Behind the judging

Construction Europe’s Catrin Jones sits down for a Q&A with the WDS Programme Organiser, Leila Steed, now one year into the role.

Now that the WDS is just a few weeks away, and you’ve been through the process of organising the speakers and awards, what changes can we expect from this year’s event?

There won’t be too many changes this year, certainly not any big ones. Next year is a different story though.

The event has become so popular that we’re having to adapt to meet greater expectations. It’s a good position to be in and, while I can’t publicly reveal what we have planned yet, I’m really looking forward to announcing the changes at WDS 2024 in Stockholm.

People are very curious about how industry awards are run, particularly when it comes to how the winners and shortlisted companies are chosen. How do you make sure the World Demolition Awards are fair and reputable?

By being as honest and transparent as possible. I do have to keep some things secret – namely which companies have won, but other than that, there’s not too much that I can’t say. The important thing is to inform people about what’s happening at the right times.

WDS Programme Organiser, Leila Steed.

For example, none of the judges know which categories they will be judging until a few days before they receive them. And it’s only when I send them the categories that they’re able to see which companies have entered – and even then it’s only for their categories. I also don’t tell them which categories the other judges have been assigned to. They may find out after the judging process has been completed, via the event’s promotional material, but not before.

What happens if there’s a conflict of interest, whereby a judge has a relationship with a contractor that's submitted an entry?

That situation is part of why we have so many judges on the panel. When a conflict arises – and it happens nearly every year now because the awards keep growing in popularity – it means we can easily give the category or entry to another judge.

Another reason we have so many judges is because demolition is very diverse.

There’s a lot of specialisms and because every project is unique, you need a range of professional viewpoints and expertise from a truly global panel.

Who appoints the WDA judges?

It’s the responsibility of the WDS Programme Organiser. So, me. And before me it was Steve Ducker, who deserves a lot of credit for helping to build the WDS into what it is today.

When I took on the role and met the judges, I was delighted that all my judges – including the EDA and NDA presidents who have a standing invitation to be judges as the representatives for our association partners - genuinely wanted to continue on the panel.

The only change I really wanted to make was to expand the panel. To be blunt, I was quite concerned that it wasn’t as diverse – and therefore as representative of the global demolition industry – as it should be. So, this year we welcomed two new judges, Michele O’Rourke and LaJuan Counts.

How did they come to join the panel?

Michele was recommended to me by one of my existing judges – shout-out to Jim Graham who put us in touch! And I asked LaJuan Counts to join the panel a few months after meeting her at WDS 2023.

Next year, I hope to add more people to the panel – and given the way the awards have been growing over the past few years, I’ll need to.

What do you look for when considering a new judge?

Being a judge is big responsibility. The very nature of awards is that they – intentionally or not – set a standard. Therefore, a judging panel needs people that are more than just profoundly fair, they also have to approach the role without ego, and with an openminded perspective that enables them to appreciate the small and the big picture.

A judge has to be the kind of person that really wants to be an advocate for the industry, whether that means praising it or pointing out areas that need improvement. And all of my judges are exactly those kinds of people.

You mentioned that you would be introducing some changes next year, but what do you want to achieve with the WDS and WDA?

First and foremost, I would like to deepen its connection with the industry so that we can continue to provide unique presentation topics from the industry's experts.

The current size of the event, in terms of delegates is really nice. Our average delegate number is around the 400 to 500 mark, and the event has a really intimate atmosphere - which is incredibly hard to cultivate when it comes to events. the WDS has achieved it and it's this intimacy and connection with the industry that I want to share with other parts of the world, such as South America and Asia. That is definitely among by bigger goals. ■