Gold Circle Awards
The BOMA/Chicago Gold Circle Awards honor individual excellence within Chicago's commercial real estate community in six categories. Award nominations must be submitted online to BOMA/Chicago by 5 PM on Friday, October 27.
Before completing, please review the Gold Circle guidelines to understand nomination requirements.
Nomination Forms
The links are listed below for individual online nomination forms.
Timeline
September 6 - October 27
Gold Circle Award online nomination period
November 1 - 10
Written nomination submission forms reviewed by judges and three finalists selected within each award category
November 27 - December 8
All nominees will be informed of panel outcomes and interviews will be conducted with all award finalists
December 14
Gold Circle winners determined
February 2024
Awards are presented at TOBY Gold Circle Awards Gala
Award Guidelines
To participate in the BOMA/Chicago Gold Circle Awards, nominees must meet the following criteria:
- Individual applicants must be nominated. Self-nominating entries will not be accepted.
- All nominees must be employed in a BOMA/Chicago member building or affiliate company.
- All candidates must have at least five years of experience in commercial real estate, with the exception of the Emerging Leader of the Year.
- Nominees for the Emerging Leader of the Year are limited to building members with at least three and not more than five of experience in the commercial real estate industry.
- Nominees must complete and submit all nomination materials as indicated on the nomination forms.
- One nomination per category will be allowed from each Commercial Real Estate Company for Property Management, Building Engineer, Security Professional and Emerging Leader.
- For the Janitorial Professional of the Year award, each Commercial Real Estate Company may submit one nomination for each of their contractual janitorial companies.
- BOMA/Chicago Building and Affiliate Members may each submit one nomination for the Affiliate of the Year Award.
- Nominee finalists will be required to participate in an in-person interview with select members of the Gold Circle Panel (Note: please allow 30-45 minutes to complete the interview).
- Nominees are not eligible to serve on the Gold Circle Panel in the year of nomination. Past winners are encouraged to apply to serve on the Gold Circle Panel.
- Winners will not be eligible to resubmit for a minimum of two years following their recognition; for example, a 2021 winner could reapply for the 2024 awards. Winners are announced at the TOBY/Gold Circle Awards Gala, usually held in January or February of each year.
Award Selection Committee
The award selection committee, referred to as the “Gold Circle Panel,” is comprised of one or two representatives each from the fifteen to twenty management companies that have the most BOMA/Chicago members, and includes one BOMA/Chicago Board member. The panel will evaluate each nomination submission to determine the top finalists in each category, interview finalists, and select award winners for each category.
Selection Process
Application Score
The Gold Circle Panel will review nominations and score each based on the predetermined criteria for the category. Panelists for each category will be selected to avoid conflicts of interest because of company or building affiliations. No category may have more than one panelist representing the same company. The scores will be tallied by BOMA/Chicago staff and counted toward the final scores.
Interviews
BOMA/Chicago staff will arrange an in-person interview for each nominee with at least three members of the Gold Circle Panel. Panelists for each category will be selected to avoid conflicts of interest because of company or building affiliations. No category may have more than one panelist representing the same company.
If there are more than three nominees in a category, the panel for that category may choose to limit interviews to the top three finalists, as determined by the nomination scores.
The panelists will score each interview based on the predetermined criteria. After all interviews have been completed, BOMA/Chicago staff will add the interview scores to each nominee’s tally and determine the winners in each category.
Gold Circle FAQs
Review frequently asked questions about the Gold Circle Awards.
Additional Information
For additional information, contact Caitlin Wright, BOMA/Chicago's Marketing and Events Manager at cwright@bomachicago.org.
Award Winners
View the list of Gold Circle Award winners over the years.