No hidden agendas.
No shoe-ins.
No limitations.
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In a practice that’s still being defined and refined, the CAP Awards by Captivate is an innovative vendor agnostic awards program exclusively designed to honor and celebrate customer engagement that’s driving impact, for organizations and the customers who power them.
Emphasizing strategy and results above all else, the CAP Awards level the playing field by acknowledging the brilliance of innovative and talented customer advocacy professionals who are doing excellent work, regardless of the tools they use. Whether you use cutting-edge software or a basic spreadsheet, have a big or modest budget, work at an enterprise or a start-up, the CAP Awards exist to celebrate excellence in customer advocacy, period.
Advocacy Impact
A customer advocacy program that has demonstrated measurable impact (qualitative and quantitative) to their customer base and organization.
Advocacy Program Brand
A customer advocacy program recognized by its customers and beyond for its compelling brand identity and seen as a gold standard in advocacy program branding.
Advocate Engagement Campaign
This impactful advocacy campaign has successfully combined great ingenuity, memorable customer experience, and actionable engagement, all resulting in measurable results.
Exceptional Advocacy Portfolio
An advocacy portfolio that exhibits the evolution of the customer advocacy practice and the teams that support it and demonstrates exceptional brand, portfolio, and alignment excellence.
Lifecycle Advocacy
This customer advocacy program encapsulates the idea that “advocacy is a practice, not a platform” and leads the way in practice evolution by integrating advocate engagement strategies into the tools and processes that support the customer journey.
The Advocacy Mindset
This professional has an innate ability to nurture deep relationships with their customers, while at the same time understanding how to harness those relationships to promote business growth.
Advocate of the Year
A rockstar advocate who partners with your organization and advocacy team to drive value for both your organization and themselves. They exhibit the ideal customer any vendor would be lucky to have.
Meet Our Judges
Mark Organ
Founder
Mark is an entrepreneur, investor, consultant and coach. His entire career has revolved around B2B SaaS and marketing technology. He co-founded both marketing automation giant Eloqua and customer marketing pioneer Influitive, and grew both companies to $100M+ valuation. Mark currently works as a product and marketing consultant with his company Categorynauts.
Cristina Melluzzi
Director, Global Customer Marketing & Advocacy
An evolving marketing leader with over 20 years’ international experience across customer marketing, advocacy, communications and brand management, Cristina built her career at some of the largest technology companies in the world, including HP, Microsoft and now Cisco. A passionate leader known for creativity, energy and mentoring of future leaders, Cristina works tirelessly to bridge technology and empathy in some of the world’s largest enterprises.
Julie Perino
Head, Global Customer Marketing
Julie is Director, Customer Marketing for Adobe Experience Cloud, engaging Adobe customers across the globe through a portfolio of customer advocacy programs and Adobe’s Experience League Communities. Prior to joining Adobe, she served as Senior Director, Customer Marketing at Marketo. Julie is a TOP100 Customer Marketing & Advocacy Strategist and has held senior marketing and sales positions with IBM, Dun & Bradstreet Software, Cognos, and several early stage companies in the social data and analytics space.
Evan Huck
Chief Executive Officer
Co-founder and CEO of UserEvidence, Evan has spent his entire 13-year career in the customer marketing space. Prior to founding UserEvidence, Evan led enterprise sales for SurveyMonkey, and helped scale social proof startup TechValidate (acquired by SurveyMonkey). Evan advises multiple startups on B2B enterprise sales and GTM strategy, and is an active angel investor and LP in GTMFund.
Cynthia Hester
Director, Global Customer Programs
A senior marketing professional with more than 20 years of global marketing experience, Cynthia has led and managed global cross-functional teams, as well as developed and implemented global strategic marketing plans, including customer advisory boards, award programs, and events. She believes in a holistic approach that includes customer insights, thought leadership, personal brand amplification, and storytelling.
Robin Hamilton
Chief Executive Officer
A self-confessed customer advocacy geek, Robin has 20 years of client and agency customer advocacy experience creating and optimizing programs large and small. In addition to heading up the inEvidence team, Robin’s focus is on driving advocate marketing forward as a profession.
Ryan Farmer
Chief Operating Officer
A seasoned marketing and advertising professional with 20+ years of experience, Ryan is the Chief Operating Officer of full-service marketing agency Mad Genius, overseeing all aspects of the agency's creative production. He is a skilled strategist and creative thinker, and possesses a deep understanding of the marketing landscape. Ryan's passionate about helping businesses grow their brand and is always looking for new ways to reach and engage consumers.
June 5 | Applications Open
July 7 | Applications Close
July 10-18 | Round 1 Judging
July 21 | Finalists Announced
July 24-31 | Round 2 Judging
Aug 4 | Winners Selected
Aug 14-18 | Awards Week!
What are you waiting for?
There's no better time than the present. Get started today. And don't worry, we know you're busy. The life of a rockstar usually is. You don't have to have all your application materials together right now. You'll create a login so you can save your progress as you go and complete the application as time allows. Take as much time as you need, just don't miss the deadline (July 7th).
Frequently Asked Questions
How are the CAP Awards different?
In a world where industry awards have become about as credible as a high school popularity contest by catering to big logos, large spenders, chummy favorites or disgruntled customers, the CAP Awards are the first 100% advocacy-focused awards and are refreshingly focused on outcomes with objectivity. The CAP Awards seek to elevate practitioners who are doing excellent work in the field of customer advocacy, regardless of how big their budget is, how active they are on the speaker circuit or how much money they are spending on snazzy customer engagement technology. These awards celebrate anyone doing the most innovative work in the field of customer advocacy, without all the politics. We aim to put a spotlight on the quiet excellence being done every day in the field of advocacy.
How are winners determined?
We want to pull back any curtain on the mysteries of how award recipients are chosen. No secrets here. From the initial applicants, the Captivate Collective team will complete an initial round of judging based on three criteria: 1) outcomes achieved, 2) the quality of the materials presented and 3) a category-specific criteria. Our qualified judges will then score the top finalists (those who scored a 4 or greater in initial judging) in each category to determine category winners.
Can I apply to multiple categories?
Definitely. If you or your program qualify for multiple categories, don't hold yourself back!
You have vendors on your judging panel so how will you ensure judging remains fair?
All our judges have been chosen based on their passion and experience in the field of customer advocacy and their active contributions in the advocacy community. All judges are aligned to our mission of an authentic awards program, where winners are selected based on outcomes and innovation. Judges are coached on our program values and we encourage judges to recuse themselves from certain categories if they will not be able to remain impartial or have an extraordinary relationship with any final applicant.
Can I nominate a colleague, peer or someone on my team?
Yes, for our individual awards, we’d love to hear about your teammates or peers who are doing amazing work in the space. However, you must be able to include supporting data and commentary to ensure you submit a complete application.
When is the application deadline?
All applications must be submitted by July 7th! The CAP Awards run on a tight, well-defined schedule. You can view the full timeline infographic above.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are the CAP Awards different?
In a world where industry awards have become about as credible as a high school popularity contest by catering to big logos, large spenders, chummy favorites or disgruntled customers, the CAP Awards are the first 100% advocacy-focused awards and are refreshingly focused on outcomes with objectivity. The CAP Awards seek to elevate practitioners who are doing excellent work in the field of customer advocacy, regardless of how big their budget is, how active they are on the speaker circuit or how much money they are spending on snazzy customer engagement technology. These awards celebrate anyone doing the most innovative work in the field of customer advocacy, without all the politics. We aim to put a spotlight on the quiet excellence being done every day in the field of advocacy.
How are winners determined?
We want to pull back any curtain on the mysteries of how award recipients are chosen. No secrets here. From the initial applicants, the Captivate Collective team will complete an initial round of judging based on three criteria: 1) outcomes achieved, 2) the quality of the materials presented and 3) a category-specific criteria. Our qualified judges will then score the top finalists (those who scored a 4 or greater in initial judging) in each category to determine category winners.
You have vendors on your judging panel so how will you ensure judging remains fair?
All our judges have been chosen based on their passion and experience in the field of customer advocacy and their active contributions in the advocacy community. All judges are aligned to our mission of an authentic awards program, where winners are selected based on outcomes and innovation. Judges are coached on our program values and we encourage judges to recuse themselves from certain categories if they will not be able to remain impartial or have an extraordinary relationship with any final applicant.
Can I nominate a colleague, peer or someone on my team?
Yes, for our individual awards, we’d love to hear about your teammates or peers who are doing amazing work in the space. However, you must be able to include supporting data and commentary to ensure you submit a complete application.
Can I apply to multiple categories?
Definitely. If you or your program qualify for multiple categories, don't hold yourself back!
When is the application deadline?
All applications must be submitted by July 7th! The CAP Awards run on a tight, well-defined schedule. You can view the full timeline infographic above.
Ready to shine? 🤩
Your award is waiting. Click below to get your application started.