Meet the new judges for the 11th Annual Lovie Awards

The Lovie Awards and its international sister award programme The Webby Awards are presented by the International Academy of Arts & Sciences (IADAS), an esteemed group of industry experts shaping the future of the Internet from around the world. Meet some this year’s new members in Europe.

With over 500 members across Europe, IADAS is the member body of Internet visionaries who devote their time to reviewing all Lovie submissions, and carefully select the very best work created for the Internet each year. As the Internet grows and evolves, so does IADAS, and we’re proud to welcome a range of new judges this year.

  • The new judges for the 11th Annual Lovie Awards

Bishi Bhattacharya, Founder, WITCiH

Bishi is a singer, electronic rock-sitarist, composer, producer, and performer born in London of Bengali heritage. As a multi-instrumentalist, she has been trained in both Hindustani and Western Classical styles, and studied the sitar under Gaurav Mazumdar, a senior disciple of Ravi Shankar.

Bishi has written, performed and released two albums and five EP’s on her own label Gryphon Records to critical acclaim. Her most recent single ‘Don’t Shoot The Messenger,’ was produced by Tony Visconti.

Bishi is the founder of WITCiH: The Women in Technology Creative Industries Hub, a platform elevating Womxn in Tech. She launched the podcast ‘Creative Women in Tech,’ in May 2020.

Bishi’s collaborations and commissions for the stage include: The London Symphony Orchestra, The Kronos Quartet, Yoko Ono’s ‘Meltdown’, The Science Gallery, Joanna McGregor, Nick Knight’s ‘SHOWstudio’, a film collaboration with fashion designer Manish Arora, and session work with Sean Ono Lennon, Jarvis Cocker, Daphne Guinness & City of London Sinfonia as a Tanpura soloist on Jonny Greenwood’s ‘Water.’ She is a producer for LANDR’s pro network and produced their first Electric Sitar soundpack.

A passionate advocate for inclusivity in the music industry & the gender equality of women in tech, Bishi has been a broadcaster on BBC Radio 4, an ambassador for the FAC, an ambassador for Imogen Heap’s Creative Passports. and is on the board of directors for The F-List.

You can follow Bishi on Twitter here.

Gorillaz

2020 Lovie Lifetime Achievement Award winners Gorillaz have been longtime members of IADAS, as pioneers in the intersection of for music and digital technology.

Since their inception as a band, Gorillaz has defied all convention both in music—a fusion of rap and rock with influences across many genres —and in the band’s presence as animated characters with stories and personalities of their own. They continue to innovate with new projects, such as their MAYDEUP FEST release last year on Spotify, giving fans all across the Internet the digital “festival” experience; plus their digitally rendered music videos for Humanz and live-streamed Demon Dayz festival. This in addition to limited-edition online releases for coveted products like G-Shocks make Gorillaz the most tech-savvy band out there with an undeniable skill for cultivating fans through an entire online universe. This impressive work is exactly what sets Gorillaz apart from other musicians —they not only embrace the Internet (and have since their inception)—but they thrive on it.

Watch their 7 Words of Lovie Speech from their Lifetime Achievement win here!

Melissa Lee, Advocacy + Innovation Manager, L’Oreal Italy

With over 13 years of global experience in the marketing and technology industry, Melissa Lee has accumulated profound expertise in building and aligning strategy across organisations to drive business outcomes within corporations, start-ups and non-profits. She combines her experience in digital marketing, product development and digital transformation with a deep passion for social entrepreneurship and diversity.

She is currently Advocacy and Innovation Manager at L’Oreal Italy, driving enterprising social acceleration and excellence programs across all brands in the group. Prior to this, she was Global Operations Director at Buzzoole (London, Milan and New York), one of the fastest growing Martech startups based in Europe (as featured on FT1000 and il Sole 24 Ore). She was also previously a Partner at 77Agency, a top 7 Facebook Strategic Preferred Marketing Partner globally in 2013 (as featured on TechCrunch). In addition, she is also a Digital Trainer at UNIDO ‘s (United Nations Industrial Development Organisation) program for startups and is also a lecturer at Domus Academy.

Renay Richardson: CEO, Broccoli Content

Broccoli Content is a London-based podcast production company founded by Renay Richardson in direct response to the lack of opportunities for minority talent both in front and behind the mic. Renay and her team work hard to showcase the voices and stories that too-often go unheard, and have signed on to the Equality in Audio Pact in the UK, which challenges peers in the audio industry to pledge to five simple actions that a company of any size should be able to participate in, designed to create greater inclusivity and equality across the industry.

 

Follow her on Twitter here and join this important conversation.

Chung Hwa Chao: Brand Communications Manager, bol.com

Chung Hwa Chao leads brand communications for Bol.com in the Netherlands, focused on simplifying complex information into actionable insights, creating great ideas that earn attention, touch people, deliver real business value, and when possible, make the world a little bit better. He has worked with leading brands like Centraal Beheer, Under Armour, Chiquita, G-Star RAW, Bestseller, KPN, SEAT and TomTom. Chao is also committed to sharing stories surrounding gender and race, food, culture, running, and Asian immigrant stories.

Follow him on Instagram here.


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