In 1998, Tim Lundy, CSEP realized that Atlanta was on the move
with special events and needed an awards gala just for industry
professionals much like the Oscars®. Within a year, Lundy had formulated an outline for the event
design as well as production for a full-fledged awards gala
giving kudos to local Atlanta special event companies.
A trusted board member of the Atlanta Chapters of both the
National Association of Catering Executives (NACE), and the
International Special Events Society (ISES), Tim brought the
idea forward to both organizations and received their backing
for the production.
An awards committee was formed with Lundy as Chair and Judy Cook
as Co-Chair, assisted by wonderful industry visionaries like
Suzanne Stedman, Edmund Faget, Debbie Hill and Ralph Traxler.
The name "Allies" was selected to represent all "allied" event
companies in Atlanta working together for a common good to
promote excellence in event design, planning and production. The
inaugural event was held in 1991 during a broadcast of the
Oscars® (the Allies were presented during commercial breaks!),
to a group of approximately 185 event professionals in the
greater Atlanta area. Each year the committee has added new
awards to recognize the growth of our industry.
Seventeen years later, the Atlanta Allies has grown to a huge
production with some 25+ awards and has donated monies to many
organizations in the Atlanta area. Several other ISES Chapters
in North America have patterned award celebrations after the
Allies, and following the success of these chapter awards, the
International ISES Esprit Awards celebration now exists.
Atlanta is very proud of the success of the Allie Awards and its
longevity, and invites you to participate by attending,
entering, sponsoring or volunteering!
