Get in to win at Channel Awards

Entries have started to pour in for this year's Awards with new categories and judging spurring them on, says Fleur Doidge

Events Arena: Battersea Park will see the Oscars of the UK channel once again this year

All prospective winners at this year’s CRN Channel Awards must have their fully completed entries with us no later than Friday 6 August at 5pm, which is now barely two-and-a-half months away.

Mark Burton, publisher at CRN, says that it does take time to get your entry right and show your company in the best possible light, so do ensure you start in plenty of time.

“This year, you won’t be able to skate through easily by submitting a ‘good enough’ entry and then relying on large numbers of votes from your partners,” he says. “So do get involved in time, as it is always a great night.”

Burton adds that there is a category for everyone – no matter the size, speciality or route-to-market of the company involved. A carefully handpicked team of judges will scrutinise every entry and a secondary level of judging will happen to double-check the others’ choices, and ensure that everything is fair and above board.

“Anyone who for whatever reason has not had a go, we urge them to get involved this year and chance their arm. Every worthy entry has a good chance of a prize,” Burton says.

How it works
One judge from the first phase of the 17th Channel Awards’ competition will become the overseer of the second phase – looking out for any tendency for the judges in the second panel to give preference to any of their business partners that have made the shortlist.

The changes were based on extensive feedback and comments received from the channel.

“The winners will definitely rise to the top in every category,” says CRN’s Yirrell.

The panel of judges will be selected from resellers, distributors and vendors in sector-specific areas, but none will be permitted to judge the shortlist for their own industry speciality.

As in other years, the ceremony itself, and culmination of everyone’s hard work through 2010, will be held at Battersea Park events arena on the night of Thursday 18 November, and it will surely be a glitzy occasion with plenty of drinking and dancing for all concerned -- along with the occasional giggle.

Due thanks must go to this year’s headline sponsor of the Channel Awards, Oki Printing Solutions, alongside HP, Computerlinks, LG, Comms-care, and Intel– without which the event we look forward to could not succeed or even survive.

Tables will shortly be available for purchase through CRN’s events team.

There are 19 categories: six for vendors; six for resellers, including the new Enterprise, Mid-market, Converged and Services Provider prizes; and seven for distributors, including the new Audiovisual Distributor of the Year award.

There will also be gongs for Reseller, Distributor and Vendor of the Year, which this year must be nominated for in your original entry.

Editor Sara Yirrell will also award two Editor’s Choice prizes, one for personality of the year, and one for emerging company of the year.

And this year – unlike other years – the stated entry deadline, Friday 6 August, will be final. So do get your entries in on time!

More information
ww w.channelawards.net