THE 1ST ANNUAL LOVIE AWARDS CALLS FOR ENTRIES FROM THE BEST OF THE EUROPEAN WEB

– The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) announces new European members to judge The Lovie Awards –

11 July, 2011, London: The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) – the international organisation responsible for presenting the world- renowned Webby Awards, Internet Week New York and Internet Week Europe – is today calling for the best of the European web to enter the sister awards of the Webbys: The Lovie Awards.

The Lovie Awards is the first-ever European awards to honour content from all genres of the internet and it is open to entries in English, French, Spanish, Italian and German.

Hailed as “one of the most prestigious awards in the world” by the BBC and as the “Internet’s highest honour” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is today widely regarded as the global index of success on the internet, receiving nearly 10,000 entries in English from over 60 countries worldwide.

The Lovie Awards has been created to specifically honour achievement and the huge amount of outstanding work in Europe while taking into account local market differences. Hence, it is open to entries in five different European languages, as a recognition of the unique and resonant nature of the European internet community.

In order to reflect the European focus, and to enable excellence to be recognised in native language (English, French, Spanish, Italian and German), new European members have been added to The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS) to judge The Lovie Awards.

These include:

Imogen Heap, musician, imogenheap.com
Jesus Encinar, founder, Idealista
Iain Dodsworth, founder and CEO, TweetDeck
Stefan Glaenzer, founder, Whitebearyard
Mirko Pallera, director, Ninja Marketing

Tom Uglow, creative lead, Google
Elke Klinkhammer, executive creative director, Neue Digitale / Razorfish
David Rowan, editor, WIRED magazine

Niklas Zennström, co-founder, Skype

For a full list of the judges, please visit https://www.lovieawards.com/judges/

The winners of The Lovie Awards will be announced at an awards’ event, doubling up as the grand finale of Internet Week Europe, 7-11 November 2011, the top annual gathering for tech and internet leaders in Europe celebrating the work, talent and creativity that exists this side of the Atlantic.
Work can be entered in 4 main category types:

– Websites
– Mobile apps
– Online film & video
– Interactive advertising & Media

Within the four groups, there are a number of sub-categories, over 70 in total, ranging from experimental websites and viral video through to mobile innovation, apps and integrated campaigns.

Entries can be submitted online through The Lovie Awards entry platform: https://www.lovieawards.com/

The early entry deadline is 29 July.

The Lovie Awards is proud to have as inaugural sponsors and partners from across Europe, Yahoo!, Aquent, Behance, BIMA, TVN and Ninja Marketing.

Nicolas Roope, The Lovie Awards Chair, and co-chair of Internet Week Europe as well as creative director of Poke, says: “Rather than spawn a ridiculous and patronising ‘best foreign web’ category of The Webby Awards, we decided to launch The Lovie Awards as a Europe-wide sister. Global awards, despite their name, do struggle to judge with an even hand across languages so more often than not amazing ideas get missed. We’re trying to put an end to that in Europe at least.”

Imogen Heap, one of the new judges and members of IADAS, comments: “I am really excited to see what The Lovie Awards introduces me to. Expecting to be inspired, interact with, question and play. It’ll be great to get to grips with all the online goodness a bit closer to home.”

Fellow judge Iain Dodsworth, founder and CEO of Tweetdeck, agrees: “It’s great to be a part of The Lovie Awards because we need more opportunities to showcase and celebrate the best of European talent, bringing this recognition closer to home can only be a good thing and is a great addition to Internet Week Europe. Exciting times.”

Elke Klinkhammer, executive creative director of Neue Digital/Razorfish, says: “Letʼs celebrate diversity! In our digital age the perception in our industry is either national or global. A pan-European award will set another interesting focus on socio-cultural and contextual aspects but also in terms of creativity.”

David Rowan, editor of Wired Magazine, comments: “There’s a really thriving internet scene across Europe, from innovative startups to mature content sites, and we’re not always good at celebrating our success stories. So I’m delighted to support the Lovie Awards as an opportunity to showcase the talent and the vision – and emphasise that Silicon Valley isn’t the only show in town.”

The Lovie Awards is named in honour of Ada Lovelace who, as the “first computer programmer,” represents European innovation and creative ingenuity. The heart of The Lovie Awards logo represents the passion evoked by excellence and cutting- edge thought-leadership on the internet.

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

About Internet Week Europe

Internet Week Europe is a festival to celebrate Europe’s thriving internet industry and community.

Internet Week Europe is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, the presenter of the highly acclaimed sister festival, Internet Week New York. The European festival quickly established itself as the top annual gathering for tech and Internet leaders in Europe, and reflects Europe’s position as one of the core creative centres of the Internet world.

Internet Week Europe 2010 – which took place from 8-12 November – attracted more than 10,000 attendees and featured over 125 events. These were organised and presented across London by 69 different partners including Yahoo!, Creative Review, The Webby Awards, BBC Comedy, Yelp, Google, Skype, Wieden + Kennedy, The Guardian, and New Media Age.

Festival highlights included free Wi-Fi provided throughout the UK at all public hotspots by Skype, five days of talks hosted by Google, Digital Archaeology, Can You Draw The Internet, an official opening party hosted by Yahoo!, as well as industry panels and conferences, career and networking events, screenings, exhibits, breakfasts, live performances, parties and even a digerati cycling tour.

David-Michel Davies, Executive Director of IADAS and Poke Co-Founders, Nick Farnhill and Nicolas Roope are co-chairs of the festival.

Internet Week Europe 2011 sponsors include flagship sponsor Yahoo!, and official sponsor Aquent.

Internet Week Europe 2011 is expected to draw more than 15,000 delegates to more than 200 events.

Reflecting the Internet’s open structure, any organisation – from artists and investment banks to startups and meetups – can host an event during Internet Week Europe 2011. There is no fee.

Visit http://www.internetweekeurope.com or contact festival director Penelope Shaw via email penelope@internetweekeurope.com or 02077495354.

About The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences was founded in 1998 to help drive the creative, technical, and professional progress of the Internet and evolving forms of interactive media. An international organization, The Academy selects the Nominees and Winners for The Webby Awards, the leading honour for Web sites and individual achievement in technology and creativity. Since 2008, IADAS has also presented Internet Week New York in cooperation with the city of New York.

The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes members such as musicians Beck and David Bowie, Internet inventor Vint Cerf, political columnist Arianna Huffington, “The Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, R/GA Founder and Chairman Robert Greenberg.

More information at www.iadas.net.

For further information please contact:
Penelope Shaw Festival Director, Internet Week Europe
E: penelope@internetweekeurope.com
T: +44 (0)2077495354