Judges FAQs

You will be expected to evaluate up to five (5) products in any one of your preferred categories. All demos are conducted virtually and take approximately 45-minutes to 1-hour per product to review.

Product assignments will be sent to judges in early January. Please review your product assignments in the judge dashboard as soon as they are received and notify the CODiE Awards if you see any conflicts of interest or are no longer able to participate.

Every single entry for the CODiE Awards receives a detailed review by two expert judges via live demo (for product categories) or detailed written or video response (for the leadership categories).

In the first round, Judges review and evaluate products. Top-rated products are elevated to the second round as “Finalists.” Next, Finalists are Peer reviewed by SIIA members.

The scores of both rounds are combined to determine the Winners, which are announced during a special Awards Celebration.

Step 1: Nomination applications close January 17, 2025.

Once a nomination is submitted and paid for, it is officially entered!

Step 2: First Round (Expert) review January 24 to March 19 – Demos must be scheduled by February 21 and completed by March 19.

NOTE: Leadership categories do not require a demo and should be scored and reviewed based on the information submitted with the entry.  Please reach out to the Nominee with any questions or clarifications needed.

Starting January 24– Nominees and Judges will be emailed a link to access judge assignments and review Entry information. 

NOTE: We have Participants and Judges based all over the world with work, travel and classroom schedules. We ask everyone to be respectful of time schedules and time zones. If all parties agree, a call with multiple Judges or emailing recorded demos is allowed. 

Once you’ve completed your demos, you will then score each entry against the category specific criteria and Finalists will be announced March 28. 

Step 3: Second round Peer review.

Finalists then receive a second round Peer review. This is a quick review of materials provided in the entry (a video or written response, nomination description and URL) and accounts for 20% of the score. No additional demo is required. If the Peers have any questions regarding your scoring or the product(s) you reviewed, they will contact you.  You do not need to do anything additional for this round.

Step 4. Celebrate!
Winners will be announced virtually May 21, 2025. Stay tuned for details!

Called “the Oscars” of the tech industry, the SIIA CODiE Awards have honored top companies, products and people as leaders in innovation and excellence since 1986. When you think about the tech industry, the most famous pioneers like Steve Jobs and Bill Gates won CODiEs, but anyone working in tech is eligible to be nominated. Because we’re the only peer-reviewed award, winners are literally being recognized as the best of the best by your peers! Nominate someone (or yourself today!)

Fantastic! We couldn’t have the CODiEs without our awesome judges. Sign up now!

CODiE Awards judges represent Education and Business technology leaders looking to learn more about top technology products and leadership within the industry. Judges include teachers and administrators in Education Technology categories and executives, product leaders, tech engineers, investors, and consultants in Business Technology categories.

Before applying, read our terms & conditions for judges. Be sure to select the top categories you feel most qualified and most interested in reviewing.

NOTE: You will be emailed if your application is approved by November 22, 2024.  Application approval does not guarantee Judging assignments.  Some categories receive over 100 applications so we cannot always provide all qualified/approved judges assignments. 

So that you are sure to receive all CODiE Awards communications, please safelist codieawards@siia.net, the domain siia.net and/or the IP address 192.254.116.40. You may need to contact your email administrator in order to add email addresses or domains to your safelist.  Always check your spam/junk folders.

  • Be Responsive to Nominees. Life is busy now more than ever. Please respond to Nominees as quickly as possible regarding scheduling a demo. If for any reason you are not able to continue judging, please notify the CODiE Awards immediately as well as each nominee assigned to you and your product assignments will be reassigned.
  • Plan ahead: Keep deadlines in mind so you are not scheduling demos or submitting scores at the last minute and please block your schedule for 1 hour for each demo.
  • Be proactive: Nominees are expected to contact you, but you are welcome to be proactive and contact them with a short introduction message and suggest dates and times that work for you for each one-hour demo. Outline your preferences on demo times, what you would like to focus on and how you’d like to receive information.
  • Be professional: Remember that you are representing an international and prestigious awards process. Your interaction with Nominees before, during and after the demo should be respectful and professional.
  • Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Contact CODiE Awards, immediately if you are uncomfortable or confused about what to do.
  • Keep an eye on time. Make sure you are clear and reconfirm when the demo begins and how long it will go. Each demo may be up to one hour long.
  • Complete your evaluations immediately and completely. Don’t wait for days afterwards to enter your scores! Plan to take 15 minutes to enter them when they are fresh, right after the demo. Your scores play a large part 80% of the company’s score.

    Note:  Your comments will be viewed by the Nominee and may be used in press releases.  Provide detailed, high quality, constructive feedback for the Nominees to bring to their teams.  Please provide more than one or two sentences per response question when scoring.  Do not include any comments or questions pertaining to the CODiEs but rather direct them to CODiE Awards so that we can assist you.

  • Be prepared. Familiarize yourself with the judging criteria and your assigned products BEFORE the demo. When judging the products skip any criteria that are not relevant to the product. The product will not be penalized. We recommend reviewing the judging criteria with the Nominees before the presentation begins so everyone is on the same page.
  • Follow up with questions. Ask each assigned Nominee how they would like clarifying questions handled throughout the presentation. Be sure to follow up via email on any additional questions you may have about the product.
  • Tech check. Be sure you have the appropriate login and software to view the demo/ presentation. If you opt for a recorded demo, make sure you give yourself plenty of time to review the demo and complete your scores.

As soon as you are approved as a Judge you will receive tips and resources including badges for your email signature, ways to add the experience to your LinkedIn, and approval to join the Judge LinkedIn group. Once your assignments are completed you will receive a certificate from the CODiEs team. If you need a letter of completion, please let us know. We can only issue an official letter and not alter it for any Judge or sign a letter composed by a Judge or other party.

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