Paul Walsh, the Irish Opportunist

Tonight is the night for BIMA, (British Interactive Media Association) - the Association I Chair. The Awards now in their 24th year, are considered by some, as the BAFFTA equivilant for the creatives within the UK digital industry.

The gala is being streamed live and if you’re lucky, you’ll get to see me being heckled whilst handing out the Grand Prix prize.

More on the BIMA Blog.

Being the Chair of the British Interactive Media Association (BIMA) is just one of the things I love doing during my 26 hour working day. So, it is with great pleasure that I announce this years shortlist for what is arguably the most prestigious awards in the UK digital industry.

The awards, which are now in their 13th year, recognize creativity in digital technology, and focus on all aspects of digital creativity. This year the awards have been refined to reflect the ever-changing digital media scene, with new sub-sections and categories being added.

I’ve posted the full story on the BIMA blog.

I’ve just published a post on the BIMA blog to announce a call for entries. For the first time ever, ‘Best blog’ and ‘Best Network Application’ are on the list.

Here’s a little more information

Social Media - Awesome Little Bit of Wickedness Award

A piece of work within the category that either has a detail to be revered and highlighted for all its gloriousness, or its just that damn good that you don’t want to put a finger on it…It’s just wicked. This could be an uncategorised piece of UGC, a wondrous widget that sits within a social space or just the most incredible piece of social media that’s incredibly wicked!!!

Social Media - Best Blog Award (Personal or Corporate)

A blog within the category that is innovative, informative and entertaining. Open and honest a compelling read that inspires and engages visitors to return to day after day. Whether the content is incredible personal and poignant or just good fun, this is blog is championed by a loyal audience who share this site with friends and contacts both online and off.

Social Media - Best Network Application

A piece of work, within the category, that has been adopted by a broad audience. An audience that recognise the benefits that this innovative application brings to their day-to-day lives. Whether it is just about connecting people or staying in touch it will make everyday online tasks ‘easy’ and ‘convenient’ whilst generating huge page impressions!

Social Media - Viral Campaign

The online destination, site, video clip, tool, application or experience that everyone is talking about and visiting, that taps into popular culture. Cutting edge, this experience is so compelling, emotional, edgy, mysterious and exciting that the advertisers work is done for them when an online audience begin to share it with friends and colleagues and it goes on to join a pantheon.

Enter for an Award

The categories for the BIMAs Awards have completely changed this year. As well as staying true to our core vision of ‘Working to support the creative excellence and craftsmanship within digital media’, we’ve also decided to inject a bit of life into the awards, making them even more relevant to industry.

This basically means focusing on all aspects of digital, ranging from the traditional executions of design teams, right through to innovative craftsmanship, which often results in those awesome little gems of wickedness.

Therefore we think you’ll find the categories a lot wider and more general, allowing for a greater variety of submissions from more areas of our industry.

So, as well as celebrating traditional creative, we’ll also be recognising a few unsung heroes.

Read my full post on the BIMA blog and get the run-down on all the categories. We’ve introduced social networking stuff too, so you can enter the best blog or the best social networking application awards.

BIMA, the industry association which I Chair, is now calling for judges for the BIMAs 2008. Head over to the BIMA blog to learn more.

I’ll update you with a post about the AGM Party shortly. I need to wade through a mass of unread email first.