September 11, 2018

The National Marine Electronics Association (NMEA) is reminding all members that voting is underway for the 2018 NMEA Product of Excellence Awards. The coveted awards will be presented in 17 marine electronics categories at the NMEA/RTCM Marine Electronics Conference & Expo, to be held Sept. 25-28 at the PGA Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, FL.

Members can cast their votes online before the Conference & Expo at www.expo.nmea.org (click on the Awards tab) or until 11:59 pm on Sept. 26, 2018 at the NMEA Conference. Votes will be tallied by an automated online voting program. Winners will be announced at the annual awards reception & banquet on Thursday, Sept. 27.

Here are the voting rules and restrictions:

• Manufacturer companies get one vote per product category.
• NMEA Dealer and Trade members are allowed to have all employees with NMEA installer training certificates vote separately/independently within their company (MEI, NMEA 2000, AMEI, and CMET).
• All other NMEA members get one vote per company.
• Name, email, and company are required on the voting form.
• The NMEA Conference Committee will review all voting submissions.

NMEA Technology Award

Nominations are also open for the annual NMEA Technology Award, which honors one marine electronics product that is rated best in innovation, benefit to boaters, practicality and value. An independent panel of judges consisting of two Certified Marine Electronics Technicians and two marine journalists selects the top product from among those nominated by manufacturers. The Technology Award will also be presented at the Conference & Expo banquet on Sept. 27. NMEA member manufacturers must submit nominations for the Technology Award by Sept. 14 through the NMEA expo website at www.expo.nmea.org