Your name in lights

The 22nd Channel Awards involved a hard-fought competition for the top spot in every category but the focus was firmly on fun as well as victory

Team CRN was thrilled to see its name in lights at the 22nd Channel Awards event, and judging by the feedback received so far, a good night was had by all.

More than 1,600 people descended on the Battersea Evolution Arena in London on 19 November, and the champagne was flowing freely within minutes.

Once the champagne reception was over it was into the main room for the big event to kick off.

Guests munched their way through a three-course dinner and in true channel style, plenty of alcohol was consumed. The atmosphere was friendly and relaxed, with people mingling and chatting with old friends around the vast room

during the meal.

Once dinner was finished the guests were wowed by a performance from the ACM Gospel Choir which first appeared on the BBC's Last Choir Standing in 2008, led by founder Mark De-Lisser, who is also a vocal coach on The Voice. And if that wasn't enough, the evening's host Rob Brydon appeared, singing Stevie Wonder's Signed, Sealed, Delivered as the opener to his act.

With many good-humoured pops at the industry, Brydon held the audience throughout the whole awards ceremony, helped by the live backing of the ACM choir. And with 25 awards, and the channel being the channel, it was no mean feat!

CRN's publishing director Alan Loader was pleased with the evening.

"The Channel Awards always signals the end of a busy year for everyone on CRN, and it is always a great reward for us to watch the industry enjoying and celebrating the success of their peers.

"This year's event was one of the best yet and we are delighted to still be receiving such positive feedback. Of course, we won't get complacent and will soon be meeting to discuss how we can make next year's event just as big a hit."

CRN managed to catch up with a couple of winners from the evening.

Nessa Lynchehaun, MSP director at Mimecast (which scooped the coveted Security Vendor of the Year title), said: "We had such a brilliant night at the Channel Awards. Rob Brydon was fantastic and the backing band and singers were outstanding. The night was topped perfectly by our award win - we are thrilled."

Steve Coburn, managing director of Projectfive, was also delighted by his surprise win in the SMB Reseller of the Year category, and said what a difference winning makes to a small business.

"We know the difference we make for our customers and we can see the results we achieve as a business. But to be recognised at such a prestigious event where businesses from all across the UK entered makes us feel really proud. We are hoping that this award will give us a huge boost in our visibility within the IT industry. It means so much to us as a business."

Judging

Every year the CRN Awards judging panel grows, as we recruit more industry experts to help spread the independence message of the judging process.

This year we had 24 judges, including editorial director Sara Yirrell as overall head judge.

"We will never convince everyone in the industry that our awards are independent, but I now have an army of fellow judges, many of them former doubters themselves, who are happy to explain how the process works. It is one of the fairest processes in the industry today," she said.

So what were the standard of entries like this year?

Bob Tarzey, head of the vendor judging panel; Simon Meredith, head of the reseller judging panel; and Carl West, head of the distributor judging panel, shared their thoughts.

Tarzey said: "Preparing the shortlists and selecting the final winners of the CRN Channel Awards for 2015 was tough this year as the quality and quantity of entries was better than ever. This reflects the continued importance of the channel as the key to the UK market for the majority of IT vendors."

Meredith said: "We had some extremely competitive categories in the reseller division and a couple in which the standard was noticeably not quite as high. For me, the judging experience underlined two key points I would like to communicate to all resellers entering the awards. First of all, believe you can win. Put a decent entry in that shows your pride, passion and belief as well as your tangible achievements and you have every chance, Second, if you get through to the presentations, make sure you see it right through to the end with the same level of commitment."

Finally, West said: "Over the many years of the CRN Awards, the standard of entry for the winners has scaled up significantly. What is noticeable this year - and somewhat last year - is that the general standard has improved. The judging has been tougher this year due to entrants demonstrating very successfully their investment, growth and client-focused activities. Shortlisting is getting tighter and the category presentations show an increasing desire for the CRN accolade."