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Nomination, Submission Documents & Judging Process

VAMA partners with OpenWater, a Professional Awards Management System, to help us manage the RAMMY Awards nomination, entry submission, and judging. The process is outlined in detail below. Please review this before you begin the nomination process.  

Helpful video on how to nominate:  https://vimeo.com/846036661/27b0dccf0f

How to nominate
Nominators (people doing the nominating) create an account login (this is different from your VAMA member password). You will keep this login and password to track the nominations you submit. If you created an account last year, you would use the same login information again this year.
Once an account is created, you will log in and nominate individuals, communities, or companies for various award categories. You do this by:

  1. Click Start application.
    • Select the category you want to nominate using the drop-down menu.
    • Enter your (nominator) Name, Email, Phone number, and Company Name (this may auto populate).
    • Enter your Company/Community Address.
  2. Then, enter the required nominee information. The Nominee’s email address and cell number must be a direct email to the nominee. If nominating for a community/company award, it must be a direct email to the primary contact.
  3. Once you complete this nomination and fill out all required information, Click “Add to cart.” IMPORTANT: At this point, you have the option to “Check Out” if you are ready for the Payment Options (either invoice OR pay with credit card). If you would like to nominate additional categories in this same order (meaning, they are on the same invoice), you should select “Make Another Submission” and do this process over and over again until all of the nominations you want on this order are complete, and then you will click “Check Out” and select the payment option you would like. NOTE: What is listed in your cart at the time of checkout will be all items listed on the invoice. You can log in and do this as many times as needed in your awards account (if you need multiple nominations on different invoices).
  4. After you submit your order, we will email the newly nominated Candidate / Community / Company, notifying them of the nomination with a link to their application to submit the required materials for the award judging.
  5. Nominations close on September 12, 2025.
  6. Award Category Nominees will have until October 15, 2025, to complete the application of required information for judging.


Nomination Fees
All nomination fees must be paid before the February 6, 2026 RAMMY Awards Ceremony.

$89 for Individual Awards
$89 for Community Awards
$129 for Community of the Year
$0 Supplier Individual of the Year

What happens next once you or your company/community has been nominated? You must submit the required category questionnaire & documents.

Individual Award Category Nominees:
Once you are nominated, you will receive an email from Kathy Howery (kathy@vamaonline.org) notifying you that you have been nominated for a RAMMY award and informing you which award you were nominated for - keep this email for your records! This email will contain instructions and a link to create/access the nominee account. This is where you log in and select the category for which you were nominated, and then submit the answers to the required questions. If the nominee created an account last year, they would use the same login information again this year.  See the CATEGORY GUIDE for the exact category requirements. If we have 6 or more nominations for a single category, judges will use these questionnaires to narrow down to 6 finalists, who will then be interviewed by a judge via Zoom.

Company / Community Category Nominees:
Once a company or community is nominated, the primary contact listed on the nomination will receive an email from Kathy Howery (kathy@vamaonline.org) informing them they have been nominated for a RAMMY Company / Community award and for which award the company/community was nominated - keep this email for your records! This email will contain instructions and a link to create/access the nominee account. This is where you log in and select the category for which you were nominated, and then submit the answers to the required questions and/or upload documents/pictures/links for the category. See the CATEGORY GUIDE for the exact category requirements.

NOMINEES:  Did you delete that nominee confirmation email or can't find it?  Don't worry, you can CLICK HERE to access that page to answer questionnaires or upload required documents.  You will just need the name of the category in which you have been nominated. 

Judging Process
VAMA will provide judges with their own login and password to log into the system, where they will review the nominee submissions for the category they were assigned for judging.  For any category that narrows down the nominees to 6 finalists to receive a Zoom interview, the nominees will be notified about the date and times once the judge selects the final 6. You must provide the Nominee's cell phone number so we can reach them for the interview.

Event Registration & Attendance
Registration for this event will open in December 2025.  All nominees must register and pay to attend the event (attendee tickets are not included with the nomination).  All registration fees must be paid before the RAMMY Awards Ceremony on February 6, 2026..