Congeniality Award and Salzberg Awards To Be
Included In Crystal Program

NEW YORK— Any human endeavor must constantly evolve to remain vital and relevant in an ever-changing world. The Crystal Grooming Awards program is no exception.  The desire to keep the industry’s most prestigious groomer recognition event meaningful to the professionals it serves, led Cardinal Laboratories to turn over the marketing and management of the Crystal Awards to Macfadden Communications.

This move bore immediate positive results. With its astute sense of today’s pet care market, Macfadden recognized the growing importance of retail pet stores in shaping the grooming industry. This led the company to introduce a group of awards that recognize groomers in pet stores and promote professionalism within in-store grooming salons. 

To make time for the new awards, and to keep the Crystal Ceremonies running smoothly, Macfadden reluctantly phased out two of the award categories: The Congeniality Award and the David G. Salzberg Award. However, upon further reflection and after overwhelming feedback from groomers across the country. Macfadden has happily reinstated these two venerable award categories for the 2011 Crystal Grooming Awards program.

The move has been greeted with widespread approval from the grooming community. A list of previous winners of the awards reads like a groomer hall of fame, and includes names like John Stacko, Sue Zecco and Lisa Leady.

Beyond the “name connection,” however, is the fact that the two awards collectively represent the best attributes of the grooming profession; the sense of camaraderie, character and responsibility that keeps so many quality individuals dedicated to this industry.

For the vast majority of professionals involved in this industry, grooming isn’t merely a means of earning a living, it is a key part of living a rich and fulfilling life. These professional groomers are proud of their work, passionate about their careers and deeply respectful and appreciative of those who share their profession with them. These are the qualities represented in the Congeniality and David G. Salzberg Awards – and it is in this spirit that Macfadden Communications is proud to announce that the two awards will be included in the Crystal program.

“We originally removed the congeniality and David G. Salzberg awards to make room for new categories such as Retail Grooming Salon of the Year and Mobile Groomer of the Year,” said Grooming Business publisher Craig Rexford. “However, we could not ignore the many letters we received from concerned groomers who said that these categories were an essential part of the Crystal Grooming Awards program.”

The Congeniality Award pays tribute to the individual who has demonstrated outstanding sportsmanship, fellowship and camaraderie during the past 12-month period. The David G. Salzberg Award for Outstanding Contributions by an Individual or Organization is specifically designed to honor the individual or organization that has contributed most significantly to the advancement of the grooming industry through personal service or research during the past 12-month period. 

The Crystal Grooming Awards were founded by Cardinal Laboratories president Tony de Vos in 1988 to “celebrate the achievements of industry leaders, and inspire a greater sense of sharing and cooperation among grooming professionals. 

For more information, visit www.groomingbusiness.com.