Awards night: how to run a fair people's choice vote

How to run a people's choice or Best Dressed vote at an awards night: nominations, eligibility, one vote per person, a live race or hidden totals, the reveal and the record.

A people's choice award is only exciting if everyone trusts the result. If the same team wins every year, or someone hears that a department "organised" its votes, the award stops meaning anything. This guide is about running the vote itself: how nominations work, who can vote, how to stop double voting, and how to turn the result into a moment on stage. For category ideas, see our Best Dressed categories.

Choose the categories

Keep it to two to four categories at a dinner. Each extra category adds five minutes and fewer people vote in it. Good combinations:

Best Dressed, plus one fun award such as Best Dressed Couple or Best Effort on the Theme.
Colleague of the Year, Rising Star and Team Player for a recognition night.
Best Performance, if departments perform on stage.

Write one sentence for each category describing what it rewards. "Best Dressed: the outfit that best fits tonight's theme" stops arguments about what the award is for.

How nominees are chosen

There are three common ways, each with its own trade-offs.

Committee shortlist. The committee picks three to six nominees per category during arrival. Fast and easy for Best Dressed, where the outfits are only seen on the night.
Nominations before the night. Staff nominate colleagues in the week before, and the top five go to the vote. Better for recognition awards, where the reasons matter.
Open vote. Everyone can vote for anyone on the guest list. Feels the most democratic, but the biggest departments usually win.

For most company dinners, a shortlist chosen by the committee, then a vote by the whole room, is the fairest mix.

Photos make it real

Take a photo of each nominee as they arrive, against the same background if you can. The screen then shows real faces rather than names, and guests vote for the outfit they actually saw. Ask nominees first; a few people will prefer not to be on a big screen.

Who can vote

Decide before the night and tell the room:

Everyone present, from their own phone.
Can nominees vote? Usually yes, but not for themselves.
Can the committee vote? If they also chose the nominees, it is cleaner if they do not.

One vote per person

The biggest worry at any vote is people voting many times. Two ways to prevent it:

One vote per phone. Enough for most dinners.
A personal code or staff ID for each guest, so every person votes once whatever phone they use.

Pick the lightest one that your room will trust, and say it out loud: "One vote per person, from your own phone."

Make it a show

Live race: the votes move on the big screen as they come in. People cheer for their table and campaign for their colleagues. Fun, but it can turn into a popularity contest.
Hidden totals: keep the votes secret and reveal the winner at the end, for more suspense. Better for recognition awards.
Countdown: give each category two or three minutes, with a timer on the screen, so the voting does not drag.

The reveal

Close the voting, then build the moment:

Show the nominees once more, with their photos.
Ask the room for a drum roll.
Reveal third place, second, then the winner, on a podium on the big screen.
Have the prize and the photographer ready at the front.

Keep the totals visible after the reveal for a few seconds. Seeing the numbers is what convinces people the vote was real.

When it is a tie

Agree the rule in advance. The usual options are a 60-second run-off between the two, or both winners sharing the award. A run-off on the big screen is more fun and settles it in front of everyone.

After the night

Export the results for your records, and send the photos to the winners and nominees. Share the winners in the company newsletter. Everyone who voted gets to see that their vote counted.

A checklist

Two to four categories, each described in one sentence
Nominee photos taken at arrival, with permission
Voting rules and "one vote per person" decided and announced
Live race or hidden totals chosen per category
Tie rule agreed
Prizes and photographer ready for the reveal

Try it

See how Best Dressed voting works on the big screen. You can rehearse the whole vote with your committee: play for free with up to 20 people, then pick a plan for your guest count on the pricing page.