Cvent’s Excellence Awards began as a customer recognition program. Fourteen years later, they’ve become something bigger: a snapshot of an industry in motion, spotlighting the event, marketing and hospitality professionals turning technology into measurable business results.

This year’s program featured 19 categories—11 for event professionals and marketers, eight for hospitality professionals—recognizing 21 winners from more than 500 nominations. More than 420 finalists, industry leaders, Cvent executives and account teams attended in person, with hundreds more joining virtually or watching on demand through the Attendee Hub.

Those numbers give the program scale; the stories give it weight.

“The Excellence Awards are one of the most authentic expressions of what we do and why we do it,” says Brittany Manzanares, senior manager, content marketing at Cvent. “They’re customer-driven proof that great technology, in the hands of talented people, produces outcomes worth celebrating.”

That recognition is especially meaningful in a field where so much of the work happens long before attendees arrive, giving that often-invisible work center stage.

“Many of our customers pour enormous energy into their programs, and that work may not always be immediately recognized,” says Meaghan Campbell, senior manager, customer marketing at Cvent. “The Excellence Awards give them a place to stand out in front of the entire industry, showcasing their ingenuity, hard work and expertise.”

Cvent builds the experience around that idea of appreciation, with finalists receiving complimentary access to Cvent CONNECT, networking opportunities, custom gifts and a series of touchpoints designed to make the recognition feel personal from nomination to celebration.

The centerpiece is an invite-only banquet designed less like a corporate awards dinner than a true celebration, with entertainment, beautiful set tables and peers cheering one another on. Winners continue to receive VIP treatment after the ceremony, including celebrity meet and greets, gifts and recognition on the Cvent CONNECT main stage.

Those in-person moments reinforce what Cvent calls the Presence Premium: the value created when the right people gather in the same place at the same time. The awards bring customers together with Cvent leaders and account teams in a setting built for both celebration and connection.

“It’s our genuine chance to show our customers how much we value what they do—and how the time, energy and effort they’re putting in is helping push this industry forward,” says Riya Sood, team lead, customer marketing at Cvent.

Submissions for the 2027 Cvent Excellence Awards are now open! Celebrate the achievements of Cvent users across the globe.

An evolving definition of excellence

The 2026 program also reflected how dramatically the industry is changing. Cvent refreshed several categories to recognize new priorities, including strategic uses of artificial intelligence (AI), stronger virtual-event strategies and programs created to drive association or nonprofit impact. The Event Intelligence Award and AI Activator Award, for example, highlight how customers are using AI-powered tools to improve performance, personalize experiences and work more efficiently.

“Every year we ask ourselves how we can make the program more relevant and reflective of where the industry is going,” Manzanares says, “and 2026 was probably our most significant evolution yet.”

A new formal partnership with MPI added another layer this year, giving Cvent a way to broaden recognition while extending winners’ stories beyond awards night (see sidebar), and facilitating an onsite raffle—featuring a signature experience offered by the Venetian Resort Las Vegas—that raised more than $10,000 for the MPI Foundation.

“This may have been one of our proudest achievements as a team,” Manzanares says.

Behind the scenes, the planning process mirrored many of the shifts the awards now recognize. Cvent’s team used AI selectively to support nominee marketing, personalized outreach and content production, focusing on areas where it could reduce manual work while improving relevance.

The team also had to align the awards with Cvent’s new brand positioning, announced live during Cvent CONNECT just hours before the ceremony. That compressed timeline shaped months of planning and required close coordination across departments to protect the impact of the brand reveal while delivering a cohesive awards experience.

Cvent staff also felt the growing pressure to keep the program fresh. What started as a smaller celebration of Cvent’s event-professional clients has become a marquee experience during the company’s largest event of the year. With the 15th anniversary approaching, the team is already looking at how to involve MPI earlier, use AI more effectively and keep categories aligned with the fast-moving market.

For all the strategy behind the program, its strongest moments remain human. Winners hearing their names called and stepping onto the stage give the awards their emotional center, beyond the metrics and case studies.

“One of our favorite moments is seeing the faces of our award winners when they get called up to the stage,” Campbell says. “They’re not just accepting an award for their organization—they’re being seen for the work they’ve put in. That moment is significant for our winners, and for us.”

One standout, according to Campbell, was the Marketing Mastermind Award which recognizes marketers who turn events into growth engines. This year’s winner, Gainsight, leveraged Cvent solutions and CRM integration to transform a disjointed program into a “multi-city, integrated program that resulted in impressive pipeline generation—all from a disciplined budget on a small team.”

“That’s exactly the story we built this category to tell,” Campbell said.

Looking ahead, Cvent expects AI to remain a defining influence, from smarter sourcing to scaled personalization to sharper performance analysis. The company also sees growing demand for more community-specific recognition—categories that reflect the realities of distinct segments rather than broad honors.

Of course, nowadays, winners increasingly expect recognition to extend beyond a trophy and a single night on stage. Cvent is responding by using its marketing channels and MPI partnership to keep winners’ stories visible after the event.

“A trophy matters, but what matters more is what happens after in terms of showcasing those award-worthy achievements,” Sood says.

That may be the clearest sign of how far the Excellence Awards have come. The program still celebrates individual achievement, but it also tracks larger shifts in how this community defines impact.

“There are exciting ideas we’re already workshopping as we look at ways to grow our program, and we can’t wait to see what we build together next,” Sood says.

A shared win

As title sponsor of the 2026 Cvent Excellence Awards, MPI provided memberships to all event-category winners. The onsite raffle also raised more than $10,000 for the MPI Foundation through support from the Venetian Resort Las Vegas and matching funds from Cvent.

“We are so fortunate to have the best partners supporting our efforts,” says Kevin Kirby, executive director, MPI Foundation. “It was especially impactful having Cvent offer to tie this into recognizing excellence. The vibe in the room was celebratory and appreciative!”