Unconventional thinkers wanted.

We’re looking for innovators and disruptors like you who bring bold ideas to the table. Enter today to help us celebrate your unconventional thinking.

Emcee in bright magenta suit holds mic on stage while two award winners hold their trophies.

A new legacy of defying legacy.

Last year, we celebrated our inaugural Unconventional Awards, kicking off a new annual tradition of celebrating our customers who are anything but traditional thinkers. Here’s to those winners—the disruptors and trailblazers, who empowered their organizations by breaking industry norms.

2023 Awards Categories

Now it’s your turn.

Innovation in customer experience.

Recognizes innovators that better serve their customers and deliver a truly human brand experience.

Open to T-Mobile for Business customers with 500+ employees.

Innovation in employee enablement.

Recognizes trailblazers who find new and unconventional ways to bring out the best in their teams. 

Open to T-Mobile for Business customers with 500+ employees.

Innovation in industry.

Recognizes pioneers who bring new innovations to
industries by challenging the status quo.

Open to T-Mobile for Business customers with 500+ employees.

Innovation in community.

Recognizes disruptors in Government, Education, and Public Safety who bring new innovations to their organizations.

Open to T-Mobile for Government and T-Mobile for Education customers.

We’re celebrating the top three innovators in each category.

We’ll be awarding first, second, and third place prizes for the trailblazers in each of our categories: customer experience, employee enablement, innovation in industry, and innovation in community. Winners will receive a personalized trophy and be featured in a press release and social media.

1st place

$25K

to the charity of your choice.

2nd place

$10K

to the charity of your choice.

3rd place

$5K

to the charity of your choice.

Public Sector 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners (Innovation in community) will also receive airfare, hotel, and Mobile World Congress entrance passes for two.

WSJ Custom Content logo

Each 1st place category winner will also be featured in Wall Street Journal Custom Content.

Wall Street Journal Custom Content is a unit of The Wall Street Journal Advertising Department. The Wall Street Journal news organization was not involved in the creation of this content.

NOMINATE A DISRUPTOR.

Send us an email at unconventional.awards@t-mobile.com with the nominee’s name, category, contact info, and a short description of why you’re nominating them. We’ll let them know you nominated them and encourage them to enter. Nominee must be a current customer.

Say hello to this year’s judges.

These four judges share our passion for breaking barriers and challenging the status quo. We've partnered with them to help us choose winners in each category.

Headshot of Phillipa Leighton-Jones.

Phillipa Leighton-Jones

The Wall Street Journal
Barron's Group
Senior Vice President, The Trust

Headshot of Will Townsend.

Will Townsend

Moor Insights & Strategy
VP & Principal Analyst

Headshot of Matt Griffin

Matt Griffin

311 Institute
Founder

Headshot of Kimberly Wyman.

Kimberly Wyman

T-Mobile for Business
Vice President, Customer Support

Attend the 2023 T-Mobile for Business Unconventional Awards.

Location: Mobile World Congress
Rose Rooftop at Resorts World Las Vegas
3000 S Las Vegas Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89109

Date: Sept 27, 2023
Check back for event registration details.

The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign at sunset. The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign at sunset. The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign at sunset. The Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign at sunset.

An event like no other:

Get unparalleled access to emerging technologies and information.

Connect with peers, tech leaders, and influential decision makers across some of the biggest brands in the business.

Draw wide attention to your team and your brand’s innovation.

Enjoy exclusive bragging rights for your business’s unconventional thinking.

Last year's winners.

Last year we recognized nine organizations that went above and beyond to drive business forward and transform their industries.

Innovation in customer experience.

Recognizes innovators that better serve their customers and deliver a truly human brand experience.

1st Place: Tennessee State University. $25K

in tech innovation donations to a charity of their choice

+ personalized award.

+ post-event publicity from Wall Street Journal.

2nd Place: Amazon Explore $10K

in tech innovation donations to a charity of their choice

+ personalized award.

3rd Place: Motlow State Community College $5K

in tech innovation donations to a charity of their choice

+ personalized award.

Innovation in employee enablement.

Recognizes trailblazers who find new and unconventional ways to bring out the best in their teams.

1st Place: Goodwill of North Georgia. $25K

in tech innovation donations to a charity of their choice

+ personalized award.

+ post-event publicity from Wall Street Journal.

2nd Place: Unifi. $10K

in tech innovation donations to a charity of their choice

+ personalized award.

3rd Place: Black & Veatch. $5K

in tech innovation donations to a charity of their choice

+ personalized award.

Innovation in industry.

Recognizes pioneers who bring new innovations to industries by challenging the status quo.

1st Place: Morehouse College. $25K

in tech innovation donations to a charity of their choice

+ personalized award.

+ post-event publicity from Wall Street Journal.

2nd Place: Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools. $10K

in tech innovation donations to a charity of their choice

+ personalized award.

3rd Place: Uber. $5K

in tech innovation donations to a charity of their choice

+ personalized award.

Got questions?

T-Mobile for Business Unconventional Award Search

Terms & Conditions

The T-Mobile for Business Unconventional Award Contest (“Search”) begins at 12:00am Pacific Time (“PT”) on May 1, 2023 (“Start Time”) and ends at 11:59pm PT on July 31, 2023 (“End Time”, and the duration between the Start Time and End Time is the “Search Period”). 

WHO MAY MAKE A SUBMISSION: Open to entities (“Entrant”) who are current T-Mobile for Business (“TFB”) or T-Mobile for Government / T-Mobile for Education (“TFG/TFE”) customers during the entire term of the Search through the awarding of any prizes and, in the case of TFB entrants, have 500 or more employees or have been designated a “strategic” account by T-Mobile in its sole discretion. Employees (and their immediate families (parent, child, spouse or sibling and their respective spouses, regardless of where they reside) and those living in their same households, whether or not related) of T-Mobile USA, Inc. (“Promoter”), the Judges (as defined below) and their respective employers and employees, and their respective parents, affiliates, subsidiaries and advertising and promotion agencies are not eligible to participate. Search is subject to all applicable federal, state and local laws. Void where prohibited by law. 

HOW TO MAKE A SUBMISSION: During the Search Period, go to https://www.t-mobile.com/business/unconventional-awards and fill out the entry form for your entity (each, a “Submission”). All Submissions must be received by the End Time to be eligible. Entrants must completely fill out the submission form and all details and information provided within each submission must be truthful and accurate. 

JUDGING. All eligible Submissions will be judged by a panel of judges selected by Promoter (“Judges”). Assuming sufficient eligible entries are received and are in compliance with these Rules, the Judges will select a first, second, and third place winner for each of the Categories (as defined below) on or about August 15, 2023. By entering, all Entrants agree to be bound to these Official Rules and the decisions of the Promoter and Judges, which are final and binding in all respect. Participating members of the judging panel will be selected by Promoter (in its sole discretion).

The Submissions will be judged based on the following judging criteria: Embraces Unconventional DNA (33%); Originality of Solution/Creativity of Idea (34%); and Impact of Solution (33%). In the event of a tie, tie will be broken among all tied Submissions, by awarding the prize to the Submission with the highest score in the Originality of Solution/Creativity of Idea category. First, Second, and Third place potential recipients from eligible TFB Submissions will be chosen in each of the categories of a) Innovation in Customer Experience, b) Innovation in Employee Enablement, and c) Innovation in Industry, and First, Second, and Third place potential recipients from eligible TFG/TFE Submissions (together with the TFB potential recipients, the “Potential Recipients”) will be chosen under the category of Innovation in Community (together with the TFB categories, the “Categories”). Promoter shall have the right to conduct a background check on any Potential Recipients. Promoter reserves the right to reject any Potential Recipient for any or no reason. An Entrant may make a submission in more than one award category, but may only receive a prize in one award category.

PRIZES: The First prize for each Category will include a $25,000 donation to a 501(c)(3) charity of the winning Entrant’s choice and inclusion in an article to appear at a later date in the Wall Street Journal (“Publisher”) covering the T-Mobile for Business Unconventional Awards (with timing and content subject to Publisher’s performance and availability). Second and Third prizes for each of the Categories will include $10,000 and $5,000 donations, respectively, to 501(c)(3) charities of each winning Entrant’s choice. Each prize for the TFG/TFE Category will also include airfare, hotel, and Mobile World Congress entrance passes for 2 for each winning Entrant, with all travel and lodging arrangements to be handled by Promoter’s event agency in Promoter’s sole discretion. Each potential recipient charity is subject to Promoter’s approval in Promoter’s sole discretion. 

GENERAL CONDITIONS: By participating, each Entrant agrees: 

(a) to abide by these Terms and Conditions and decisions of Promoter and its designees, which shall be final and binding in all respects relating to this Search; 

(b) to release, discharge, indemnify and hold harmless Promoter, and its parent, affiliates, subsidiaries, members, franchisees and licensees, and advertising and promotion agencies, and the respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents and representatives of the forgoing (collectively, “Released Parties”) from any and all injuries, liability, losses and damages of any kind to persons, including death, or property resulting, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, from participant’s participation in the Search or any Search-related activity or the acceptance, possession, use or misuse of any item awarded;

(c) to the use of Entrant’s company name, trademark, Submission, and any submitted comments from Entrant representatives regarding the Search or the Submission, for programming, advertising, publicity and promotional purposes in any and all media, now or hereafter known, worldwide and on the Internet, and in perpetuity by Promoter, and their designees, without compensation (unless prohibited by law) or additional consents from Entrant or any third party and without prior notice, approval or inspection, and to execute specific consent to such use; 

(d) that the Released Parties are released from any liability arising from the use described in the preceding paragraph, including, without limitation, claims for invasion of privacy, infringement of any right of publicity, or defamation (including libel and slander);

(e) Entrant will not release any publicity or other materials on their own or through someone else regarding their participation in the Search without the prior consent of the Promoter, which may be withheld in Promoter’s sole discretion; and

(f) Entrant represents and warrants that (i) it is the owner of the copyright and all other rights in and to the all content, concepts, and other intellectual property rights contained in the Submission or has valid licenses or releases to empower Entrant to provide the licenses and permissions required by these Terms & Conditions; and (ii) it is fully authorized to agree to the terms of these Terms & Conditions.

MISCELLANEOUS: Released Parties are not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, damaged, inaccurate, stolen, delayed, misdirected, undelivered, or garbled Submissions or tweets, or for lost, interrupted or unavailable network, server, Internet Service Provider (ISP), websites, or other connections, availability or accessibility or miscommunications or failed computer, satellite, telephone or cable transmissions, lines, or technical failure or jumbled, scrambled, delayed, or misdirected transmissions or computer hardware or software malfunctions, failures or difficulties, or other errors or difficulties of any kind whether human, mechanical, electronic, computer, network, typographical, printing or otherwise relating to or in connection with the Search, including, without limitation, errors or difficulties which may occur in connection with the administration of the Search, the processing or review of Submissions or tweets, the announcement of the award, or in any Search-related materials. Released Parties are also not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by site users, tampering, hacking, or by any equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Search. Released Parties are not responsible for injury or damage to any person's computer related to or resulting from participating in this Search or downloading materials from or use of websites. Persons who tamper with or abuse any aspect of the Search or websites, who act in an unsportsmanlike or disruptive manner or who are in violation of these Terms and Conditions, as solely determined by Promoter, will be disqualified and all associated Submissions will be void. Should any portion of the Search be, in Promoter’s sole opinion, compromised by virus, worms, bugs, non-authorized human intervention or other causes which, in the sole opinion of the Promoter, corrupt or impair the administration, security, fairness or proper play, or submission of Submissions, Promoter reserves the right at its sole discretion to suspend, modify or terminate the Search (or portion thereof) and, if terminated, at its discretion, select the potential Recipient from all eligible, non-suspect Submissions received prior to action taken using the Recipient determination process outlined above. CAUTION: ANY ATTEMPT TO DELIBERATELY DAMAGE ANY WEBSITE OR UNDERMINE THE LEGITIMATE OPERATION OF THE SEARCH MAY BE IN VIOLATION OF CRIMINAL AND CIVIL LAWS AND SHOULD SUCH AN ATTEMPT BE MADE, PROMOTER RESERVES THE RIGHT TO SEEK DAMAGES AND OTHER REMEDIES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS’ FEES) FROM ANY SUCH INDIVIDUAL TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW, INCLUDING CRIMINAL PROSECUTION.

GOVERNING LAW: All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Terms and Conditions, or the rights and obligations of the participant, Promoter in connection with the Search, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the State of Washington without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whether of the State of Washington or any other jurisdiction).

PROMOTER: T-Mobile USA, Inc., 12920 SE 38th Street, Bellevue, WA 98006. 

We will connect with you, as space has been reserved for winners.

July 31, 2023, at 11:59pm PST.