It has become all too clear in recent weeks that because of the Covid-19 pandemic IFR and IFR Asia will not be able to hold our awards dinners on our usual schedule in early 2021. We hope to be able to have events later in the year, if circumstances allow – possibly in May or June. Details of timing and venues are still being finalised; we will update you on this as soon as we are able to.
And that got us thinking. This is a good opportunity to move the “IFR awards year” (currently November 16 to November 15) to an actual calendar year. And to make the timings a little less fraught for everyone by reducing the time pressure.
That means changes to current timelines/deadlines.
This is what we now plan to do.
- The cut-off for deal eligibility will be December 31, 2020.
- Our journalists will conduct interviews where necessary from November 16 to December 17. Whether (for this year at least) they will take place virtually or in person will be determined by the circumstances at the time.
- We ask for pitch books to be with us by November 13. We will be happy to receive updated documents before the end of the year with details of deals that close after November 13.
- The awards issue will be published in February (exact date to be confirmed).
- Deals that took place after the cut-off last year (ie, those that closed after November 15, 2019) will be eligible for the 2020 awards.
Everything else will remain business as usual -- including the fundraising for Save the Children.
We will publish the list of awards for this year, eligibility criteria, etc, in the magazines and on the websites as usual in September.
We hope you think this is a sensible reaction to the current pandemic and that it will make life a little easier for all involved in writing pitch documents, arranging meetings, pitching, etc.
For those involved in PFI awards, the PFI awards year will stay as it is – although the date of the awards dinner will change. Please contact PFI’s Rod Morrison for more details.
Any questions, please feel free to contact us.
Regards,
Matthew Davies,
Editor, IFR
m.davies@refinitiv.com +44 787 212 1024
Steve Garton,
Editor, IFR Asia
steve.garton@refinitiv.com +852 6113 4283