We wanted the ONYAs to mean something. To be awards that people were eager to enter and proud to win. We wanted them judged by people respected by the industry and clearly knowledgable.

And most of all, we wanted the ONYAs to be for those of you working in the trenches. Building, designing and writing the sites. Cutting the code and building the apps. We created Webstock for you and we wanted the ONYAs to be for you.

We hope we’ve succeeded in that. We’ve certainly tried. We’ve put a lot into the ONYAs these past two years.

We’re not in a position to present the ONYAs for 2012. Financially the burden is too great for us, and we can’t justify the unpaid time we need to spend to produce the event. Whilst we could possibly scale things down — you know us, that’s not really our style! We’d rather the ONYAs were remembered for two fabulous nights and two wonderful competitions.

We’d like to thank everyone who entered the ONYAs — the winners, the finalists and, most especially, everyone else who entered. Your support for something new was wonderful.

We’d like to thank all of our judges over the two years of the ONYAs. The time you gave up, the dedication you brought and the knowledge you shared as immense.

And we’d like to give a huge shout-out to Shift (especially) and to New Zealand Post — our two sponsors for the first year of the ONYAs. Without your support, they would not have happened.

It may be that the ONYAs can come back, but for us, for this year, this is the best decision.

We look forward to seeing everyone at Webstock in February 2012!

We were extremely pleased and heartened by the success of the inaugural ONYAs and the support given them by the industry. That culminated with a wonderful awards ceremony and a feeling that there really is a lot for us to celebrate.

So, what’s changed and what hasn’t with the 2011 ONYAs?

Firstly, we’ll be keeping exactly the same categories as last year. We received some feedback as to possible changes we could make, but we’ve decided to keep things the same for the present. Whilst we’re aware that this industry changes rapidly and that the ONYAs absolutely need to reflect that, we also want to build up a tradition around the ONYAs. Changing categories too frequently isn’t going to help that.

The judges will be largely the same as for 2010, the only changes being that Simon Willison and Natalie Downe will be replacing Alex Wright and Amy Hoy. We thank Alex and Amy for their contribution last year and welcome Simon and Natalie on board for 2011.

The final change is that awards ceremony will take place the evening after the close of Webstock, rather than on the final night of Webstock. It will be on Saturday 19 February. This allows us to have the traditional Webstock closing party, but also, and more importantly, further establish the ONYAs as their own event. Plus, everyone will also have more time to get their “geek/designer formal” on for the awards!

Russell Brown will be back as awards MC and the Dark Room will again be involved in the evening’s entertainment!

The closing date for entries in Monday 15 November and we’ll be announcing the finalists for each category in early December.

Good luck everyone!

MC for the night, Russell Brown, kept things on track in his inimitable style, and the awards finished with a truly amazing lightshow courtesy of the Darkroom and Module.

Here’s links to all winners, complete with photos from the night and a short video about each finalist:

Most outstanding website – Xero

Best visual design – Springload

Best user experience – Xero

Best web application – Xero

Most innovative – DNA, YouDo and Powershop

Best content (corporate) – Department of Conservation

Best content (personal) – Zef Fugaz

Best HTML & CSS – Radio New Zealand

Best accessibility – Radio New Zealand

Best mobile application – Cactuslab

Best mobile website or web application – Kiwibank and Springload

Congratulations to all the winners! Also to all the finalists and everyone who entered. A special thanks to James Everett who put together all of the finalist videos.

Philip Fierlinger accepting the Most outstanding website award

The Xero team with Che Tamahori (left – from sponsor Shift) and Neville Atkinson (right – from Digital NZ)

Finalist videos

Xero for Xero

Chrometoaster, YouDo, NZ on Screen for NZ on Screen

Boost New Media, 3Months, Codec, DigitalNZ for DigitalNZ

Philip Fierlinger exemplifying the meaning of geek/designer formal!

The Xero team

Finalist videos

Xero for Xero

Pocketsmith for Pocketsmith

Eventfinder for Eventfinder
Coming soon!

Bron Thompson from Springload accepting the award

The finalists with Brian Calhoun from sponsor SilverStripe

Finalist videos

Springload for NZ International Festival of the Arts

DNA for Powershop

Springload for NZ Opera

Craig Walker from Xero finally get to make his ‘satisfying double-entry’ joke!

The finalists and Wayne Forgesen from sponsor Intergen

Finalist videos

Xero for Xero

Pocketsmith for Pocketsmith

DNA, YouDo & Powershop for Powershop

Ari Sargent from Powershop accepting the award

The finalists and Matt Cooney from sponsor Idealog

Finalist videos

DNA, YouDo & Powershop for Powershop

Ponoko and Origin Design for Ponoko

Xero for Xero

Zef Fugaz accepting the award

The finalists, from l to r: Pete Robson (NZ Post – sponsor), Alison Green (The Gathering), Zef Fugaz (zef[a]media), Rob Holmes (NZ Post – sponsor)

Finalist videos

Zef Fugaz for zef[a]media

Jared Gulian for Moon over Martinborough

Alison Green for The Gathering Archives

Nick Butler from Department of Conservation accepting the award

The finalists, from l to r: Melissa Reid (Department of Conservation), Ligs Hoffman (Department of Conservation), Peter Johnston (Sorted), Robyn Cormack (Department of Conservation), Nick Butler (Department of Conservation), Bron Thompson (Springload – sponsor)

Finalist videos

Department of Conservation for DOC

Sorted for Sorted

Christchurch City Libraries for Christchurch City Libraries