The 10th anniversary of the Freddie Awards was the first time there was an actual award ceremony and Petersen chose to host it in New York City. Since then, award ceremonies have also been held in Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, Arlington, Phoenix, Fort Lauderdale, Houston and Newark. This year, they returned to the D.C. area to be held at USA Today’s corporate headquarters in McLean, Virginia.
Participants of the events may remember Petersen presenting the awards through the years wearing a top hat and tails with gloves, a cowboy hat and a Hawaiian shirt, among other notable clothing choices. And he proposed to the love of his life, Julie, at the Wyndham Colorado Springs event in 2003. (She said yes.)
This year has seen the most international voters of all time and an increase in the overall number of voters. While the Freddies have grown and expanded, the Freddies remain true to the original vision. Petersen says, “It’s still about the voice of the individual frequent flyer trying to tell everybody out there that these programs are delivering great value.”