Applications for Professional of the Year Awards Now Open
The award winners, bestowed upon one operator and one vendor, will be announced at the 2019 International Car Rental Show at Paris Las Vegas.

Angela Margolit (left) received the 2017 Professional of the Year Award in the vendor category and Phil Spink (right) won for the operator category. Chris Brown, executive editor of Auto Rental News (center) presented the awards.
Photo by Jason Delgado.
Auto Rental News is now accepting nominations for its 2019 Professional of the Year Awards, which will be given out at the annual International Car Rental Show (ICRS) in April.
This is the first year the awards, which recognize one operator and one vendor, will be presented at the ICRS. They were previously presented at the Auto Rental Summit.
A panel of five judges chosen from the industry will make their decisions in both categories based on applicants’ customer service, operations management, sales, leadership, and industry and community involvement.
The award for operator of the year will be given to an associate from a corporate, franchise, or independent location. The award in based on the same criteria as the vendor category.
“We’re excited to bring the Professional of the Year Awards to a bigger stage, the International Car Rental Show,” said Chris Brown, conference chair and executive editor of Auto Rental News. “With annual representation from over 30 countries, we expect international operators and vendors to apply.”
Click here to fill out and application for the 2019 Professional of the Year Award in the operator category and here for the vendor category. Operators and vendors can nominate themselves or be nominated by someone else.
The deadline for applications is March 1.
The International Car Rental Show will take place April 14-16 at Paris Las Vegas.
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