People + Agencies 2026

People + Agencies is the show that honors the humans and shops behind another banner indie year. Founders who bet on themselves. Strategists who kept clients honest. Creatives whose work moved culture. Operators who kept the lights on when the numbers didn't. Teams that built something worth being part of. And the shops that made all of it possible. Every December, 40 names hit the livestream during Top 40 Week — five days of reveals in front of the whole indie community. A Hall of Fame class gets a bigger honor: induction, celebrated live in NYC. Put yourself, your team or your shop in the running.

What breaks through here is what breaks through in good journalism: a specific, surprising truth told with confidence and without decoration. Judges are working practitioners. They’re immune to marketing language. Lead with the counterintuitive bet, name the specifics, let the proof land without editorializing.

The test that never fails: if any other shop could submit the same entry word-for-word, it’s not ready. Real differentiation — creative, operational, cultural — can’t be faked with language alone. The entry has to describe something that could only come from you.

1. August 24, 2026

   Call for Entries opens · Early Bird pricing begins
2. September 20, 2026

   Early Bird deadline
3. October 17, 2026

   Main deadline
4. October 31, 2026

   Final deadline · Submissions close
5. November 1, 2026

   Round 1 judging begins
6. November 11, 2026

   Final 40 revealed
7. November 12, 2026

   Round 2 judging begins
8. December 1, 2026

   Hall of Fame honored · NYC
9. December 7, 2026

   Winners revealed · Livestream week

Once Round 1 begins, your entry is locked from further edits. You can still swap the case film, images, docs, or link URLs up until then — narrative and credits close at the Final deadline.

IAN members save 25% automatically at checkout — no code required if you’re signed up with your agency email. Not a member yet? Join here and the discount applies the moment your membership is active.

Add-ons. Hall of Fame nominations are $199 flat (separate from Standard Scored entries). Pet of the Year is $99 and can be added to any Standard entry.

One entry, one category. If you want the same work considered in multiple categories, that’s multiple entries at the tier price. Each is judged independently against that category’s rubric.

You enter, you’re in. Entry fees are non-refundable.

Categories are grouped into three Standard Scored tracks plus two special honors. Each track has its own finalist math: Agency At-Large names one winner per category (that’s the whole point), People and Agency Craft + Work each name three finalists per category. Forty finalists total across all Standard Scored categories.

Every entry earns recognition. Where you land depends on how your work performs with the jury — but no one leaves empty-handed.

Every Standard Scored entry moves through a two-round process, scored against a category-specific rubric by a jury of working indies.

Round 1 — every entry gets seen. Judges score against the category rubric. The strongest work in each category advances.

Round 2 — the advancing entries go back to a jury for the final call. Tier placements are locked here.

Winners revealed in Livestream Week — a public event, not a private ceremony behind a paywall.

Judges rotate each cycle. They’re under NDA on every entry regardless of confidentiality level. Anyone with a conflict of interest recuses themselves from the category entirely.

Entries have a small, focused shape. No 5,000-word treatises, no 40-page decks required. Judges read a lot of these — make the case tightly.

• Agency, client, campaign, category — the basics. Agency At-Large entries name the agency as the primary title. Agency Craft + Work and People entries lead with the campaign or person name.
• Narrative — up to 500 words. This is what wins or loses the entry. Lead with the counterintuitive bet. Name specifics. Let proof land without editorializing.
• Credits — everyone who touched the work. Paste from a deck if easier — we’ll clean up formatting when we publish.
• Media — images (up to 15 MB each), case decks and PDFs (up to 15 MB each), and case film (video hosted directly on our CDN, so any size works). Case films are optional. Judges score the work and how well you make the case for it — a strong written case with real specifics scores just as high as one with a beautifully cut film. Upload what actually helps make the argument.
• Link URLs — the case-study page, press coverage, launch site, anything you want a judge to see hosted elsewhere.
• Charity choice — a portion of every entry fee goes to a nonprofit. You pick which one from our list.

Everything auto-saves as you go. You can leave and come back — nothing’s gone until you submit and the deadline passes.

Eligibility

Open globally. Work must have run publicly (or been released internally with measurable impact) inside the show’s eligibility window — August 1, 2025 through October 31, 2026 for People + Agencies 2026. Work that lands inside the window before the final submission deadline counts — enter it now, drop the launch link once it’s live. Not sure if something qualifies? Ask before submitting, not after.

Client + agency approval

You confirm at submission that you have permission from the client and/or agency to enter this work, and that any featured brands or people have consented to being publicly showcased if the entry is honored. Required to submit. If your client hasn’t approved the entry, don’t enter it yet.

Confidentiality

Every entry picks a publication level: Full (normal showcase treatment if the entry wins) or Name only (only the agency name and entry title show publicly; case details, narrative, and media stay private). Judges see everything regardless of level — they’re under NDA. If you’re under NDA or client confidentiality constraints, pick Name only and add specifics in the Confidential Details field so we handle every downstream context correctly (press, showcase pages, winner comms).

Category migration

By submitting, you agree that IndieHQ Awards editorial may move your entry to a more suitable category if judging surfaces a better fit. We only do this when it clearly helps your entry. You’ll be notified when it happens.

One entry per category

Same piece of work in three categories = three entries at the tier price. Each gets judged independently.

Refunds

You enter, you’re in. Entry fees are non-refundable.

Truthful entries + our right to audit

You certify at submission that everything in the entry — agency, client, campaign, narrative, credits, results — is truthful and accurate. IndieHQ Awards reserves the right to audit and verify any claim. If we find a discrepancy, we may reject the entry; for intentional misrepresentation, we reserve the right to bar the agency from future participation. This isn’t a threat — it’s the guardrail on an honor-system show. The credibility of every winner depends on it.

Judging integrity

Not sure your entry is ready? Request a QuickCoach review from inside the entry editor. A working indie expert reads your entry copy against the category rubric and writes back with specific, actionable coaching — what’s working, what’s soft, what would land harder.

Non-members get one free QuickCoach review per show. IAN members get three per show. Response arrives in five business days.