Welcome to the official countdown to the 2027 Azbee Awards of Excellence!

The 2027 Azbee submission period opens on Monday, Nov. 2, 2026. Now is the time to think about the excellent work you or your publication did this year and see which pieces can stand up to the biggest and most prestigious recognition event in the B2B media world.

We are making big changes to improve our submissions, judging and awards processes. And we are passing savings down through a bigger member discount.

You can learn more about submitting to the Azbees, find key eligibility criteria and rules, and read more about upcoming changes on our New for 2027 page.

Watch for These Improvements

Submitting to the Azbee Awards:

• We’re honoring tradition (and helping you find categories more quickly) by changing our divisions to Editorial, Design and Overall Excellence.
• Our category descriptions will be easier to read and digest, so you can gauge whether your content is a good fit. For each category, you’ll find three key pieces: requirements, guidelines, and what not to submit.
• A new, six-region system creates more parity between higher- and lower-entry regions.
• We’re eliminating certificate holders and passing the savings to you. This was a hard decision, but ultimately it’s fiscally and environmentally responsible.
• While we’re passing savings along: You’ll no longer pay for certificates upfront in your entry fees, winner or not. Instead, we’ll offer the opportunity to order certificates after winners are announced, and while we have them in stock, you can order the holder as an add-on. We’ll continue to share digital awards badges with our winners, so you can choose how you want to celebrate and promote your win.
• You’ll see these savings in your member discount: ASBPE members now receive a $115 discount for every submission. Freelancer members still receive an additional $20 discount. And those still stack with your early-bird savings. Seriously, sign up for membership (it’s $100 or less) and submit by Dec. 15.

Judging the Azbee Awards:

• We love our Azbee judges. Now, each judge will receive $5 in Azbee Bucks per scored entry (e.g., a 10-entry category is worth $50, a 20-entry category is worth $100, and so on). Azbee Bucks can be used for most ASBPE expenses. There’s no cap to how much you can earn, but if you earn $200 or more, we’ll earmark $100 for ASBPEvolve Summit registration.
• We have a new judge agreement you’ll sign when you apply to judge. It covers professional standards and objectivity, our conflicts of interest policy, confidentiality, entrant feedback, rewards (Azbee Bucks) and the commitment to judge.

New Peer Recognition:

• We’ll also launch a peer choice award, letting you nominate your favorite entry from the whole competition. Stay tuned for more details and help us celebrate the best of the best in B2B!

You’ll soon see these updates on the Azbee Awards site, including a category page that reflects our division changes, the new subgroups and revised category descriptions.

Watch our email announcements for more details. If you are not an ASBPE member, you can join our email list here.

Important Notes & Entry Deadlines

• Early-Bird Savings Deadline: Save $30 per entry off the standard entry fee by submitting before Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2026, at 8 p.m. ET.
• Regular Entry Deadline: Monday, Jan. 11, 2027, at 8 p.m. ET.
• Late Entry Deadline: Entries received after the regular deadline and through Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2027, at 11:59 p.m. ET will include an additional $20 late entry fee.
• Judges Earn & Learn: Apply to be an Azbee judge today!
• Support hours: Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. ET.