Winners Podium

Highland Tourism Awards 2007

2007-08-27T10:12:00.000+01:00

This week sees the deadline for submissions to the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards (HITA) 2007, an awards scheme that recognises and rewards outstanding performance in the tourism industry in the Highlands and Islands region of Scotland. The deadline is 31st August and entries are invited in the following categories:

Best Visitor Experience - sponsored by Glenfiddich
Community Tourism - sponsored by The Highland Council
Customer Care - sponsored by Visit Scotland
Highland Ambassador of the Year - sponsored by Caledonian MacBrayne
Highland Dining Out Experience
Highlands Young Ambassador of the Year - sponsored by RBS
Innovation - sponsored by British Waterways Scotland
Investing in the Environment - sponsored by Scottish Natural Heritage
Marketing Initiative - sponsored by Historic Scotland
New Tourism Business
Tourism People Development - sponsored by UKAEA
Highland 2007 Award - sponsored by Highland 2007

The awards ceremony and presentation of trophies will be staged in November at the Drumossie Hotel in Inverness. In addition to the honour of winning an award on the night and retaining that honour for the next 12 months, there are some serious business benefits to succeeding in awards schemes such as these. There is, of course, the publicity benefit that goes with being named a winner. Canny businesses can stretch this publicity a long way, but one of the tangible benefits is that it provides a very positive image of the winning company or business. As Freda Rapson of Jacobite - Experience Loch Ness, winner of the Tourism People Development Award in 2006, says: "Winning helps to promote Jacobite as a company which looks after its staff and raising our profile in this way makes our recruitment drives much easier as people are keen to work with us." Speaking about the measurable impact that the success had on the business, she added: "It serves to highlight to our customers that they can expect to be well looked after." Another winner of the Highlands and Islands Tourism Awards 2006, Liz Mackintosh, says that the awards also help highlight the work being done to raise standards in the tourism sector. Mackintosh, who is chairwoman of the HITA board as well running her business Achmony Holidays in Drumnadrochit, said: "One of the many benefits of winning an award is the publicity that comes with it. The winners can use the accolade as a marketing tool to further promote their products and services." All of which goes to support our assertion here at Winner's Podium that "Nothing Succeeds Like Success Rewarded". And if you are planning your own awards scheme, look no further for your trophies and awards than our very own Awards Trophies Supplier website.

Impressive Line-up at Edinburgh Fringe Festival

2007-08-23T11:19:00.000+01:00

Go on, you thought we were going to talk about actors and comedians, didn't you? To be fair, we are talking about some highly polished acts, widely coveted and well used to taking centre stage. But of course here on Winners Podium we are only really interested in awards and sponsors so we are focusing on the awards and trophies available at this year's Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

After three weeks of incredible energy, some 31,000 performances, over 2000 shows, 250 venues and over 1.5 million spectators, the Festival winds up this week with no fewer than 24 separate awards. Here, courtesy of the official Edinburgh Fringe Festival website, is a brief introduction to each award:

1. Fringe First Awards
These awards are for the best new writing on the Fringe, as decided by The Scotsman's glamorous team of critics. The awards were designed to encourage people to bring new work to Edinburgh in the spirit of adventure, creativity and experimentation.
www.scotsman.com

2. The Carol Tambor Edinburgh to New York Award
The Carol Tambor Edinburgh to New York Award is an annual theatre event launched in 2004 that takes award-winning dramatic productions from the Fringe to New York City. The award aims to enable New York producers and promoters to see award-winning Fringe work and to give New Yorkers a taste of the mighty’ Festival Fringe.

3. The Bank of Scotland Herald Angels Awards
A series of awards from the wonderful folk at The Herald, The Herald Angels have been bestowed upon artists for 7 years. The journalists meet each week of the Festival to decide which acts, performers, producers, venues or artists deserve recognition for their achievements. In the case of outstanding or sustained excellence an Archangel is awarded. A final award - the Little Devil - is bestowed upon those who demonstrate 'a show must go on' attitude when disaster strikes.
www.theherald.co.uk

4. If.comedy Awards
The Intelligent Finance Comedy Awards are the UK's premier comedy awards now in its 27th year. It is given for the most outstanding up-and-coming, funny, original, comedy show at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The prize is £8,000 cash plus headlining The Intelligent Finance Comedy Award Shows in London's West End with the Intelligent Finance Comedy Award Shortlist. For full details, click here.
www.ifcomedy.com

5. So You Think You're Funny?
Nineteen years old and still going strong, the So You Think You're Funny? competition is an Edinburgh tradition. Hosted by the Gilded Balloon venue and sponsored by Channel Five, Paramount Comedy and 4DVD, the competition sees 60 comedy newcomers battle it out over seven heats to reach the Grand Final - and then infamy.
www.gildedballoon.co.uk

6. The Stage Awards
When it comes to theatre, The Stage knows its stuff. Their awards are adjudicated by the newspaper's festival reviewing team, and aim to recognise outstanding work by individual actors (Best Actor & Actress categories), companies as a whole (Best Ensemble category) and solo show (Best Solo show).
www.thestage.co.uk/edinburgh/awards

7. Total Theatre Awards
The Total Theatre Awards, as you can imagine, are all about theatre. They aim to raise the profile of physical, visual and performance theatre. First presented in 1997 and now a well-established event the Total Theatre Awards are also sponsored by Central School of Speech and Drama and the University of Winchester.
www.totaltheatre.org.uk

8. The Tap Water Awards
The Tap Water Awards were born out of protest against the Perrier Awards connections to Nestle. Now that Perrier do not sponsor any awards, the Tap Waters Awards have stopped. If you're interested in why The Bongo Club originally launched the Tap Awards go to www.babymilkaction.org

9. Jack Tinker Spirit of the Fringe Award
Awarded in memory of Jack Tinker, a life long supporter of the Fringe, productions or performances are recognised for outstanding talent and creativity.

10. Amnesty International Big Issue Freedom of Expression Award
Amnesty International is expanding its Fringe Profile this year. The Amnesty International Freedom of Expression Award is being re-launched as a joint venture with the Big Issue Scotland to help promote Amnesty's human rights message.
www.amnesty.org.uk

11. Allen Wright Award
The Allen Wright Award aims to encourage quality writing about the arts and is open to young journalists up to the age of 30. It recognises the contribution made by Allen Wright to the encouragement of young journalists in his 30 years as Arts Editor at the Scotsman. He also set up the Fringe First Award Scheme.

12. Scottish Eco Prize for Creativity 2007
The Call for Entries for the Eco Prize for Creativity 2007 will be launched towards the end of May. This Scottish Prize is awarded for any creative work that positively and imaginatively inspires people to be environmentally friendly and adopt greener lifestyles. The creative work can be in any artistic form from across any of the cultural and creative industries. There are two prizes each of £1,000: one for emerging talent and one for established talent. The provisional closing date for entries is 31st July. For confirmation of the closing date and details on how to enter, go to the website.
www.eco-prize.org.uk.

13. The Zebra Awards
The Dupliquick Zebra Awards are awards to recognise the best in Fringe posters and flyers. The awards are decided by an independent panel of judges comprising of Edinburgh-based theatre promoters and graphic designers. To see the 2007 winner of the Zebra Awards click here.
www.dqprint.co.uk

14. The Spirit of the Fringe Awards
The Spirit of the Fringe Awards began in 1992 as the Grand Finale of Mervyn Stutter's Pick Of The Fringe, the only daily showcase of Fringe talent encompassing theatre, comedy, dance and music. The performers and companies chosen from this comprehensive coverage, are those who, along with their great talent, still embody the true Spirit of the Fringe.

15. Amused Moose Laugh Off 2007
From January Amused Moose watch 500 comics perform live at specially staged comedy shows across the UK and in Ireland, with the best 100 or so progressing through to heats, then quarterfinals, until 24 semi-finals battled it out for 8 places in the Fringe final. The awards are sponsored by the if.comeddies and in association with DVD producer 2entertain.
The final will be held on Saturday 25 August at the Bongo Club.
www.amusedmoose.com

18. Arches Brick Award for Emergent Talent
The Arches Theatre in Glasgow is renowned for supporting developing and experimental theatre. The newly launched Arches Brick Award for Emergent Talent aims to recognise burgeoning theatrical talent from across the globe.
www.thearches.co.uk/theatre

19. The MTM:UK Musical Theatre Matters Awards
Another new award, The MTM:UK Musical Theatre Matters Award will acknowledge the companies creating new and exciting musical theatre work and the individuals behind it.
www.musicaltheatrematters.co.uk

20. The Current TV Comedy Award
Current TV announces its debut Current TV Comedy Award at this year's Fringe. The station, founded by Al Gore and Joel Hyatt is keen to showcase the best comedy talent the Fringe has to offer and reward the winner with three commissioned programmes for the channel.
www.current.tv

21. The Edinburgh International Festival Award
The newly launched Edinburgh International Festival Award is collaborative award between the Edinburgh International Festival and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It aims to offer a Fringe show the opportunity to perform at the 2008 Edinburgh International Festival.
www.eif.co.uk

22. Edinburgh Evening News Drama Award
Our friends at the Evening News have also launched a new award. The Edinburgh Evening News Drama Award will recognise local amateur talent in music, comedy and drama.
www.edinburghnews.scotsman.com

23. The National Student Drama Festival
The good people at the National Student Drama Festival have also launched a new award. Their award will offer a student show from the Fringe a one-week transfer to The Pleasance Theatre, Islington.
www.nsdf.org.uk

24. Three Weeks Editors Awards
The Three Weeks Editors meet on the last Friday in the Fringe and pick the ten things that excited them most about the Fringe. This means the awards could go to a person, a venue, an exhibition or a show.
This years winners will be announced on Sunday 26th August.
www.edinburgh.threeweeks.co.uk

There are a couple of items of note from this list, perhaps most obviously the replacement of Perrier by Intelligent Finance as sponsor for the comedy award. This change took place last year (2006), so presumably by now people should be starting to get used to the new name? Yeah, that's what I thought too! After a 25 year association, during which time the 'Perriers' became the UK's leading comedy awards, it is not so much a question time before people will accept a new sponsor - it just won't happen. IF are going to have to work very hard, and very smart, to gain some benefit from this sponsorship. Second point to note, and it goes against Perrier, is that The Tap Water Awards are still being listed on the official website, even though they evapourated (sorry!) when Perrier pulled the plug (sorrier!) on their sponsorship last year. Presumably there are people at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (or even just in the Website production team) who are still sympathetic to the anti-Nestle campaign, but really it does not do anything to attract future sponsors to see anti-sponsor comments and links still posted a year after the original sponsor has withdrawn.

Wine & Spirits 2007 Awards Winners

2007-08-21T14:42:00.000+01:00

Here's a twist on the stereotype of the drink-sodden awards ceremony - an awards ceremony to recognise the world's best producers of wines and spirits. Now that's an event I'd like an invite to! The International Wine and Spirit Competition recently announced the winners of its 2007 trophies. The winners will receive their trophies at an Awards Banquet to be held in London in November, at which the winner of the V&S Trophy for Distiller of the Year will also be announced. Among the categories recognised by the IWSC, and the current trophy sponsors, are the Greenalls Trophy for Gin, the Brown-Forman Trophy for Worldwide Whiskey, the Distell Trophy for Worldwide Brandy and the Whyte & Mackay Trophy for Cask Strength Scotch Whisky. Great move by these sponsors to associate their names with these categories, thereby ensuring publicity and a natural assocation regardless of the performance of any of their own brands in the Competition.

New UK Movie Awards Launched

2007-08-20T16:25:00.000+01:00

British broadcaster ITV has announced the launch of a new UK-based film award, to be called the National Movie Awards. Based on the format of ITV's National Television Awards, the winners will be selected via a public vote and the awards ceremony will be broadcast on national television. The National Television Awards were launched in 1995 and have become a firm favourite with the public, who vote using text messaging, phone calls and online polling. The broadcast of the 2006 awards ceremony had a TV audience of over seven million. The new Movie awards will use the same populist approach, with the public also able to collect voting forms in any UK cinema. The 2007 National Movie Awards will feature categories such as Best Family Film, Best Action Film, Best Comedy and Best Animation. Films must have been released for public viewing between September 2006 and August 2007 to be eligible. It's a smart move by ITV, capitalising as it does on the huge appetite for 'popularity poll' television such as Pop Idol, The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent. Add to this a touch of movie star glamour and high quality movie clips, and it looks like a successful formula. The inaugural National Movie Awards ceremony will will be held at London's Royal Festival Hall on 28 September, with a national broadcast of the event the following night.

Scottish Retail Excellence Awards 2006

2006-11-23T15:33:00.000Z

To Scotland now where the winners of the Scottish Retail Excellence Awards 2006 were announced at a gala ceremony recently. Hosted by TV personality Lorraine Kelly and held at Glasgow's Hilton Hotel, these prestigious awards are intended to pay tribute to the retail industry's top achievers and to showcase the outstanding achievements of retailers from across Scotland. The Scottish Retail Excellence Awards were created by the Scottish Daily Record and Scottish Business Insider magazine, with support from the Scottish Retail Consortium. Other sponsors of the 2006 awards included Deloitee, Sainsbury's and the Scottish Co-op. The 2006 awards were divided into ten categories plus the overall winner's title, the 'Retailer of the Year'. Judging of the entries was by a panel of industry experts. The prestigious title of Retailer of the Year went to John Lewis Partnership. Other category winners included B&Q (Customer Service Initiative of the Year Award), Gayle Honeyman of the Scottish Co-op (Store Manager of the Year Award) and Cove Boutique (Consumers' Favourite Chain of the Year). All the winners received magnificent crystal awards trophies, supplied and engraved by Glasgow-based company Uppermost Business Gifts.

The CIPS Supply Management Awards 2006

2006-08-05T09:44:00.000+01:00

This week the shortlist of finalists was announced for the 2006 CIPS (Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply) Supply Management Awards. Here at Winner's Podium we love a well-run, meaningful and well-publicised awards scheme and the CIPS awards are an excellent example. Established in 2003, the awards seek to celebrate and reward excellence in the field of purchasing and supply. As they are organised by the CIPS, they have the effect of consolidating this body as the de facto authoritative organisation to represent and champion the purchasing and supply profession. The awards also help to promote and maintain interest in the group's fortnightly magazine, Supply Management, which is jointly running the awards. In 2005 the final awards ceremony attracted an audience of over 900 people. The 2006 ceremony will take place at the London's Park Lane Hilton on 26th October, where the winners of 10 team and two individual categories will be announced and awards trophies presented. The shortlist for these categories was announced this week, after the judging panel considered some 160 entries. Speaking about this year's submissions, Gerry Walsh, CIPS vice-president and chair of the judging panel, said: "The judges were delighted with the quality of the entries. The standard seems to have gone up again this year". Which is a nice progression for such a recent awards scheme. As with many successful industry awards schemes, the CIPS Supply Management Awards have lined up a number of sponsors. For the 2006 awards, the headline sponsor is Ariba - who receive the bonus of having their own logo incorporated with the special 2006 awards logo. Two previous sponsors, Hays Purchasing & Supply and Atos Consulting, both continue their support of the awards. Two further sponsors, The Office of Government Commerce and RS, are first-time sponsors for the awards.

Last Call for Entries to AOP Online Publishing Awards 2006

2006-07-27T10:05:00.000+01:00

The deadline for entries to the 2006 AOP Online Publishing Awards is Friday 28th July. The awards are organised by the UK Association of Online Publishers and seek to establish and reward the highest standards in all aspects of multimedia digital publishing. Now in their fifth year, the awards also provide industry recognition for businesses that have excelled over the previous 12 months. The categories include: Editorial Team 2006; Design 2006; Online Advertising Campaign 2006; and Innovation 2006. The award winners will be announced at a black tie gala ceremony at London's Park Lane Hilton Hotel on 4th October 2006, following the annual AOP Online Publishing Conference. The awards are supported by ABC Electronic, Deloitte, IPA Digital, MIVA and PPAinteractive. Other partners include NMA (Media Partner), Brand Republic (Online Media Partner) and HCUK (Technology Partner). Full details and application forms can be found at the AOP Awards 2006 microsite.

Superbrands Awards 2006

2006-07-26T12:50:00.000+01:00

Now here's two themes close to our hearts here at Winner's Podium - awards and branding. Put them together and you get the Superbrands Awards, the UK independent branding awards which held their 2006 awards ceremony at The Brewery, London last week. The awards are intended to recognise and reward the highest standards of branding within the UK as voted for by both experts and consumers. The expert panel is selected by Superbrands while the consumer opinion was canvassed by YouGov. The Superbrands Council considered some 1,200 brands and passed 650 of the best over to YouGov for the consumer vote. Some 2,373 consumers were canvassed and the top 500 brands were awarded Superbrand status. At the Awards event, over 300 guests enjoyed a networking introducation with canapes and a string quartet at the prestigious east London venue before sitting down to a gala dinner. Hosted by BBC TV and radio presenter Adrian Chiles, the crystal awards trophies for the top three consumer brands in the UK went to Microsoft, BA and the BBC.

Success Breeds Success: The Value of a Trophy

2006-02-23T18:35:00.000Z

It may be a cliche to say 'nothing succeeds like success', but that doesn't make the phrase any less true. We'd like to focus today on one of English football's most successful clubs over the past 15 years. During that time, Manchester United have won every major domestic and European trophy, including the European Cup in 1999. Their manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, is recognised as one of the most successful in English football history. Yet for the past couple of years the current team has failed to live up to the achievements of the recent past. Last year they failed to win a single trophy and this season sees them with just one remaining opportunity to win silverware - the League Cup final against Wigan Athletic this Sunday (26th Feb 2006). In previous seasons Manchester United have regarded this trophy - seen as the least glamorous of the three main English competitions - with disdain, often putting out teams of reserve and youth squad players. So on one level it is a sign of the club's decline that in 2006 their only hope of winning silverware is in this competition. However, the winning spirit has not disappeared. And perhaps more importantly, and certainly more interestingly for us, is the reason behind this desire to win the League Cup. Sir Alex has repeatedly said that winning a trophy - any major trophy - is the aim at the start of every campaign. He knows, and his experienced players know, that success breeds success. A trophy won one year very often creates a momentum that ensures another trophy is won the following year. As team captain Gary Neville says of Sunday's cup final: "This final presents a fantastic opportunity to win a medal for lads like Wayne Rooney and Kieran Richardson, who have not done it before. ... And I know what confidence medals can bring". Neville and Ferguson both know the truth behind the adage 'nothing succeeds like success' and that for the current generation of youngsters in their team it is imperative that they get the taste of silverware and success ... to ensure further and future glory. It is a lesson that can be repeated in all walks of life, from sports to arts to the corporate world to public honours. Reward achievement, and it will reward you.

People Management Award 2006

2006-02-22T14:09:00.000Z

Entries are being invited for the 2006 People Management Award, a major British industry honour that is organised jointly by the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) and People Management magazine. The aim of this annual award is to honour an outstanding achievement in the field of people management and development. The prestige of the award is reflected in the level of corporate sponsorship and support it receives, and for 2006 the scheme will again be sponsored by telecommunications giant BT. One of the things we real like about this award scheme is the way it is presented to potential entrants. The CIPD web site has a specific page outlining the benefits of entryto the People Management Award, something that other awards organisers could learn from. It explains that the very process of preparing an entry for the awards can have a positive and galvanising effect on an organisation or department. Previous finalists have all reported that the publicity and prestige associated with the awards has helped 'open doors' for them. On a practical level, the CIPD and People Magazine offer a number of events and publicity opportunities for the finalists and, of course, the winners. And going forward, the winner from the previous year will feature prominently in the judging and awarding for the subsequent year. To us, these awards are an excellent example of providing real value to finalists and winners over an extended period of time. And there's more. The People Management Award commissions a unique sculpture as a trophy for the winner. The original People Management Award sculpture was created in bronze by Robert Erskine and aimed to convey the idea of people working together to break through barriers and realise their own potential in the workplace. Since then, a new sculpture has been created each year, all with the brief of capturing the essence of "people, life, rhythms and direction". Each of these bronze sculptures takes between twelve and sixteen weeks to create and provides a unique and lasting trophy for the award winners.

Oscars Mean Big Business

2006-02-21T11:54:00.000Z

Think awards, think Oscars. There's no doubt that the Oscars are one of the world's foremost awards programmes, famous across the globe and emulated by awards schemes in virtually every industry. How many times do we hear the phrase 'the Oscars of the widget industry'? And just to underline the sheer scale and economic draw of the Oscars we'd like to focus on two news items published this week. Firstly the BBC's website has reported on The Politics of an Oscar Campaign. Penned from Los Angeles by reporter Peter Bowes, this feature article details the behind-the-scenes efforts by publicists, PR companies, lobbyists and campaigners to promote particular films and individuals for awards. The ultimate goal, of course, is box office takings. An Academy Award nomination can add substantial sums to the receipts for a film both at the cinema and in subsequent promotion of rental and home viewing formats. Bowes reports in particular on the boost that Oscar publicity can offer to foreign or independent films. According to Fredell Pogodin, who runs a public relations agency that specialises in independent, foreign and documentary films: "A lot of these films start the Oscar race without a US distribution deal. Invariably about 80 to 90% of the time if you are an Oscar nominee you will be picked up by a US distributor." But distibution deals, future earnings potential for actors and directions, and direct box office revenue are just one element of the Oscar economy. The second item we'd like to focus on today was prompted by this press release for Aquabar's Hydration Station. This upscale water fountain concept is to be available at the Platinum Guild International's Academy Award Red Carpet Jewelry Preview event. Yes, you read that correctly. The platinum jewelry industry is hosting an exclusive preview of designer jewelry for the benefit of Academy Award attendees, and they are now offering concessions at the venue (Hollywood's Mondrian Hotel) for complementary products and services. Its a smart move for both parties - Aquabar gets publicity and kudos for being the water station to the stars, while Platinum Guild International (PGI-US) gets to offer first class refreshment facilities to its celebrity visitors. The tie-up was first used at the PGI's Golden Globes Red Carpet Preview event last year, further evidence of the economic reach of the major awards events.

BAFTA Goodie Bag Competition

2006-02-20T13:24:00.000Z

So, the 2006 BAFTA awards were announced at a glamorous ceremony in London last night. Last year we focussed on the low profile given to sponsors Orange (Orange Stuggles to Make BAFTA Impact?) and it was good to see that this year the BBC reported them as the 'Orange Bafta awards'. Orange also gained huge exposure from the soggy red-carpet runway, as the stars were covered by Orange-sponsored see-through umbrellas for their photo-shoot walk up to the entrance of London's Odeon Cinema. The star-studded ceremony was hosted by Stephen Fry and included A-list celebrities such as George Clooney, Charlize Theron and Reese Witherspoon. But stars and sponsors aside, what we'd like to focus on this year is the BAFTA goodie bag. What really interested us here at Winners Podium was a competition run by Yahoo! UK & Ireland which was offering BAFTA goodie bags as prizes. Now usually the goody bags at awards ceremonies are reserved for the awards nominees and also the presenters of each award. But in a move that really opened up the event to public participation, Yahoo! was offering a number of the bags as prizes in a Web-based competition. It allowed us non-celebs a glimpse of the A-list lifestyle as the contents of the bag were listed in detail. They included: a Motorola SLVR phone, a Furla Farrah bag, an American Airlines first class voucher, four nights in the One&Only Le Saint Géran resort in Mauritius, Taittinger champagne, Lancome products, Beautcamp Pilates sessions, Steinmetz phone jewellery, Timothy Han candles and a haircut with Nicky Clarke. No wonder the Orange British Academy Film Awards have been growing in stature in the world of film awards, and now attract such high-level stars to their events. It also provides a standard for other awards events to emulate with their own goodie bags and gifts for nominees and citation readers.

BRIT Awards Publicity Blitz

2006-01-25T11:33:00.000Z

Promotors of the BRIT Awards, the UK's music industry awards, are in publicity overdrive at the moment ahead of the awards event on February 15th. This year's event will be held at London's Earl's Court venue and will be televised on ITV on 16th February. We reported on the publicity ahead of last year's 25th annual BRIT awards show, which included a tie-in with BBC Radio 2 along with a Nomination Launch party. The launch party for the 2006 BRIT awards was held at London's Riverside Studios on January 10th, and this event was reported on in the BRIT Awards 2006 blog. The introduction of the blog allows the BRIT Awards publicity team to release new items on a daily, if not hourly, basis. So far these have included interviews with nominated acts, opinions from music industry figures, details of acts appearing on the awards night, and promotion of the BRITs compilation album. The BRIT Awards 2006 blog also contains a section dedicated to awards sponsors Mastercard. The company uses this opportunity to showcase its Priceless Evenings promotion, which includes a chance to win VIP tickets to the BRIT Awards and a trip to the GRAMMY Awards in Los Angeles. Nice move by the BRIT Awards organisers to give their sponsors such prominence, and nice move by Mastercard to follow up their sponsorship with related promotions. Smart moves all round.

Academy Concern Over Globes Bad Publicity

2006-01-23T09:42:00.000Z

A publicity storm is brewing over the antics of one TV presenter at last week's Golden Globe Awards. Outrageous fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi was commissioned by the E! entertainment channel to conduct 'red carpet interviews' outside the venue for the prestigious awards. Mizrahi shocked viewers by groping and asking intimate questions of female stars, including Scarlett Johansson, Teri Hatcher and Eva Longoria. Comments made by the presenter - who is gay - to actress Charlize Theron about her character in the film 'Monster' have been criticised by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, who have submitted a formal complaint about the item. These antics were just what the TV channel had expected from Mizrahi. E! Networks President and CEO Ted Harbert told Associated Press: "I've hired Isaac because I felt the red carpet work on television, not just on E!, had become predictable, staid and frankly boring. What I wanted is someone who would bring surprise." Where it now gets interesting is that Mizrahi has also been lined up to present the carpet interviews for E! at the Oscars in March. While some people believe there is no such thing as bad publicity, others at the Academy are less certain. "I have no idea what plans E! has on Oscar night. If they're suggesting they would do something similar on our red carpet, we would have some good discussions with them," said Academy spokesman John Pavlik. "I can predict we would be extraordinarily angry if that happened on our carpet. I cannot predict what we would do afterwards." Of course, the pre-publicity about the possible bad publicity does the Oscars no harm at all!

B&Q 'You Can Do It' Awards

2006-01-22T12:51:00.000Z

DIY chain B&Q has announced the launch of its 2006 'You Can Do It' awards scheme. These community awards are available to organisations such as charities, sports and youth groups, disability and environmental groups and others. Since their launch in 1995 the B&Q You Can Do It awards have donated over £1m worth of products to over 200 community groups across the UK and Ireland. For the 2006 scheme, twenty awards worth £5,000 each will be presented to the successful organisations. Entries are invited up to the deadline of 17th March 2006. What we like about these awards here at Winners Podium is the tie-in with the sponsoring brand - its all about doing it yourself - and the reach of these awards. By targeting such a wide range of community groups, particularly sports, B&Q is getting its name promoted in a very positive and brand-enhancing manner before a huge audience. Nice one B&Q.

What Car? Awards 2006

2006-01-21T12:17:00.000Z

Motoring publications group What Car? held its annual awards ceremony at London's Grosvenor House Hotel venue last week. Top honour of Car of the Year went to the new BMW 3 Series while the Skoda took two awards - Best Small Family Car (Octavia 1.6 Ambiente) and Best Hot Hatch (Octavia vRS). The What Car? Awards are selected by a panel of judges from the magazine group, though one particular prize - the Reader Award - is judged by votes cast on the whatcar.com website and by readers of the magazine Eve. The What Car? Reader Award 2006 went to Jaguar's new XK model. As we have often noted here at Winners Podium, running an awards scheme is a tried-and-tested successful strategy for media groups to increase their profile within a sector, to boost the exposure of that sector, and to build significant relationships both with their own audience and with key figures and bodies within each chosen sector. With the advent of website polling software it is now even easier for a publisher to involve its audience in the selection or voting procedure for their business, corporate or industry awards schemes.

2006 Laurence Olivier Awards Announced

2006-01-20T08:04:00.000Z

Nominations have been announced for the 2006 Laurence Olivier Awards, the UK's most prestigious stage and theatre awards. Dubbed 'London's equivalent of the Tony Awards', the 30th annual Laurence Oliver Awards will be announced in a ceremony at the London Hilton on Sunday, 26th February. The Hilton UK & Ireland hotel chain are sponsors of the awards. Awards will be presented in over 20 categories including Best Actor, Best Actress, Best New Musical and Outstanding Musical Production as well as fields such as Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. The awards are organised by the Society of London Theatre, the trade association which represents the producers, theatre owners and managers of the major commercial and grant-aided theatres in central London. Established in 1976 as the Society of West End Theatre Awards, the awards were renamed in 1984 in honour of legendary British actor Laurence Olivier.

Golden Globe Awards 2006

2006-01-19T11:41:00.000Z

The 63rd annual Golden Globe Awards were announced this week in a lavish ceremony at the Beverly Hilton. The event, broadcast live by NBC television in the USA and syndicated globally, is one of the largest and most glamorous awards ceremonies in the world. For full details of the winners and photos of the event, we recommend the official Hollywood Foreign Press Association's Golden Globes website. The 2006 event featured no fewer than 45 Hollywood stars as presenters of awards, with figures ranging from Penelope Cruz, Tim Robbins, Pamela Anderson and Dennis Quaid to Drew Barrymore, Mariah Carey and Catherine Deneuve. It is a measure of the sheer scale and momentum of these awards that they can attract such a large number of high profile actors and artists to present awards. As we commented last year regarding the 2005 awards (Golden Globes Set Shining Example), what really impresses us here at Winners Podium is how these awards manage to sit comfortably alongside other A-list film and TV awards ceremonies such as the Oscars. This mutual respect - deference? - was set at the very establishment of the Golden Globe Awards, when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HPAS) decided to hold their event in January so as not to clash with the Oscars ceremony later in the year (see history of the Golden Globe awards). One final item we would like to note regarding the Golden Globes - the HPAS has donated over $5.5m to entertainment related charities over the past 11 years thanks to the revenue raised by the awards ceremony. In 2006 the donation was over $1m, with an additional $250,000 donated to the Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund.

FIFA World Player Awards

2005-12-21T10:15:00.000Z

FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, announced its World Player of the Year awards at a gala ceremony in Zurich on Monday. The headline award of World Player of the Year went to the Brazilian Ronaldinho for the second successive year, while the women's award went to Germany's Birgit Brinz for the third successive year. The awards are determined by a poll of national coaches and captains, who assign three grades of vote to players named in a FIFA shortlist. The FIFA World Player Awards were introduced in 1991 and the women's awards in 2001. Also announced at the gala ceremony were the latest world team rankings, the Fair Play Award and the Interactive World Player Award, while former referee Anders Frisk was presented with FIFA's Presidential Award.

Time Magazine names 'Persons of the Year'

2005-12-19T15:56:00.000Z

U.S. magazine Time has named its 'Persons of the Year' for 2005, with Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates and his wife Melinda, and U2 frontman Bono, receiving the top honours. The three were selected for their work in tackling malaria in Africa, HIV and Aids, and poverty. These awards also named former U.S. Presidents George Bush and Bill Clinton as 'Partners of the Year' in recognition of their joint work in the aftermaths of the Asian tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in the U.S.A. Time magazine has been selecting a person of the year since 1927 with the aim of picking 'the person or persons who most affected the news and our lives, for good or for ill, and embodied what was important about the year, for better or worse.' This selection criteria, based on newsworthiness rather than just plain worthiness, has led to controversy in the past as figures such as Adolf Hitler (1938) and Ayatollah Khomeini (1979) were given the title. Last year the Time Person of the Year 'award' went to U.S. President George W. Bush. This idiosyncratic selection criteria does have the advantage of making the Time magazine honours unique, but it also creates great confusion as to the nature of the 'honour' that winners receive.

British Independent Film Awards

2005-12-01T13:48:00.000Z

The British Independent Film Awards were held last night at Hammersmith Palais, one of London's top venues for events and awards ceremonies. Hosted by Irish actor James Nesbitt and featuring presentations from industry figures such as Imelda Staunton, Vanessa Redgrave and Ken Loach, these BIFA's continue to grow in stature among the many awards for film. Established in 1998 with the aim of celebrating achievement in independently-funded British filmmaking, the awards also seek to recognise new talent and to promote British films and filmmaking to a wider public. These well-run awards have themselves been recognised within the awards industry: in 2003 they received two nominations at the Hollis Sponsorship Awards - for 'Best First Time Sponsorship' and 'Best Low Budget Sponsorship' - and won the award for Best Low-Budget Sponsorship. For the 2005 BIFAs, sponsors included Nokia, CineWorld Cinemas, Bloomberg and Variety.com. The BIFAs also have their own, custom designed, awards trophy. First commissioned in 1998 from sculptor Aaron McCartney, the design of the trophy was updated in 2001 by artist Lindsay Henderson of the studio Art for Glass. It features a flat glass award with an elegant curved design set on a curved base. Flat glass awards have emerged in recent years as the contemporary choice of trophy for a wide range of awards. For the record, the BIFAs awarded three honours to the film The Constant Gardener at Wednesday's ceremony. These included the Best Actor and Best Actress awards for Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz.

Football and Rugby Player of the Year Awards

2005-11-29T11:13:00.000Z

Two of the most coveted sets of awards in professional sport were announced recently as both Rugby Union and European Football celebrated the best players of the past year. At the weekend Paris was the venue for the International Rugby Board (IRB) Awards. Hosted at the Pavillon d'Armenonville, this prestigious ceremony was attended by some of the great names of rugby's past and present including IRB Awards panellists Gavin Hastings, Michael Jones, Fabien Galthie and John Eales, British Lions Manager Bill Beaumont and former All Black captain Colin Meads. All Black player Daniel Carter was named IRB Player of the Year while his New Zealand teammates were honoured with the Team of the Year Award. All Blacks coach Graham Henry also picked up the Coach of the Year Award. Among other awards announced at the event were IRB Under-21 Player of the Year and IRB Under-19 Player of the Year Awards, which went to Australia's Tatafu Polota-Nau and New Zealand's Isaia Toeava respectively. The IRB Sevens Team of the Year was presented to current Sevens Rugby World Cup champions Fiji, with New Zealand's Orene Ai'i named as Sevens Player of the Year. Some notable honours were also announced at the IRB Awards: the Vernon Pugh Award for Distinguished Service went to former Wallaby Peter Crittle, while administrator Sir Tasker Watkins was presented with the IRB Chairman's Award. The Spirit of Rugby Award was presented to the former French forward Jean Pierre Rives. Paris was also the venue as the soccer world honoured its players on Monday with the announcement of the 2005 European Footballer of the Year. This prestigious award, which includes the gilt-plated 'Ballon D'or' trophy, was presented to the Brazilian player Ronaldinho. The Barcelona midfielder is the 50th player to be named European Footballer of the Year in the awards which are run by the magazine France Football. Winners are selected by a poll of soccer journalists from each of European football's 52 association members. Two English players, Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard, were voted second and third respectively. In 1995 the eligibility for the European Footballer of the Year Award was changed to allow players from any nation to be eligible, as long as they played for a European team. Since this change, five of the ten awards have gone to non-European players, starting with George Weah in 1995 and including the Brazilians Ronaldo (winner in both 1997 and 2002) and Rivaldo.

Van of the Year Awards

2005-11-26T14:33:00.000Z

Here's a thought: is it better for sector or industry awards to be clustered within a short time-frame, or to spread them out across the year? By clustering events within the same week, it could be argued that the larger media organisations may be more likely to cover the events; by spreading them out, it helps differentiate the various awards (and their sponsors) and marks them out as separate events and honours. This question arose last week as two different UK van of the year awards were announced. The What Van? Awards were presented at a ceremony in London's Sketch restaurant and gallery on Thursday. What Van? magazine is the UK's largest dedicated van magazine with a readership that includes owners, operators and transport managers. The awards were judged by the magazine's editorial team and based in part on the driving appraisals and road tests conducted by What Van? over the previous 12 months. For the record, the 2005 What Van? Van of the Year Award was won by the Iveco Daily. Meanwhile the Association of Car Fleet Operators (ACFO) also revealed its 2005 Fleet Car and Vans of the Year Awards this week. These awards have been running for 22 years and are judged by a poll of ACFO members. ACFO believes that this approach distinguishes its awards and contributes to their prestige within the industry. As the organisation says on its website: "ACFO believes that its Fleet Car and Vans of the Year Awards are highly prized by vehicle manufacturers, because they are based on members' detailed day-to-day operating experience of vehicles actually in use in their fleets, over a minimum 12-month period. This provides a clear separation of the ACFO poll from many others: it relies on hard, practical experience rather than 'showroom appeal'." For the record, the Ford Transit won the ACFO Fleet Panel Van of the Year award for 2005, the 11th year in succession that the Transit has won this accolade. The ACFO Fleet Card or the Year award went to the Vauxhall Astra. Whether the timing of the ACFO and What Van? awards helped to boost the coverage for these winners, or diluted the prestige of each honour, is still up for debate.

2005 Chamber Awards

2005-11-25T12:18:00.000Z

London's Royal Courts of Justice was the venue last night for a national ceremony for the 2005 British Chambers of Commerce Awards. Leading the awards was Anthony Alan Foods Ltd, which won the Microsoft Award for Outstanding Business Achievement, an award worth £25,000 in prize money. This substantial prize is one of the richest available in UK business awards, and helps position the sponsors, Microsoft, at the forefront of support for small- and medium-sized businesses in the country. Speaking about the sponsorship, Natalie Ayres, Microsoft's Senior Director Small and Medium Solutions and Partners Group, said: "Microsoft is dedicated to supporting business and society on a national and local level, in supporting the economy and providing the technology to drive real prosperity in the UK. Our involvement in the BCC Awards is an important part of our consistent, extensive efforts to support small businesses and their ongoing growth and success." The winning company said it intends to use the prize money to fund resources within local schools that will help foster business education. Alan Anthony Foods won a second award on the night, the Business of the Year Award which was sponsored by Barclays. Microsoft sponsored a second award in the 2005 Chamber Awards, the Microsoft Award for Innovation through Technology. This was won by Ontracks.co.uk, a Web-based retailer of model and hobby products. The award for Most Promising New Business, sponsored by BT, went to NAC Comms Ltd of Scotland. The BUPA-sponsored Business Commitment to the Community Award was won by Nottinghamshire-based Building Blocks Solutions, while Sussex-based Genesis Forwarding Group won the CILT-sponsored Export Communicator of the Year Award. The Award for Skills and Workforce Development sponsored by LSC, was won by Shropshire-based Lyreco UK. Karen Finch, founder of The Hearing Care Centre Ltd, received the Entrepreneur of the Year Award. This prestigious honour, sponsored by The Telegraph Business Club, featured strong competition from eight other finalists. Speaking about the award, Karen Finch said: "What this award provides for me ... is the recognition and approval of other business people. There is nothing more satisfying than hearing words of praise from those who are in the know; those who understand the trials and tribulations, the fear, the loneliness and self-doubt suffered by anyone who wants to start up in business." Among other award winners at the 2005 Chamber Awards, the Travelex-sponsored Export Business of the Year Award waswon by Jointine Products Ltd.

Times Higher Awards 2005

2005-11-24T15:32:00.000Z

The inaugural Times Higher Awards, which recognise the contribution made by the UK's higher education establishments to the intellectual, social and economic life of the country, took place at London's Dorchester Hotel last night. Prime Minister Tony Blair recorded a special video message in support of the event in which he said that the awards "... give us a chance to celebrate the achievements of the UK's universities - a sector where, thanks to your efforts, Britain is truly a world-leader... Our society and country would be poorer, in every way, without the contributions of the higher education sector." Speaking at the Awards ceremony John O'Leary, editor of The Times Higher Education Supplement, said: "Launching these Awards has been a tremendously rewarding experience and we're delighted to present our first annual winners with their prizes." The success of this year's inaugural Times Higher Awards has ensured that they will continue as an annual event in the UK's industry awards calendar. A total of 13 prizes were awarded, with Manchester University receiving the prestigious Higher Education Institution of the Year award. Other honours included the Business Initiative of the Year award (won by Proximagen of Kings College London), the Best Student Experience award (Universiry of Wales Swansea) and the Employer of the Year award (Sheffield Hallam University).