SBIA 2016 Australian Surf Industry Awards and March Roundtable

Entries have now closed for the SBIA Surf Industry Awards with the voting set to begin on Feb 23. That is also the date when tickets will go on sale for the awards night, which will be held in Sydney at the Crowne Plaza, Coogee on Thursday, May 26.

The SBIA Awards night not only recognises the best in our industry, but is always a fun social evening and a good opportunity to meet and network with other retailers and industry reps. The 2015 Awards night attracted over 200 retailers and brand representatives from across Australia and we anticipate the 2016 awards at Coogee to be just as successful.

The key dates for the awards are:

Entries Open – Tuesday 12th January 2016

Entries Close – Monday 8th February 2016

Voting Opens & Tickets Available – Tuesday 23rd February 2016

Voting Closes – Friday 7th March 2016

Finalists Announced – Thursday 31st March 2016

Awards Night – Thursday 26th May 2016

As we reported last month, the board has made a couple of changes to the awards categories for 2016:

– State breakthrough retailers have changed to 1 national award and can have several winners.

– Australian Retailer & Australian Breakthrough retailer are now JUDGED awards, not voted.

The annual awards were launched in 2011 to celebrate the Industry’s outstanding Retailers, Products and Brands. With 30 categories ranging from Core Boardstore to Men’s Brand of the Year, the Awards also recognise outstanding Service to the Industry. Entering is a worthwhile endeavour that can not only deliver great benefits to your business, but is also a way to acknowledge the hard work and commitment of your employees.

In a recent interview with ASB magazine Simon Law, from Tsunami Surfer, expressed his thoughts on what it meant winning the NSW Breakthrough Retailer at last year’s awards:

“We won an award for having a crack, a sort 
of up-and-coming rookie award. It was really uplifting for us. All the reps and customers are stoked for us. It felt pretty good.”

We will also be holding an SBIA Roundtable on the same day as the awards. This will be at the Coogee Bay Hotel from 11am-4pm.  Check out the newsletter and sbia.com.au for further details.

Speaking of Roundtables, don’t forget the March roundtable, which is on at Twin Towns in Coolangatta on March 14.

The details and agenda are:

Twin Towns Services Club
Bay Room
2 Wharf Street
Tweed Heads NSW 2485
(07) 55362277

Monday 14th March, 2016
11:00am – 5:00pm

Cost 
( includes lunch and afternoon tea)
Retailers = FREE
Brands = $55
Please note: SBIA members only.

 AGENDA

 11am- 12:30pm: Session 1
– Board update
– Better engagement between the industry, the sport and the participants. Presentations by Andrew Stark, Surfing Australia and Indiana Green, Surfarama Content Series
– Roundtable discussion

12:30pm – 1:15pm: Lunch

 1:15pm – 3:00pm: Session 2
– New Retail. Presentation by Paul Greenberg, National Online Retailers Association
– Panel Discussion

3:00pm – 3:30pm: Afternoon Tea

3:30pm – 5:00pm: Session 3
– Open Forum. SBIA members can send through suggested discussion points to admin@sbia.com.au before the event.

Tickets for the roundtable are available over at the Ticket Sales page.