Oh, what a night!

Even though this was my 16th channel awards, last night was in my top three!

It is always with a sense of relief that I make it into the office the day after the channel awards.

And that special 'channel awards feeling' is definitely present today. It is taking me about ten times longer to complete something than normal!

I have to first of all say I was bowled over by the ACM Gospel Choir and Rob Brydon - they both made the evening that extra bit special, and the fact that Rob Brydon sang his own walk on song will stick in my mind for a long time to come. Wow!

It was reassuring to know that Mr and Mrs Brydon lose sleep at night wondering who will win the SMB Reseller of the Year award.

Now I know the usual comments will start about the winners and there really is nothing else I can do to convince people that the awards are given out on merit by the judging panel, but I do urge you to speak to the judges, don't just take my word for it.

Many of the judges were once very cynical about the whole process, but having been involved, are very happy to talk about it to whoever is interested. And I will continue to recruit doubters to prove to them that it is a genuinely independent process.

I should also say I cannot give individual feedback on every single entry, and I really don't have the time to do that, but please do re-read your entry and see if it could be made more UK centric (if you are a vendor), can you include other facts and figures, are your testimonials good enough, does your entry entertain and fully inform the judges, or is it just a block of rehashed corporate statements? Every detail counts, particularly as those near the top have really upped their game.

Congratulations to all our winners and Judges' Commended winners, you really did achieve something last night.

And as ever I would say to those who made the shortlist, but who didn't scoop the prize; please don't give up, keep trying because the slate has been wiped clean, and next year's awards are there for the taking.

However before we do launch the next awards, we will be further tweaking the categories, so be prepared for some changes as we continally strive to keep it fresh.

Thanks to everyone who came along last night for their contiuing support of CRN.