks, but then can also enjoy seeing the shortlisted ranges in the flesh with many of their retailing peers at an in-person Henries judging event, something that hasn’t happened since 2019!”
The Henries 2022 award categories span the whole gamut of greeting card publishing, from humour to cute, art to children’s, and Christmas to sentiment – plus, introduced last year, there is also a Best Diversity & Inclusion Range category that’s sponsored by the GCA.
Submissions should be for card ranges that have been launched at retail 15 June 2021-15 June 2022 or for new designs to an existing collection launched in that period.
In the Best Spring Seasons Range category, for this year’s awards only the knock-on effects of the pandemic are being taken into account so there’s a two-year window to accommodate publishers who carried forward Spring Seasons ranges.
Therefore, all Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day, Easter and Father’s Day greeting card ranges that have been launched into UK retail (bricks and mortar and/or online) between 15 June 2020 and 15 June 2022 qualify for entry. Entries for this category should be event-specific, ie publishers should submit a separate entry for Valentine’s Day, a separate entry for Mother’s Day, etc.
The Henries 2022 Awards Big Night
The Henries awards event is the industry’s big night. It’s a fabulous opportunity for the greeting card community to get together and celebrate its creative excellence as well as its strong sense of camaraderie.
Taking place at The Royal Lancaster Hotel in London on Thursday, 6 October, 2022, The Henries 2022 awards will be jumpin’, especially as it will take on an up-tempo 1950s theme this year!
To book tickets click here.
Top: A happy scene at The Henries 2021
