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Irish Companies Make History at the Landy Awards
While Thursday night represented a historic night for Irish sport, with Dundalk FC securing the first ever Europa League group stage win for an Irish football team, Wednesday, September 28th also saw Ireland reach an unprecedented landmark, albeit on the digital side of things.
The second annual Search Engine Land Awards, which look to highlight the world’s very best digital search campaigns, were held in New York City on Wednesday night, with no less than three Irish firms in contention for top awards at the ceremony which is affectionately referred to as “The Landies”. Seeing as no Irish company had ever won a Landy Award before, there was a cautious optimism in the air on the night.
As reported previously by the IIA, the Irish 2016 Search Engine Land nominees were:
- Littlewoods Ireland– Best Integration of Search into Cross-Channel Marketing
- com– Best Overall SEM Initiative – Small Business
- Wolfgang Digital– Agency of the Year – SEM
The night got off to a great start from an Irish perspective, with McElhinney’s, a family owned fashion retailer based in Donegal, picking up the gold for Best Small Business SEM Initiative, making them the first ever Irish company to win a Landy. Their alone time in the spotlight did not last long, however, with online department store Littlewoods Ireland picking up the award for Best Integration of Search into Cross-Channel Marketing soon after, making it two for two for the Irish contestants.
Unfortunately, a historic hat trick was not to be, as Dublin-based digital marketing agency Wolfgang Digital narrowly missed out on winning Agency of the Year. There was however, plenty of reason for Wolfgang to celebrate, as it was they who implemented the successful search campaigns for both Littlewoods Ireland and McElhinney’s.
Speaking at the awards ceremony, Alan Coleman, Wolfgang Digital CEO, was in upbeat mood, and had the following to say in relation to the wins:
“We’re thrilled with the wins. At Wolfgang Digital we’re a little bit different. Our organisational structure is our own construct. We’ve created very different policies on recruitment and ongoing training than are typical in the industry – we also have our own philosophy on effective client-communications. We believe these differences yield better digital marketing. We’ve enjoyed a wild run of international award wins this year. I see it as a powerful validation of the Wolfgang approach to digital marketing that judging panels in Ireland, the UK, Europe and now the US rate our output as the best.”
Wolfgang Digital, Littlewoods Ireland and McElhinney’s have been doing extremely well in terms of this year’s search engine marketing awards season, with all three of them representing at the Drum Search Awards which took place in June. Littlewoods Ireland were the big winners on that night, securing the highly coveted Grand Prix Award which represents the “best in show” as far as campaigns are concerned.
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Irish Companies Representing at the Drum Search Awards
The Drum Search Awards, which seek to recognise the very best internet based businesses from both Ireland and the UK, take place later today (June 8th). These awards focus on the two main disciplines of search marketing, SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and PPC (Pay Per Click), choosing from the year’s very best digital marketing campaigns.
As was the case in the European Search Awards, which took place in May, Irish entries are well represented at the Drum Search Awards. Among the big prizes handed out to Irish business on that night were “Best Use of Search for Retail” (Brown Thomas), Best Integration of Search and Social” (iClothing) and “Best Small PPC Agency” (Wolfgang Digital) as Ireland received four first placed trophies, the second most of any nation (bested only by the UK).
For the 2016 Drum Search Awards, Ireland finds itself looking to improve upon its European Search Awards haul, with no less than six award nominations in total. Many of the companies which represented Ireland at the European Search Awards find themselves on the Drum bill as well, including McElhinneys, iClothing and Littlewoods Ireland. This signifies that their European success was no fluke as their respective works and campaigns have been independently recognised by several respected judging bodies.
Irish internet based businesses have been nominated for the following Drum Search Awards:
- Best Integrated Strategy or Campaign: Littlewoods Ireland
- Best Use of Technology in a Search Campaign: Brown Thomas
- Most Innovative Search Campaign (SEO & PPC): McElhinneys
- Best Use of Technology in a Search Campaign: iClothing
- Best Use of Data in PPC: iClothing
- Performance Agency of the Year: Wolfgang Digital
While the competition at tonight’s awards is fierce, with many of the biggest companies and agencies in Europe in attendance, that was also the case at the European Search Awards back in May when several Irish companies emerged triumphant. It is hoped that the overall volume and quality of Irish submissions will prove to be the same recipe for success at tonight’s ceremony which kicks off at the Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel in London.
The full list of Drum Search Award categories and nominees can be found here.
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The Irish Times and InterTradeIreland Inovation Awards 2012
The Irish Times and InterTradeIreland invite indigenous and international companies, small, medium or large, and who are operating throughout the island of Ireland, to promote their service, product or operational innovations by entering The Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards, which will be held in March 2012.
Winners in each category will be chosen by an independent panel of judges from a shortlist of 3 finalists. Special recognition will be given to the company with the best North/South collaboration project. In addition, an overall ‘Innovation of the Year’ winner will be drawn from the category winners.
Category Winners will receive:
- A €10,000 communications package in Innovation Magazine
- An iPad with a one year subscription to The Irish Times
The ‘Innovation of the Year’ will win a unique and high profile communications package worth in excess of €150,000 comprising of advertising promotion in the Innovation Magazine and The Irish Times, plus:
• UCD Smurfit School will provide a scholarship for an Executive Education programme commencing in 2012*
• Business legal advice from Byrne Wallace
• A state of the art laptop with a one year subscription to The Irish Times ePaper
(*T&Cs apply – visit www.irishtimes.com/innovation)
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Press Release: Jerry Kennelly announced as Overall Net Visionary 2011 by Irish Internet Association
Friday, 30th of September, 2011: The Irish Internet Association (“IIA”) this evening announced Jerry Kennelly of Tweak.com as the Overall Net Visionary Winner in the Dot ie Net Visionary Awards. Also announced this evening were the winners in 14 individual categories, all of whom were decided by public vote. The Awards, now in their 13th year took place in the prestigious Wintergarden at the National Gallery of Ireland – perfectly befitting a celebration of the creativity and genius of the industry.
Joan Mulvihill, CEO of the Irish Internet Association commented: “This has been a great year for the IIA’s Dot ie Net Visionary Awards. Five new award categories allowed us to showcase fantastic new businesses and fresh talent in the industry. All of the winning businesses have proven their commitment to excellence in this fast-paced and dynamic sector. Unlike any other awards, all those shortlisted were voted winners by their peers showing the best spirit of competition, community and collaboration.”
She added:“In choosing The National Gallery we found the perfect backdrop to showcase the kind of creativity and ingenuity that our industry inspires. And of course it was the ideal place to award Jerry Kennelly of Tweak.com the Overall Net Visionary title. I’m sure the artists behind the masterpieces hanging here would be happy that the title has gone to a man who has anchored his career to the marriage of the visual arts and technology."
David Curtin, CEO of IE Domain Registry Limited commented: “The IE Domain Registry is delighted to be the headline sponsor for this year’s Dot ie Net Visionary Awards. Now in its 13th year, the standard of the shortlisted websites for the Awards continues to increase year-on-year. The level of innovation, originality and creativity, not to mention the power and functionality of the underlying website applications, continues to impress. For the winners, it is a wonderful accolade to be recognised by their peers in the Internet community, as being the ‘best of the best’. These websites will provide a quality benchmark for others to rank and improve their own online offerings.”
Maeve Kneafsey, Chair of the Irish Internet Association commented: “A NetVisionary has to have had a record of business success, vision and the belief to see it through. Jerry Kennelly is set to realise his vision for the second time.”
The IIA have been setting the agenda all year – addressing the digital skills issue, opening the OpenData debate and launching our own policies. The IIA have carefully reflected these issues in the new categories which include Best Open Data Initiative and Best Rookie. New also to the line-up is best recognition of all those non-techies who have made their brave steps to a business life online with Breakthrough Brick to Click. With headline sponsor in IE Domain Registry Limited (“IEDR”), new categories, a stunning and original venue and a record number of entries, these awards are annually the ones to watch.
– Ends –
Dot ie Net Visionary Winners 2011
Overall Net Visionary Winner sponsored by IEDR
2011 winner: Jerry Kennelly, Tweak.com
Best Breakthrough Brick to Click, sponsored by PayPal
2011 winner: McCabes Pharmacy
Best Cloud Service, sponsored by TelecityGroup
2011 winner: SortMyBooks Online Accounting Software
Best in Digital Marketing, sponsored by Go Ireland
2011 winner: Bua Marketing
Best Mobile App Developer, sponsored by NOKIA
2011 winner: Furious Tribe
Best Online Trader, sponsored by Realex Payments
2011 winner: Rainbusters
Best Rookie, sponsored by accreate
2011 winner: Coder Dojo/Disruptive Developments Limited
Best Open Data Initiative, MICROSOFT
2011 winner: NDRC, Inventorium
Best Use of Social Media, sponsored by Blacknight
2011 winner SocialMedia.ie
Best Web Design, Sponsored by Elucidate
2011 winner: Arekibo Digital
Best Web Developer, Grant Thornton
2011 winner: Dovetail
eGovernment Award, sponsored by Mason Hayes+Curran
2011 winner: The Arts Council/ An Chomhairle Ealaíon
Innovation Award, sponsored by RSM Farrell Grant Sparks
2011 winner: FEXCO Tax Free Limited
Internet Start-up, sponsored by The Digital Hub
2011 winner: Learnpipe
Social Contribution, sponsored by Matheson Ormsby Prentice
2011 winner: ReachOut.com
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Net Visionary Awards 2011
Nominations are open for Net Visionary 2011: some new categories
The hallowed day has arrived. Actually it arrived on 27th June but I have been busy training my new colleague Vicki in advance of my departure from the IIA so apologies for not noting this sooner on the blog.
Nominations for the 13th Annual Net Visionary Awards are open!
You can go right ahead click on the image above to nominate your favourite online business in 14 different categories.
But before you dash off I thought I would draw your attention to our new categories.
We have done away with a few (sorry!), updated three (mobile app developer, social media & digital marketing) and created 4 entirely new categories:
- Best Open Data Initiative
- Best Breakthrough Brick to Click
- Best Cloud Service
- Best Rookie
We’re particularly excited about these 4 categories (yes, yes, of course, you’re all winners to us) because they reflect changing technologies, society and practices. We devised Best Breakthrough Brick to Click to recognise some of the amazing cases we’ve heard about over the last year and a half or so while running our 8 Ways series for Online Retailers (although nominees don’t have to be just retailers!). Best Rookie was devised to recognise not only graduates who are making a splash in online business but also those who have made a change to their career to get involved in any aspect of online business.
After the success of Open for Business it made perfect sense for us to celebrate Open Data Initiatives and we’re hoping the shortlist will be an inspiration to many other initiatives in the future. Best Cloud Service acknowledges some of the fabulous and innovative cloud projects that have grown up, many of them wholly Irish, in the last few years.
So now you are dismissed to go and nominate to your heart’s content. Nominations close 29 July 2011.
Membership
Congratulations to winning Spidery IIA Members
Last week saw the announcement of this year’s eircom Spiders awards at a star studded event in Dublin’s Burlington Hotel. Okay there was one celeb, Alan Carr, but many stars of online but I’m biased! I couldn’t make it this year: I was meeting with some rising stars at a Fingal County Enterprise Board Networking Event and giving them the skinny on Twitter for Business.
I was delighted when I got home and checked through my twitstream to see that some IIA members were among the winners this year. Congratulations from all of us here in the IIA to:
- Pay Less Tax won the Best Financial Services Website Category sponsored by CMC Markets;
- Hostelworld won in both the Best e-business Website (sponsored by WebFactory) and in the iPhone App category (sponsored by Arekibo);
- EventElephant were joint winners with Hostelworld in the Best e-business Website category with HostelWorld;
- Strata3 went home with the Spider for Best Web Design & Development Agency sponsored by Independent Trustee Company.
Check out the complete listing of winners on the eircom Spiders website.
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Eight IIA Member companies honoured in Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards
The IIA would like to congratulate the eight member companies who made this prestigious list and wish them all the best in the EMEA Fast 500. The Fast 500 pools all Fast 50 winning companies from Europe, Middle East and Africa and ranks them accordingly.
Congratulations to Software Asset Management Ireland, winners of the Technology Fast 50 Awards 2010. View all the winners here.
The programme ranks the 50 fastest-growing technology companies in Ireland based on percentage revenue growth over a five-year period. This year the following eight IIA Member Companies were honoured. (Position in brackets):
- Roomex (3)
- Daft.ie (4)
- Avvio (7)
- Cartrawler (15)
- Espion (36)
- Newsweaver (41)
- Texthelp (44)
- Arekibo (49)
Deloitte is a member company of the IIA also.
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Nominate your favourite eGovernment Project for an award
Nominations for the People’s Choice Award in Ireland’s eGovernment Awards, run in association with eircom, are now open! Each year the public is invited to nominate an eGovernment service that has made a considerable difference to Irish citizens. Nominations will remain open until January 2011 and then you will also have a chance to vote for your overall favourite from all the sites nominated. Submit your nomination here. Note: You may nominate your site for the People’s Choice Award as well as enter in the other categories of the Awards. 4 Weeks Left to Enter Entries in all the categories of Ireland’s eGovernment Awards 2011 are open! The submission deadline is 26 November 2010 – just 4 weeks away. Entries are entirely free of charge. In these difficult times, Ireland’s eGovernment Awards provide an opportunity to recognise and encourage those who are delivering real returns through online service delivery.
Last year’s overall winner, the NPPR project. Pictured are Ned O’Connor, Chairman LGMA, with Minister Mary Hanafin TD and Colm Hoban, eircom (far right). View the 2010 Award Winners and listen to the judges commentary on the shortlist. The Awards ceremony will be held in February 2011 in Dublin. |
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eGovernment Awards now open for entries
This year we have introduced an Innovation category, and we’ll be adding a few more categories over the coming days, so keep an eye on all the categories.
eGov Awards 2011 Launch |
Launching Ireland’s eGovernment Awards 2011 were (L to R) Ronan Kneafsey, eircom; Maeve Kneafsey, MD, Elucidate; Minister Dara Calleary TD and Alex Campbell, eircom. Pictured at the eGovernment Symposium on 12 October 2010 in eircom HSQ.
In these difficult times, Ireland’s eGovernment Awards provide an opportunity to recognise and thank those who are delivering real returns.
View the 2010 Award Winners and listen to the judges commentary on the shortlist.
The Awards ceremony will be held in February 2011 in Dublin.
events, IIA Team
Web Awards Backslappery
The Irish Web Awards return again this year and have moved to the lovely surroundings of the Mansion House on Dawson Street, Dublin 2. The hundreds of nominations have been whittled down to the shortlists which were announced this week.
A big congratulations to the IIA Members who made it this far. I’ll be there on the night rooting for you all! Maybe I should get a vuvuzela…
In a shameless bit of backslappery, two of us here in IIA HQ are up for awards for our own projects. My very own, The Rosie View, a podcast about what’s on the telly box with Rosemary MacCabe, is shortlisted in the Best Independent Podcaster category. Darren Byrne’s site Culch.ie, a pop culture blog run with a number of Ireland’s best bloggers, is shortlisted in the Best Web Only Publication and Best Entertainment Website categories.
Our boss Joan is inordinately proud of us and made me write this blog post. I swear.
We look forward to seeing you at this year’s awards. Tickets are on sale now and check out www.webawards.ie for more information.