AMY Awards to run next month, to the surprise of some finalists
The longest running awards for the Australian digital industry the AMY Awards have come out of hibernation, with new owner ADMA finally set to announce 2015’s winners at a sit-down dinner event next month.
The decision to shut down original organiser AIMIA at the end of last year included a promise to hold the awards as a last hurrah for the organisation in March.
However when industry association ADMA took over AIMIA’s assets weeks later, it cancelled the March ceremony.
At the time, ADMA CEO Jodie Sangster told members the Awards would be celebrated with a “party” at a later date.
The shortlist was quietly placed on the AIMIA site last month, but promotion of the awards, taking place in just over a fortnight from now, was limited to “AIMIA and ADMA channels”.
Some finalists Mumbrella has spoken to this week had not heard the awards had been reorganised for July 15, and in some cases did not know their work had been shortlisted.
ADMA told Mumbrella that next year the event would return to its March/April date with plans to expand it for the 2017 event.
It blamed the delay on the need to suspend judging during the transition.
At the time that ADMA suspended the awards, boss Jodie Sangster rejected suggestions it was a cancellation. “I’m delighted to say that the AMY Awards are progressing nicely and we are planning a party in the not-too-distant future to award all the winners. Watch this space,” Sangster wrote in the initial newsletter communication on the delay.
More than 120 finalists have been shortlisted, with some campaigns, apps and websites having been launched nearly two years ago. The call for entries for the awards first launched about 10 months ago.
Work vying for a prize includes The Deakin Mood Machine created by Hardhat for Deakin University in late 2014, Crash the ARIAS by R/GA Sydney in late 2014 and Cricket Australia’s use of social media around the death of Cricketer Phillip Hughes, also in late 2014.
