Mash Media launches The Digital Event Awards

Mash Media, publisher of Conference & Meetings World and organiser of International Confex, has announced a new set of awards aimed to recognise excellence in online events – The Digital Event Awards. The awards, launching online in November 2020, will be an opportunity for the industry to recognise the hard work and excellence from an industry that has had no choice but to pivot to online or hybrid events for what will likely be a full 12 months. Martin Fullard, editorial director of Mash Media, said: “Since early 2020, event organisers across the entire planet have had no option but to pivot from live, in-person events to an array of digital and online experiences in order to retain engagement with their customers and continue to educate and entertain their communities. The range of online events has been impressive – from short, sharp webinars to multi-day conferences and exhibitions, online festivals and training programmes – event organisers have been required to learn new technology and how to engage in a digital environment whilst also delivering sponsor and audience satisfaction. The hard work, success and excellence of this year should not go unrecognised.” The Digital Event Awards will recognise excellence among the organisers of an array of different types of event including conferences, exhibitions, music events and award ceremonies as well as skills including marketing and commercial prowess and the companies providing the tech, production and facilities behind the events. Julian Agostini, Mash Media’s managing director, added: “The last few months has shown that whilst live events will return, and be celebrated when they do, digital events will become a mainstay of an event organisers portfolio, allowing them to deliver constant engagement, education and entertainment alongside the live, in-person events.  The event industry has had to learn new skills very quickly, so we felt that it was right to recognise their achievements whilst we get back to what we already excel at.” The Digital Event Awards will become an annual part of a new portfolio that Mash Media has developed, including a quarterly magazine – Digital Event News. Entries will open in November with an online event scheduled for March 2021. The event will be powered by The Awards Room, a new digital solution for running online and hybrid awards, developed by the team at Evessio, allowing the event to deliver greater engagement and a wider reach for sponsors and attendees alike. For more information on this new awards scheme pre-launch, please contact Duncan Siegle on dsiegle@mashmedia.net