The Themed Entertainment Association (TEA), a non-profit representing compelling places and experiences worldwide, has revealed details of a new recognition initiative that will increase the quantity of creatively exceptional projects that it honours.
The TEA Recognition of Merit aims to highlight achievements that demonstrate outstanding artistry and/or execution in the creation of captivating locations and experiences, but that did not get the necessary number of votes for a Thea Award for Outstanding Achievement.
This new tier, like similar-sized awards schemes with multiple tiers, will allow the Thea Awards judging committee, TEA membership, and the general public to recognise a larger number of projects, and thus a larger number of the creative, artistic, architectural, engineering, technical, production, and business minds who developed them.
Celebrating best-in-class projects
The Recognition of Merit will follow the same subcategory requirements as the other Thea Awards, and all recipients will be expected to provide a credit list. While there is no minimum or maximum number of Recognitions of Merit presented in any given year, the TEA expects that the establishment of this additional category will raise the number of individuals and firms acknowledged annually by up to 30%.
Andy Westfal, chair of the Thea Awards judging committee, says: “We are now at a point where we receive several hundred Thea Award submissions annually, which is exciting for the industry but makes the selection process increasingly challenging given the limited number of Awards for Outstanding Achievement.
“By introducing the Recognition of Merit, the TEA will be able to celebrate not only more projects, but more creators than ever before.”
The TEA Recognition of Merit honorees will be unveiled at the TEA International Mixer at the IAAPA Expo on Tuesday 19 November at SeaWorld’s Ports of Cal Ballroom. The projects and creators will be celebrated during TEA INSPIRE, at Universal Studios Hollywood from 13 to 14 March 2025.
The TEA will provide further information about Recognition of Merit recipient programming later this year.
Melissa Oviedo, TEA’s chief executive officer, says: “The creation of the Recognition of Merit is a huge win for TEA members, the organization and the attractions community at large, and it upholds the Thea principle of celebrating industry excellence. We look forward to honoring Thea Award and TEA Recognition of Merit recipients in Universal City, and we can’t wait to introduce our members to this expanded slate of best-in-class projects.”
The TEA announced the appointment of Oviedo as its new chief executive officer last month.
