The 2020 TPG Awards kick off next week — here’s what to expect

It’s safe to say that 2020 has been a year unlike any other — which means that this year’s TPG Awards will be unique as well. Voting ended on Friday Oct. 30 for the 12 Readers’ Choice honors we’ll be handing out, and now the entire TPG team is hard at work planning for the 2020 iteration of the awards.

While it’s been an incredibly challenging year for the travel industry, we’re hopeful that brighter skies are ahead of us, and what you’ll see over the next several weeks will reflect that very optimism.

We’re set to kick things off this coming Monday Nov. 16 with Airlines Week — and here’s what to expect then and in the weeks to come.

Don’t miss out on anything related to the TPG Awards by signing up for our daily newsletter.

Over-arching theme

We’ve documented the pandemic’s impact on the travel industry extensively here at TPG — but the 2020 TPG Awards will spend little time rehashing the past. Instead, our theme for this year is “Travel’s Path Forward” as we consider all there is to look forward to in 2021 and beyond.

And there are reasons to be excited for what the future holds.

From airlines removing many change fees to select cruise lines successfully restarting operations, travel providers are working hard to ensure a safe, enjoyable and transformed experience for customers. We’ve even seen some creative new loyalty program updates, leading some TPG staffers to theorize that we’re in a new “golden age” for attracting loyal customers.

It’s true that flying, cruising and staying in a hotel have all changed (potentially for the long-term), but improvements in COVID-19 prevention and treatment — and hopes for a vaccine — may make 2021 a big year for the travel industry.

And that’s exactly what we’ll be celebrating across our four themed weeks of content.

RELATED: What do travelers want this holiday season? Safety, cheap flights and flexibility

Readers’ Choice winners

As noted above, we’ve streamlined the list of Readers’ Choice award categories this year to just 12, and voting for these honors took place in October. Rather than announcing them all at once during a live, in-person event (as we’ve done in years’ past), we’re splitting these announcements into four, individual launches to coincide with the themed weeks.

Here’s an overview of how these will be announced:

The winners will be announced on the site and social channels and will also be listed in our daily newsletter each Monday morning — and you can subscribe here if you aren’t currently on the list.

In addition to these awards chosen entirely by readers, we’ll also be handing out several Editors’ Choice honors this year, selected by our in-house editorial team. We’ll have full announcement posts each week that highlight these winners.

Once announced, you can join the conversation in our TPG Lounge each week to share your thoughts on the winners.

Live events

Each week will also have a plethora of live events for you to attend as we dive deep into each key segment of the travel and loyalty industries. Look for specific announcements every week, but here’s a snapshot of what’s to come:

Webinars

Each week will include at least one live webinar, which could include TPG’s founder and CEO Brian Kelly leading a Future of Travel session with an industry executive or yours truly working with Richard Kerr, TPG’s loyalty and engagement editor, on a session of TPG Talks.

In fact, we already have our first one scheduled. Next Wednesday Nov. 18 at 11 a.m. Eastern Time, Brian will sit down with Blake Scholl, CEO of Boom Supersonic. His company is working to develop a supersonic jet that would take passengers from New York to London in just three and a half hours — and its prototype just launched last month.

Register now to learn more about this exciting new segment of the aviation industry.

Instagram Live

We’ll also welcome a special guest for an Instagram Live each week — including well-known personalities like Pilot Pete, Celebrity Cruises’ Captain Kate, and famed Carnival cruise director Matt Mitchum.

If you’re not already following us, be sure to do so @thepointsguy.

Facebook Live

Finally, I’ll be hosting a Facebook Live every week with an internal panel of TPG’s experts, breaking down the Readers’ Choice winners for that week and looking ahead to 2021. It’s almost a given that some (or most) of my colleagues won’t agree with the reader vote, so there’s bound to be some lively discussions. Follow our Facebook page to see what key TPG staffers have to say.

For all of these events, stay tuned for specific details each week — including dates, times and how to participate.

Engagement on social media

The live sessions aren’t the only way to engage with us on social media throughout the awards. In addition to sharing all of the great content going live on the site, our social team will be launching a variety of dedicated content through our various platforms. This will include things like special giveaways, interactive quizzes, and much, much more.

In fact, the first piece of this is now live. To help us celebrate the TPG Awards from the comfort of your own home, we encourage you to test out our brand-new augmented reality filters on Instagram, which can be found on TPG’s Instagram profile just above our feed grid. We have one generic filter that’s reminiscent of the photo activation we featured at last year’s TPG Awards event at The Intrepid, and we’ll have one new filter each week to correspond with that week’s theme.

If you’re not already part of our social media communities, you can join at the following links:

• Facebook page: The Points Guy
• Facebook groups: TPG Lounge, TPG Women, TPG Family and TPG Small Biz
• Instagram: @thepointsguy
• Twitter: @thepointsguy

Final, culminating event — Trivia!

Each week is going to be jam-packed with content, but we’re incredibly excited to launch a final, culminating event at the end of the final week — Trivia Night at the 2020 TPG Awards! This live event will include questions from all four weeks of content, including the on-site articles, live sessions and social media posts.

In other words, follow along throughout all four weeks to maximize your chance at taking home some terrific prizes.

TPG’s very own Brian Kelly will host the event, and at the end, we’ll raise a glass to bid farewell to this year as we look ahead to 2021.

We’ll announce more details as we get closer to the event, but be sure to visit our site and social media channels each day starting Monday Nov. 16 so you don’t miss out on any of the questions to come.

Bottom line

The first two TPG Awards ceremonies were quite the live events — with musical performances, special guests, and terrific food & drinks. While the coronavirus pandemic has led to an entirely new approach to the awards in 2020, this also presents an opportunity for you, our readers, to join in the festivities more than ever before.

You can begin tuning in first thing Monday morning Nov. 16, as we’ll officially launch Airlines Week.

As always, thank you for reading The Points Guy, and we’re excited for everything to come over the next several weeks.

Featured photo by Wyatt Smith / The Points Guy