Melbourne a Change of Plans
We’ve got to be honest here, we’ve had to make some hard decisions over the last few days.
Due to less sponsorship and attendance than we’d allowed for, we’ve had to change the format of the National Awards Ceremony.
Instead of a meal in a sit down environment, we’ve managed to save the event from being cancelled by changing it to a cocktail function, with three and a half hours of free-flowing drinks, beautiful canapés and great opportunities to network, as well as the excitement of finding out who will win the national categories of the Australian Web Awards.
To sweeten the deal even more for those of you who have already bought your tickets, we’re encouraging you to now bring a colleague or partner. That’s right, your tickets are now valid for two people
instead of one, providing you with even more incentive to get a group and come along.
We apologise for the last minute change. For a number of unforseen reasons, we’ve literally had to make the decision to change the format or cancel the event entirely – we’re positive you’ll agree that this new format will encourage better networking, better opportunities for celebration and a fantastic atmosphere to reveal who are the stars of the Australian web.
We look forward to seeing you (and your guest) next Saturday night.
Tickets can still be purchased.
Let’s make this a night for all of us to remember!
Regards
Miles Burke
National Chairperson
Australian Web Industry Association
Onwards to Melbourne.
Now that the winners from the Eastern and Western regions have been announced, it's onwards to the National Awards in Melbourne.
On 12th November in Melbourne among the glitz and the glamour of the web industries best we will announce the following at a National level:
- Personal
- Ecommerce
- Commercial
- Government
- Education
- Culture & Events
- Not for Profit
- Innovation
- Mobile App
But wait there are more awards!
Yes we are going to award sites that have a perfect aspect of the design process, such as:
- Best HTML / CSS
- Best Visual Design
- Best Accessibility
- Best User Experience
This is an ideal networking opportunity and a night to remember. How often do you get the Directors of the best web design agencies, from around Australia in one place?
Tickets are available now, but don’t wait, as this event is expected to sell out.
Congratulations Western Region - Onwards to Sydney
Well the first segment of the Australian Web Awards is now over and the resulting hangovers nursed.
Congratulations to all the winners. It was an amazing evening, and good to see so many of the talented folks from the western region at the sold out Perth event.
It was a very close contest on all accounts, with just percentage points separating the top sites in each category.
The winners of the Western Region are now available for the following categories:
- Commercial
- Ecommerce
- Government
- Not For Profit
- Innovation
- Culture & Events
Awards for the Eastern Region.
Next up is the Eastern Regional Awards to be held in Sydney. This event has already sold out.
At the Sydney event the following categories will be awarded:
- Commercial
- Ecommerce
- Government
- Not For Profit
- Innovation
- Culture & Events
The finalists for these categories are available now as well.
Time to Announce the Winners
Well all the judges have poked and prodded this years entries of the Australian Web Awards. They have tabulated the final results, cross check them, and declared them completed.
The judging committee has acknowledged the scores and concurs with the results. We can let you know that it was close, very close this year. With some categories being decided by just a few points. Who the winners are, well you’ll have to come to the awards ceremonies.
Now with all the hard work done, it’s time to celebrate this amazing show of Australian Web Industry talent.
And what better way, than to award the regional and national Australian Web Awards via a series of gala events around the country over the coming weeks.
So dust of your best frock or jacket and glam it up geek style for star-studded award ceremonies in Perth, Sydney and culminating in a gala dinner in Melbourne.
Places are limited at all Award Events, please register now to avoid disappointment.
Perth
When: Wed, 5 October 2011
Where: Etro Bar, Perth
Cost: FREE
Awarding: West Coast Regional Awards.
SOLD OUT
Sydney
When: 12 October 2011
Where: City Hotel, Sydney
Cost: FREE
Awarding: East Coast Regional Awards.
SOLD OUT
Melbourne
When: Sat, 12 November 2011
Where: Scienceworks Museum, Pumping Station, Melbourne
Awarding: National and Special Category Awards.
Tickets on Sale
You will note the Perth and Sydney events are FREE, so really you have no excuse now not to come along and celebrate with the best of the best.
Countdown to Entries Closing - a few hints
Not long to go now. If you haven't entered yet, you should be really getting those entries ready for submission by now.
We have found in the past it’s a good idea to register and get yourself all setup first. Then take your time to compile your entry information and work out the right category, saving the entry as you go.
Finally paying and submiting when everything is perfect.
Now we have had a few issues with our payment gateway issues over the last week. Sorry about that.
We have cleared out all the nasty code and fixed it all. So it should be working well now.
Also just to help you along a little we have put together some helpful hints and the like, these are secret, so don’t tell anyone. Okay.
Entry Questions
People have asked what are the questions on the entry form for the Australian web awards. Now this is no real big secret, but it does show you the level of detail we go to in an effort to really judge your entry. Like we have said before this isn’t a popularity contest it’s about having your entry really judged by your peers.
The questions:
- Name of Website
- Website URL
- Award Category
- Brief Description of project
-
Client Details
- Company/Organisation Name
- Client Contact Name
- Telephone
- Purpose of Project
- Target Audience
- Objectives of Project
- Special Technical Features
- Usability Considerations
- Special Features (if any)
- Implementation Challenges
- Who does content updates?
- Screen Grabs of site (Maximum - 1280 pixels wide and 1600 pixels high, less than 1.5MB. JPG, GIF or PNGs)
- Screencast / Video (especially for mobile category)
- Name/s to go the on Certificate
-
Entrant Details
- Name (project lead)
- Telephone
- Have you run validation? (Yes /No)
- Level of Accessibility compliance?
Australian Web Awards 2011 is Now Open
The Australian Web Awards is now open for submissions from any Australian produced website (or mobile app) that was launched or has undergone significant change in the 2010/2011 financial year. That’s from 1 July 2010 to 30 June 2011.
Entries close Wednesday 13 July 2011 Friday 29th July 2011.
It’s really easy to enter all you have to do is select the category appropriate to your submission:
- Mobile App
- Commercial
- Personal (no commercial content)
- Ecommerce
- Government
- Education
- Not For Profit
- Innovation
- Culture & Events
And give us a few details about the submission.
It’s just $55 per entry, however this year you can only enter once per category.
The Australian Web Awards is the only extensive, peer judged, national awards focusing on the web industry, promoting and awarding the use of industry recognized best practices.
So get cracking and get those entries in, remember we are closing on Wednesday 13 July 2011 Friday 29th July 2011..
2011 Australian Web Awards Opening Soon
Yes we are back - the Australian Web Awards is on again for 2011.
The Australian Web Awards is the only extensive national awards focusing on the web industry, promoting and awarding the use of industry recognized best practices.
This is our third year as a truly national competition. We are very excited with the thought of the talent that will be uncover this year.
As such we have listened to your suggestions, complaints, and ideas. We took them all in, analysed them, mulled them over, and made some changes, this year a few things are going to be a little different.
Overall the changes are going to make the competition fairer for people following best practice. Still in general terms the Australian Web Awards will retain its high standard, even more so than the previous years.
Remember to win an Australian Web Award really does mean that you have achieved a real milestone in industry recognition.
Categories
This year the Categories are:
- Mobile App
- Commercial
- Personal (no commercial content)
- Ecommerce
- Government
- Education
- Not For Profit
- Innovation
- Culture & Events
How to Enter
When: Enter online from Wednesday 15 June to Wednesday 13 July 2011.
Cost: $55 per entry.
Criteria and Notes:
- Entry must be a product of the entrant for the state in which their Head Office resides.
- Limitation of one category submission per entry.
Information required for entry:
- Entry Name
- Site URL
- Client Name
- Client Contact
- Description of the entry
- Purpose
- Audience
- Business and audience objectives
- Special technical features
- Special usability considerations
- Challenges encountered
- Accessibility compliance level
- Screen grabs of the entry
- Screen cast (optional)
- Name of certificate
- Content is updated by?
- Project team
- Finalists will be asked to submit 2 minute video on their entry
How do you win.
As nearly all our previous winners will tell you, winning is about building it right in the first place. But it does help if you :
- Enter
- Pass Validation (with exceptions)
- Pass Site Performance tests
- Allowing for multiple platforms
- Pass initial Accessibility testing
- Have a great site in these areas:
- Development
- Visual Design
- Accessibility
- Content
- User Experience
- Credibility
See it's easy...
We expect the Australian Web Awards enteries this year to be of a high standard. Your entries will be poked, prodded and put under the microscope by your judging peers. The judges will be brutal, they will be tough, there will be no bias, and still they will be fair.
If your entry shines out as being above the rest, then you have a chance of winning.
This time it’s state against state, small firms and freelancers verse the big end of town.
Who will win? It's anyone’s guess.