Well, I doubt I’ll win that one, it’s sure to be a tough category with plenty of strong contenders, but I can tell you that today has been a little bit of a struggle to say the least…

Through sheer force of will and due to popular demand we’ve managed to remember how to turn on our computers and published the results on the awards site. Congratulations are certainly in order for the lucky winners but I really hope that everyone had as good a time as I did. It was wonderful to see the place packed to the rafters.

As I said last night we were really ambitious with the awards this year, we gave ourselves three objectives, to make the awards more Relevant, Accessible and Rewarding and I’m really pleased to say that we did pretty well!

• We represented a wider range of the industry with 37 awards.
• We had 30% more entrants than last year
• The attendance records of previous years were shattered with well over 700 people on the guest-list!

It took the support of a great many people to make it happen and it would be difficult to overstate how grateful I am to the awards team, the BIMA exec, our partners and of course our wonderful sponsors but most of all I’m very grateful to those that entered and attended, without you we wouldn’t have an awards at all, you made it a truly memorable event. Thank you all and I hope to see you there next year!

This contentious question has, for some time, perplexed the national courts of various European countries. However, a recent opinion of Advocate General Poiares Madura (“AG”) has provided some guidance on the issue.

For a full opinion on the issue of whether the sale and purchase of brand names as keywords for Internet advertising constitutes trade mark infringement please visit our website: http://kemplittle.com/html/stay-posted/publications.html

Kemp Little LLP
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Our clients, both large and small, recognise that success in a world driven by technology means using lawyers who understand it. Our goal is to provide clients with what they want -  the best legal advice, delivered by people who are as focused, entrepreneurial and commercial as they are, on time and on budget. 

Kemp Little specialises in advising clients on Commercial Technology, Competition & Regulatory, Corporate, Employment, Intellectual Property and Litigation matters.

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Party info here.

Buy tickets here.

Be there!

Don’t forget to vote for your favourite Blog
This year the Best Blog award will be decided by a public vote. Please consider the fantastic nominees and vote for your favourite at http://www.bimaawards.com/categories/best_blog/

As well as my thoughts below which focus on the overall business considerations it might be useful to read some of my other reports on from the trip which discuss the places we’ve been and people we’ve met, I think it might help to understand the business scene if you understand the place a little. You can find these reports on the Kempt blog tagged UKYIE.

Overview
India has a thriving Interactive industry with companies operating in almost every sphere you can think of, thus far on this trip we’ve met with companies that operate in mobile: both games and marketing solutions, Flash games, Advergames, core games: both full-scale development of AAA titles and services such as content development and download games however there are also lots of web companies and people working in other fields who I hope to meet later in the trip. As well as the obvious opportunity for outsourcing India has a massive local market which allows a lot of these companies to operate profitably without relying solely on outsourced work from overseas and perhaps most interestingly, due to some of the specific economic conditions over here some of the companies have come up with very neat solutions to their specific local challenges which potentially give them a global advantage, for example this morning we met with Narasimha Suresh, the founder of a mobile marketing technology services company called Telibrahma who’s doing some amazing work with Bluetooth distributed content which (whilst I’m not an expert) is just as impressive, if not more so, as anything that I’ve seen from the UK in this space.

Opportunities and Considerations for Business in India
Right now, the most obvious of opportunities for British companies, at least one like mine, over here is in outsourcing. Indians are very hard-working and keen to do business and this, combined with the significantly lower cost of living out here means that you should be able to source work at approximately a third of the cost of getting work done in the UK. However, I think it’s important to stress that this is not necessarily an easy option and there are various challenges that should be considered by UK companies looking to outsource, or in fact do any kind of business over here:

• Many Indians are not heavily exposed to western culture therefore they haven’t developed the same aesthetic sensibilities and don’t understand cultural references in the same way.
• Indians love to haggle and do business therefore I suspect that there’s a tendency for them to over-sell which might lead to a compromise in the quality of your project or lead to delays.
• One of the major considerations is, in my opinion, standards of employee welfare in a number of key areas:
  •  Training – does the business concerned invest adequately in their staff in order to ensure that they’re capable of doing the job they’re expected to do?
  • Working Conditions – are the facilities and equipment provided to the employees adequate and of a standard that you’re comfortable with? Particularly, do they have enough space to work in? Although all the companies that we’ve visited have been good and reputable there are lots of dodgy fly-by night outfits in India and even In the companies we’ve visited these conditions have varied from brilliant to slightly below a standard that I would be fully comfortable with.
  • Equal Opportunities, in a country where gender screening before birth is banned because of the danger of gender selective abortion equal opportunities is a consideration. It’s an unfortunate fact that the interactive industries are currently a heavily male-dominated field both here and in the UK therefore it’s likely that any company you outsource to will mainly employ men however I think it’s definitely worth checking that the companies concerned treat their male and female employees equally.

Recommendations
In order to counter some of the challenges above I’d recommend the following:

• If you’re going to embark on a project with a company over here you’ll probably need to factor in additional time and milestones for design approval in order to ensure a quality result. Alternatively you may wish to consider putting some resource from your own organisation out here in order to train and oversee the project, Indians are keen to learn and I suspect this would be immensely well received.
• Take some responsibility for making sure that the agreed budget is fair to all and the project is feasible within it, additionally you may want to try and factor in some kind of penalty for under-performance.
• Above all, before you outsource to a company over here ensure that you make a visit to them at their offices and check things out for yourself. Many Indians are naturally gifted salespeople so don’t take what they tell you at face value, it’s not that they’ll lie to you as such but they may well exaggerate!

So, to summarise, India is in my opinion a very exciting and rewarding place to do business, the pioneering spirit and optimism of its entrepreneurs is highly appealing and infectious. If you’re looking to outsource then large cost savings can be made however don’t be completely taken in by the 1/3 price tag and take the considerations above into account. Visiting now and again to check on progress is definitely not going to be a hardship. Due to the low cost of living here visits can be done very economically and, if you choose to stay in the best hotels the level of service you’ll receive is beyond anything that I’ve encountered elsewhere in the world. So… go for it! Check out India!

The programme operates two intakes a year, starting in January and September, and applications are accepted year round.  Full details are available via Econsultancy’s website <http://econsultancy.com/training/qualifications/marketing>  and quoting BIMA when you request an application pack will ensure that you’re fast tracked through the process.

And here’s the full list to choose from, in alphabetical order.

http://www.blendingthemix.com
http://boingboing.net
http://broadstuff.com
http://www.crackunit.com
http://www.econsultancy.com/blog
http://facesinplaces.blogspot.com
http://www.formfiftyfive.com
http://www.holisticsearch.co.uk
http://www.madebymany.co.uk
http://www.niffnaffntriv.com
http://www.wearesocial.net

Posted by Alastair Duncan, BIMA 2009 Awards committee.

The standard this year was exceptionally high which is reflected in a 10% increase in average score and we’re also proud to have attracted entries from approximately 30% more agencies than last year so it was a tough field.

I’d like to offer my congratulations to the shortlisted agencies and thank the many high quality entries that weren’t lucky enough to make it through. I think we can all be very proud of the incredibly high standard of work produced by the UK industry as a whole particularly in such difficult time for business. It’s a cliché, but clearly adversity breeds creativity.

The full shortlist can now be found on the awards website at bimaawards.com/shortlist/.

I can’t tell you how proud I was to see so many top practitioners in one room at the same time. As i commented to one of the judging groups, with the collective gravitas that they brought to the table it was astounding that they didn’t implode black hole-like.

I’m very pleased to report that the judging was undertaken with the very highest standard of professionalism, real care was taken by all the groups to give all the entries the attention that they deserved. The most important aspect of having a physical meeting for judging is to resolve any inevitable differences of opinion I’m therefore particularly pleased to report that where there was initial disagreement the judges carefully and respectfully considered each other’s point of view before submitting their final scores, no egos, no drama, just respect and expertise. It was an honour to be there.

For those that don’t know, judging is no trivial undertaking. Typically each judge will spend 3-4 full days looking at the entries and this year that task was added to by my request for a short review on each entry and particularly because we had far fewer entries in duplicate categories and about 35% more agencies entering - excellent news for both BIMA and the awards, not so good for our poor judges. I’d therefore like to take the opportunity to thank all of the judges for donating so much of their valuable time and being such excellent representatives of our industry and BIMA.

So… over the next couple of weeks we’ll crunch the data and come back with a shortlist in the first or second week of October.

Good luck!

It is one of the longest established courses in its field and this gives it an exceptional wealth of experience upon which to draw. This year twenty students from sixteen countries have come together to create five eclectic projects.

The very apt theme this year is ’searching for a contemporary definition of Interactive Media’ which the students believe to be ‘the SYNERGY between data, technology and humans.

We think this sounds like well worth a visit.

Location:

School of Media
London College of Communication
Elephant & Castle
London SE1 6SB

Nearest Tube: Elephant & Castle (Northern & Bakerloo Lines)

For more information visit http://www.synergy0809.co.uk/

Are you looking to broaden your international business opportunities and to build your network? Want to know more about the business of screen in Mexico? If this sounds like you then you should be applying to take part in the 2009 Young Screen Entrepreneur awards.

To be eligible for the award, you must be aged between 25 and 35, have at least three years of industry experience and be resident in the UK.

Applications close on 21 September. For further information and to apply click here.

BIMA is a proud supporter of the British Council’s Young Creative Entrepreneur programme which began in 2004 and includes international and UK awards in nine sectors: communications, design, fashion, interactive, music, performing arts, publishing, screen and visual arts.

Laura Jordan Bambach, LDW vice-president, executive creative director of LBi and She Says cofounder, said: “London Digital Week is such an important development for the UK Digital industry that it is astonishing that it doesn’t already exist. LDW will provide a focal point in the calendar that will not only extend the reach of established events, such as This Happened and She Says, but it will also give vital support, both practical and promotional, for new events to take wing.”

Events include

The eighth and largest This Happened will take place at 1900, 25th September, Shoreditch Town Hall, the latest in a series of talks that focus on the story behind interaction design. The purpose of the evening is to explore current projects, and how the concepts and production process behind them can inform future work. Past talks and more information can be viewed online at www.thishappened.org.

Studio Output presents Glug which is taking place at the Queen of Hoxton on 24th September from 18:00 til late. Aimed at designers, creatives, clients and friends, Glug is for us, for everyone we know and everyone they know. If you are tired of boring networking events, Glug was set up to help you meet people and have a few beers at the same time. www.gluglondon.co.uk.

Mint Digital will be running 2Screen at 18:30 on the 24th September at Hoxton Hall, which will examine how television and web can work together. Speakers at this event will include Adam Gee, Channel 4, who will talk about Surgery Live, and Gerred Blythe, managing director, Lighthouse Experience who will reveal what goes on in two screen households. Please visit www.2-screen.com for more information.

She Says is aimed at addressing the male to female ratio that exists in the creative departments of most digital agencies. Taking place on 19:00 on the 23rd September, She Says looks to introduce females starting out in the digital field to industry experts who can tell them everything they want to know about advertising, where to look for info and offer one to one mentorship, all in a relaxed and friendly environment. For more information, visit www.shesays.org.uk.

Tent Digital runs from the 24th - 27th of September at the Truman Brewery. A new exhibition within the architecture and interior design event Tent London, it showcases and celebrating the best of environmental digital and digitally-enabled design. Whether you’re a media/digital brand, digital agency or an interaction designer, Tent Digital caters for you; www.tentlondon.co.uk.

Text / gallery is curating Words Converge, a digital poetry installation featuring poems from young poets across the world. Taking place over two floors of Kings Place, the installation will encourage visitors to engage with poetry off the printed page. textgallery.info.

On the 24th of September Protein will be holding the Protein Academy which takes you back to the classroom for the best day of school you never had, including: hands-on workshops, good food, inspiring talks, satchels, interesting people, milk breaks, international teachers, parties, bike sheds and more; www.proteinos.com.

UCL Lecturer and Interaction Designer Ruairi Glynn is holding the Digital Architecture London Conference on the 21st of September at The Building Centre, presenting a selection of London’s leading architects, artists, designers and engineers. The conference will examine how London is shaping the digital future of the built environment; www.digital-architecture.org/london/. The event also features the Digital Hinterlands exhibition from the 8th September to 2nd Oct at the Arup Phase 2 Gallery, supported by and showcasing the finest digital design and research from UCL, Westminster, The AA and the RCA over the past three years.

i-Design on the 24th September at The Old Cinema at the University of Westminster is an essential one day conference and showcase for anyone with an interest or passion for interactive design and the digital arts. The programme aims to inspire, entertain and explore how our digital future looks set to unfold and the central role interactive design will take in our cultural, work and social life; www.idesignlondon.com.

Further event highlights with details pending include ones from trends-specialists Contagious (www.contagiousmagazine.com), gaming exponents Pixel-Lab (www.pixel-lab.co.uk) and moving image proponents Film Friends Forever (www.filmfriendsforever.com).

About London Digital Week
2009 marks the beginning of this annual festival, a full programme of conferences, workshops, networking, awards and exhibitions bringing together local and global industry leaders to celebrate the talented innovators, thinkers and doers who have helped to put London firmly on the digital map. The events aim to further the understanding of digital, to share knowledge within the industry and to showcase the best work of companies in London and the UK to the rest of the world.
For more information please contact;

Kerry Gaffney at Porter Novelli
+44(0)20 7853 2248 / +44(0)7720 277169
kerry.gaffney@porternovelli.co.uk

Digital Mission to LA & San Francisco (11th - 16th October) is tailored specifically for interactive design and development agencies. The trade mission will see 15 UK based digital agenices head to LA, San Francisco and Silicon Valley for key meetings, advice on working stateside, help with fact-finding, networking events and investor meetings. The trip will provide unrivalled access to UKTI resources and industry contacts as well attendance at regular networking events held in Silicon Valley, and digital receptions with a number of very high-profile digerati in attendance.

Apply & more info: http://digital-mission.org/lasf09
Deadline: Friday, 21st August ‘09

Are you looking to broaden your international business opportunities and to build your network? If this sounds like you then you could be the winner of the inaugral UK Young Interactive Entrepreneur awards - a prestigious new award scheme from the British Council.

To be eligible you must be aged between 25 and 35, have at least three years of industry experience and be resident in the UK. This covers the entire digital and interactive world and it includes individuals, people in full-time employment (as long as they can demonstrate their entrepreneurial ability) and those in the social enterprise/not for profit sector.

BIMA is proud to support these awards becuase we believe that creative entrepreneurs are central to the development of a sustainable and competitive creative economy.

Applications close on 7 September so get your applications in soon and good luck! For more information and to enter click here.

It’s good to hear that business has picked up for so many of you, hopefully this extension will make your lives just that little bit easier.

As ever, all the info can be found on: http://www.bimaawards.com/

Good luck and see you there!

Cheers

C

The panel includes industry gurus such as Alex Smith of Microsoft, Charles Cecil of Revolution Software, John Chasey – CEO at Finblade, Kate Keane of Johnson & Johnson, Kelly Bennett - Director of Digital at Warner Pictures, Gareth Jones of Revolution, Michael Nutley of Centaur, Paul Hammersley - CEO at The Red Brick Road, Steve Taylor of Aegis and Will King – Founder of King of Shaves. For the full list please visit the website: http://www.bimaawards.com/judges/.

Don’t forget to get your entry in for the 2009 Awards, the closing date for entries is 7 August so you need to act fast!

http://www.bimaawards.com/

Find out more about sponsorship at: http://www.bimaawards.com/sponsor/

It is with a great deal of pleasure (and a degree of relief!) that I can announce the opening of the BIMA Awards 2009.

The site is now up and open for entries so head on over to the awards site at: bimaawards.com to check out all the changes. Once you’ve done that get entering!

The observant among you will notice that we’re a few days behind schedule so the revised timeline will be as follows:

• Site up, open to entries: Now!
• Judges Announced: 17th July
• Entries close: 7th August
• Judging round one (internet): 24th August – 7th Sept
• Judging round 2: 24th Sept
• Shortlist announced: 1st Oct
• Event: 19th November

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and seeing you all there!

Cheers

C

In the mean time I thought you might like to see the finalised list of categories:

Advertising - Integrated Campaign
Advertising - Display Advertising
Advertising - Email Marketing
Advertising - Interactive Advertising
Advertising - Microsite
Games - Advergames
Games - MMOG
Games - Mobile Game
Games - Online Game
Mobile - Cross Media
Mobile - Mobile Application
Mobile - Mobile Marketing
Mobile - Mobile Site
Offline - CD Rom, DVD or Interactive TV
Offline - Kiosk, Installation or On-Site Application
Online - Content
Online - Internet Application
Online - Intranet
Online - PR
Online - Video and Podcasts
Online - Website
Sector - Arts & Culture
Sector - B2B
Sector - B2C
Sector - Charity and Not For Profit
Sector - Entertainment
Sector - Informational
Social Media - Community Programme
Social Media - Outreach
Social Media - Social Application
Social Media - Viral and Word of Mouth

Plus we’ll have the following special awards for craft:

Visual Design
Motion Graphics
Sound Design
Accessibility and Usability
Viral Spread
Innovation
Return on Investment
Strategy
Best Student
Best Client
Grand Prix

And there this year there will also be a publicly voted category of Best Blog.

More news soon, good luck everyone!

As per my previous post we’re aiming to have the awards site up and open to entries by the end of next week subject to some final technical work. In the mean time, do please get your comments in on the categories, I’m particularly interested in further input on the social media group, our current working timetable is below:

• Site up, open to entries and judges announced: 5th July
• Entries close: 7th August
• Judging round one (internet): 24th August – 7th Sept
• Second round Judging Day: 24th Sept
• Shortlist announced: 1st Oct
• Event: 19th November

Cheers!

C

Well we’ve had a busy few weeks on the awards and I’m pleased to say it’s all starting to come together. We’re running a little bit behind schedule but it’s nothing that we can’t handle! Here’s a quick rundown of the progress thus far:

Categories
We now have what I consider to be a close to final list of categories as I’ve published tonight on the blog:

Sponsorship
The Awards Sponsorship Brochure is now complete; if you know someone who might like to sponsor the awards please do get in touch.

2009 Venue and Date
The venue for the 2009 BIMA awards has been selected, this year we’re going to partying in one of London’s coolest venues the KOKO in Camden, home of the biggest glitter-ball in Europe! This is a fantastic venue and provides us with lots of cool possibilities. The date of the Party is Thursday the 19th of November, put it in your diary now it’s going to be wicked!

Awards Site
The awards site has been built and is just waiting to be filled with content and for a couple of bits of technical wizardry to be done on the entry system. We’re running a little behind schedule on this bit but we’re hoping to have the site up and open for entries by the end of the first week in July.

Judges
Most of the judges have been selected. This year we’ve got some great people, a good mix of BIMA members, external experts and the press, I’m very proud to have them on board. The list of Judges will be announced with the site launch.

Partners
This year we’re hoping to have a number of partners for specific groups of categories, a full list will be announced shortly but in the mean time if you have any suggestions as to organisations that should get involved (other associations or groups) please do let me know.

Well that’s it for the time being, thanks for reading and please do keep checking back for more updates!

In addition to these primary categories all entries will be automatically considered for the following awards which will be decided by a committee of the foremen of each of the juries and the awards committee.

 I’d like to offer my thanks for all the help I’ve received with this from the BIMA Awards Committee and the Exec, particularly to Rob Corradi who stepped in at the last minute to help me with this structure, I do hope that everyone will find a place to enter the work they’re most proud of here, but please, if we’ve missed something please do make a comment here and let us know what we should include.

I look forward to hearing from you all. Look out for an awards update coming soon.

BIMA will be there today to listen and constribute to the response, and I’ll publish a summary of the report on this blog. Watch this space.

Either creating a Simpsons cereal for Kellogg’s (we wanted to call it Eat My Shorts and they went with Krusty-O’s), shooting Pro for Nike (tennis with Nadal, basketball with Nowitzki, and a kick around with Henri) or doing the online treasure hunt to launch Drake’s Fortune for PS3. We flew in developers from North America and worked through the night for a week or so to get it live.

2. What was your first job?

I was President of The Leeds University Union from 1991 to 1992. It was a salaried position and Leeds was the biggest, richest Union in the UK. As Head of Staff, RAG, and Entertainments, I learnt a lot of stuff that still helps me now. I also got to meet Bjork, Princess Michael of Kent, and Lemmy from Motorhead.

3. What book are you currently reading?

James Scudamore’s new novel, Heliapolis, and Watchmen in the original comic version.

4. What is your favourite website?

Today, http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/.

5. If I turned on your iPod, which song would start playing?

Today, Tindersticks, followed by Elbow, Killers and The Wedding Present.

6. Which brand do you most admire in the interactive space?

Today, Snickers.

7. Who would you most like to sit next to on a plane journey?

Mae West, Ebaddis, or any of the Guinea Pigs.

8. Who has been your most inspiring person to work with?

I’ve been lucky enough to work with some great people, but it’s the Creatives that stand out. They have the hardest job, and without them the rest of us are just Management Consultants. To pick just three - Indra Sinha, Paul Shearer and Nick Bell.

9. If you could change the industry in one way, what would it be?

I would love to see what would happen if the industry got together and presented a united front for six months. It’ll never happen, but there is a reason why lawyers and accountants are able to charge the fees they do, and it’s not to do with them cutting each other off at the knees given the opportunity.

10. Where is your favourite place to have breakfast?

I know a place in Manchester called Mick’s that does a Full English for £8.95. It’s good, but if Mick likes you, or you can convince him you’re from over the water, you can order a Full Irish for an extra pound. It’s twice the size and includes white pudding, potato farls and soda bread. No beans though. That would be wrong.

The great thing about the ‘H100′ is that it is people from the creative industries that get to have a say; a chance to vote for unsung heroes, interesting people to watch or people who are really shaking up the status quo rather than the same old, same old. No egos just the people who are making it happen and getting things done.

Last year, the response was overwhelming and for the first time they had a truly interesting list of establishment figures and the most influential young and emerging talent.

This year The Hopsital is trying to cast the voting net as wide as possible, so if you could forward this post on to anyone who you think might have a point of view, and even better, have a go at voting yourself that would be awesome.

You’ve got til June 12th and you’ll find the form here.

BIMA will also publish thie shortlist on our website week commencing June 22nd and the final list will be published in the Independent newspaper and our website on July 6th.

Jakob Nielsen at the BIMA dinner London May 2009

Mobile Usability
Whilst at the dinner, Nielson revealed that amongst other things, he is currently concerned by the usability of UK websites on mobile devices. We also discussed the best mobile user interfaces and he mentioned that in his view, the iPhone is the most user friendly device, followed closely by Google’s Android platform.

Nielson interestingly commented that the UK is lagging behind the US in terms of ‘mobile user friendly websites’. Whilst many UK websites have been poor in this respect in Nielson’s opinion, he did cite BBC’s mobile website as an example of a mobile website interface done right.

So why are so many UK websites getting it wrong when it comes to mobile? The main reason, according to Nielson is that UK firms are struggling to strike a balance between having an interface that isn’t too complicated to be usable and an interface that hasn’t been too ‘dumbed-down’ and simplified for mobile delivery.

From Desktop To Mobile
Whilst still on the subject of mobile web, Nielson was asked if he could see the role of the traditional desktop and mouse diminishing as a result of mobile devices. He stated that the world has seen 20 years of WIMP interfaces and that wasn’t going to change overnight. For the most part people will continue to use mobile for times when they are on the move, meaning more people will use the web at times and places where traditionally they would not have (such as doing product/price comparisons when walking around a shopping mall).

Also, as the trend of desktop screen sizes and Internet speeds increasing continues, so will the trend for web interfaces to utilise more space, and have more rich content that would have been thought impossible 10 years ago.

However, as gesture-based user interfaces such as Nintendo Wii and iPhones continue to grow in popularity, traditional WIMP interfaces could be under threat, although realistically this won’t happen anytime soon.

Googability…
We jumped from the topic of mobile to that of Google and their near-omnipresent role online in accessing and finding information. The term ‘Googlability’ was mentioned, roughly meaning how likely a search is to bring up relevant or credible results. Generally, most users will click one of the first 3 links in the SERPs, regardless of credibility. This means that many users could be duped into believing a source or website is trustworthy or credible, when it isn’t.

The only solution to this, said Nielson, is for such user’s to become more educated in Googlability and how to use search engines more effectively and how to determine whether a content provider is to be trusted. That, or for Google to improve their algorithm to judge a website’s credibility.

Has Usability Improved In The Last 10 Years?
Nielson was asked “How are today’s websites comparing to those of 10 years ago?” According to the usability guru, the easiest way is to compare conversion rates. 10 years ago, the average conversion rate of an eCommerce website was just 1%, whereas now the average is over 2%. This he said, is a result of a shift in focus towards satisfying customer needs as companies have learnt more and more about online consumer behaviour.

Digital Britain Unconference Submission

Over the past few weeks I’ve been involved in a response to the Digital Britain Interim Report. BERR ( The Government Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) have been listening and are now reading the final report submission we put in with interest. Read the report at the link above, and consider putting your name to it. I said at the Executive Election (ps thanks for voting me on to the exec) that it’s important for BIMA members to have representation in these discussions. It’s also a good idea to have an understanding of the issues policyholders have to grapple with. Now’s your chance! I intend to act as a link between the membership and government. Talk to me, DM me, email me with anything you feel is important and should be part of our manifesto for a successful Digital Britain.
@AlastairDuncan or AlastairDuncan [at] bima.co.uk

This year the BIMAs are changing for the better. We know it’s a tough environment out there at the moment and that any investment in an event such as this needs to be clearly justifiable. Therefore this year we have set ourselves three simple tasks: To make the event more:

• Inclusive
• Transparent and Impartial
• Affordable and Fun!

We propose to achieve this as follows:

Making Them Inclusive
We feel strongly that BIMA represents and supports the whole of the interactive community therefore this year the awards will be firmly focussed on interactive media and there will be more categories representing the entire spectrum of the Industry.

The current list of categories will be published next week for the BIMA community to comment on.

Making Them Transparent and Impartial
This year we are changing the judging a little to make it more transparent and thereby enable BIMA to use the awards as a vehicle to achieve part of their remit to provide insight, knowledge and fundamentally support the industry by helping it to learn.

As per last year there will be two rounds of judging, one offline and one in person but other than that there will be a few changes:

• The judging guidelines will be improved to ensure greater consistency of scoring.
• Scores will be monitored for inconsistancy and addressed.
• Judges will be required to justify their score in 120 chars.
• These justifications and scores will be fed back to the entrants after the awards, thereby providing useful feedback and simultaneously encouraging responsible, impartial scoring.

The Judges will also be announced next week.

Making Them Affordable and Fun!
This year we have completely revamped the event. The focus will be on creating a fun and entertaining networking event which people will want to attend rather than just feel that they have to. It will be much, much cheaper to attend. There won’t be a sit-down dinner, anyone in black-tie will be turned away (well maybe not… but certainly laughed at!), the show will feature a comedian, a band and DJs ’til late, oh, and a new and improved awards show, details of which will be released shortly. It’s gonna be great, looking forward to seeing you there!

The event will be in mid November, we hope to announce the exact date in the next couple of weeks.

Working Event Timetable

Preliminary categories announced:  Next week
Judges announced: Beginning of the week following
Site up and open to entries: 22nd June
Entries close: 31st July
Judging round one (internet): 24th August – 7th Sept
Second round Judging Day: 24th Sept
Shortlist announced: 1st Oct
Event: Mid November (Probably the 19th)

I should ‘fess up before I start and let you know that I am a digital planner, but these are actually questions I’ve been grappling with myself. In the ad agency world it’s pretty clear what a digital planner is and does, how they relate to the rest of the team, where their responsibilities start and stop. In an agency like Imagination, where I work, the boundaries are more blurred and that is the space I suspect the majority of BIMA members inhabit.

First off, here’s what I think a digital planner is - that person who does the research and thinking that  synthesises data with experience to contribute to a creative process and deliver a digital project.

Or - the person who keeps the team on the right track so that you deliver great ideas for client and audience that will actually work.

That role could be fulfilled by a number of people or one, or it could be split between more than one person, particularly when your creatives have a lot of experience of delivering digital work.  But if you are working with advertising agencies or clients that use them there is definitely an advantage in having a defined role , it will just make them feel more secure. Equally if you are rushed off your feet in all other departments who is taking care of the customer? The digital planner.

So the question then becomes, Who? I think it is important here  to look for a  combination of experience and research. If you have research without experience the danger is that you deliver a rip off of someone else’s ideas,  something that worked well in a casual environment such as YouTube but which you will be villified for copying.

If you have experience without research you run the risk of developing apps and experiences that are so cutting edge they speak to the minority and get you great kudos with an irrelevant audience without delivering breadth or worse, sink beneath the waves.

Pulling the two together not only delivers you a new justification and rigour to your deliveries (statistics and insight) but can deliver you a new creative string to your bow. One of the biggest mistakes agencies make is to restrict “creativity” to graphic designers and copywriters, when if we think about it we know that technologists, producers, finance people etc are all creative and the best can ideas come from wierd places. But only if they have the right direction behind them.

And I think that answers the Why? The right digital planner is also a digital creative, they can help  your whole organisation look at things from a different angle not only in terms of consumer insights but the wider field and if they are experienced (not necessarily in planning maybe in development or design, editorial or production)  they can bring with them knowledge of what works and what doesn’t.

Now, having justified my existence I am off for a cup of tea and a bit of research.