If any of you get time today (and as so many of you are in Shoreditch check out the 2gether08 event at the Rochelle School in Arnold Circus. I went along yesterday and chatted with an MP, a blogger, a blagger, an author, an Esther and some old friends in the business, all of whom are interested in how technology adoption influences social change. It’s a more refreshing topic frankly than gun crime (old technology gone mad) and you might meet some interesting people. There’s a bit about start ups as well today. It’s the first one and worth a look if you can’t make it you can see what’s going on at www.2gether.com. You can also read my comments on it on brandrepublic.

What do the following have in common?

• Are you the agency of the year?
• Is a member of your team a star?
• Do you have a ‘best’ client?

… they all come under the new Talent category in the BIMA 2008 Awards.

This year’s categories in the BIMAs have changed. There are now nine main award category areas. Each category has a number of sub-categories into which entries will be accepted. There is no limit to the number of entries from any one organisation and the same project may be entered into more than one sub-category.

You’ll find the categories a lot wider and more general, allowing for a greater variety of submissions from more areas of our industry. That said, the sub-categories are very specific and prescriptive, meaning it’s easier than ever to see where your entry belongs. So, as well as celebrating traditional creative, we will also be recognising a few unsung heroes. It’s been an incredible year for all of us in the interactive field and BIMA wants to celebrate everything that’s created a buzz in 2008 and those who made it happen.

The winners of each sub-category will receive an award and the winner of the main category will receive a BIMA gong. The sub categories are listed on the Awards Web site. In the case of the Student Award, there are no sub-categories.

It’s time to gather your best work this year and submit to the BIMA Awards 2008. We look forward to receiving your entries.

Good Luck!

Derogation for Deceased Artists Consultation

The Government is launching a new consultation concerned with the Artist’s Resale Right.

Resale right was introduced into the UK in 2006 when Directive 2001/84/EC was implemented. Resale right allows artists and their heirs to receive a small royalty each time one of their works is resold whilst that work is in copyright. The UK currently uses a derogation in the Directive so the right only applies in the UK to works by living artists. This derogation will expire on 1 January 2010 unless the UK Government seeks a further two year extension in accordance with the terms of the Directive.

The UK-IPO is seeking views on whether to maintain the existing derogation for a further two years until 1 January 2012 or to allow the derogation to lapse and for works by artists who are deceased, but are still protected by copyright, to be eligible for resale right.

The Artist’s Resale Right: Derogation for Deceased Artists Consultation launches today, 30 June 2008 and closes on 22 September 2008.

Comments may be sent by post, e-mail or fax to;

The Artist’s Resale Right Consultation
Copyright and Intellectual Property Enforcement Directorate
UK Intellectual Property Office
Concept House
Cardiff Road
Newport
NP10 8QQ

This is possibly my shortest blog post, ever.

I met with two very cool people from Microsoft yesterday and we’ve come up with a cunning plan to provide a calendar of networking events for BIMA members throughout the year. Moreover, they will be completely free for members to attend.

If you’re a brand and would like to support BIMA and its members whilst promoting your technology/brand, feel free to get in touch.

If you’d like to avail of such networking events, please consider becoming a BIMA member.

More to come…

When I was asked to Chair this year’s Awards I was thrilled. But, I decided if I’m going to be involved, I want to change things…. I thought long and hard about what I wanted to bring to BIMA 2008, and concluded my thoughts with one clear aspiration. “I want to make the awards relevant, aspirational, and fun for the whole community who create interactive experiences. Everyone from the junior, to the developer, to the account handler…and not forgetting recognition and reward for valued contributions from the clients.”

So that’s what we have done this year.

Relevance

This year the awards are going to ambitiously serve the interactive design & development community with the detail of recognition they desire. 2008 sees the a reduction in the top level to 9 categories; B2B, B2C, Website , Games, Integrated Campaign, Social Media , Film & Animation, & Talent.

The top-level categories then have subcategories, into which you submit your abundant talents. The new sub - categories allow the detail, the technology and whatever nuances that play a part within the overall experience to be recognised and revered.

There are so many facets, assets and attributes required in this era of interactivity to = make a truly great experience that are largely unrecognised as a piece of art in their own right. BIMA 2008 will recognise those nuances as well as emerging disciplines in the best ever breakdown of categories and awards.

Within each top-level category we have also introduced a new feature, the wondrous wildcard called ” The Little Bit of Wickedness Award”. We want to see the devil in the detail. You know when there is a piece of work that is just truly mouth watering but you just don’t know why…It’s just perfect. Well, enter it in this category.

It could be the logo of an online game, a sound effect, or an incredible flash component that you developed. It could even be a whole site.

All of this attention to detail, access to specialised areas and talents to enter, are relevant in our current industry. In 2008 we are acknowledging the breadth of what you / we do and recognising new and emerging disciplines.

Aspirational

Not every category will win an award. “Mmmmm”, I hear you say.

Why? Well, while we do our best to recognise great work, if there just isn’t anything great within a category then we can’t justify awarding a BIMA.

Basically, BIMA’s are not easy to get. They are to be loved and desired, and ultimately, you need to work hard to get one! But, having looked at the industry year and some of the folios out there, there is incredible work all worthy of a BIMA!

Fun

The devil is in the pixel. It’s one of the powers behind all of our careers. The necessary detail that we all work with. But it’s a detail that is overlooked and sometimes ignored.

That attention to detail is what this year’s awards are all about. We asked ourselves some questions? It’s not good enough, or fair enough to just have an award for the best website. How many combined talents, technologies, creatives and details go into making that one experience?

Some elements of a site raise the benchmark, while other areas of the same site could have been better.
Whereas the awards of old seemed to bundle all these individual assets, attributes, and important details together; this years awards will recognise them as individual components.

For example that wondrous sound effect on the button of a game that you cannot stop pressing, the incredible flash animation that heads up an otherwise dull site, a social blog that has revolutionised your life, and not forgetting that pioneering user interface that challenges all others. And let’s not overlook the abundant talent in the UK. And my, what enormous talent we have!

And why is all this fun? We are working in the most fun, fast paced, futuristic creative industry. So fun is in everything we potentially do. We need to have fun in awards and this year, the awards ceremony aims to be more relevant and aspirational…and also a massive excuse to have as much fun as possible!

We’re on stand 5. Why not drop by and say hi. I’m on from 12:30 onwards today.

I was fortunate enough to host a panel discussion as the Cannes festival with Facebook, MySpace, Blyk (the mobile service) and Intel on the topic of Can Brands be Friends?

It’s relevant to the BIMA community since the space is shaping up into a very interesting landscape from an advertising, monetisation and application development perspective, and BIMA members (likely to have some knowledge here) are well placed to benefit.

We make online advertising (in fact a lot of online advertising as Interpublic Group’s largest digital agency here in the UK, as I was reminded recently) in order to deliver as many messages as we can to targeted audiences to get them to remember the brand name or to click on to be more engaged and buy something.

We also develop communities, often by association with passions, football, tennis, online gaming, web developers, no less, and this is where the world of social computing is so challenging. Which is better - to run a campaign of x impressions that gets 0.02 click through (say 300 people) or to write a widget that is downloaded by 300 people. The answer is probably both are relevant, but do a different job. If the end game is engagement, time spent with the brand, or memorability, what’s your vote?

Think about it. Write about it. It’s a good debate.

Download to your iPod(:40 minutes/1MB)

Let’s face it, an exclusive invite-only event isn’t exactly, inclusive for BIMA members.

For those of you who keep an eye on this blog for Top Cats related posts, please keep an eye on my personal blog for future updates.

There is just one week to go before the first in the second series of BIMA Breakfast Bites: ‘Digital and the Economic Downturn’.

This is an exceptional opportunity to meet Craig Menzies, Forrester Research Senior Analyst and author of the Forrester Wave European Interactive Agencies Web Design Capabilities. I’m delighted to say that Craig recently joined BIMA as an Advisor to the Board

Please come along to hear and discuss with him his views on Web Design, Client / Agency Relationship Meltdown, and the Big Bad Recession.

Craig is investigating…

For Web site owners, finding the right interactive agency to take on their Web design project is hard enough, but creating a long-term healthy, happy and productive working relationship can be harder still. And on top of that, how do Web site owners and agencies get the best quality work while in the midst of an economic downturn?

• How can Web site owners and agencies get the best from their Web design projects?
• What are the common problems (and remedies) for client/agency relationship meltdowns?
• What do some of Europe’s top agencies think about how the economy will affect their businesses?

About Craig

Craig is based in London, and his research covers the design capabilities of interactive marketing agencies in Europe, and how prospective clients can work with design vendors to achieve their business goals. He also focuses on how user-centered, brand-conscious, research-driven Web design can have a positive impact on both the online customer experience and the bottom line.

Before joining Forrester, Craig was a senior technology consultant and the head of technology for Logan Tod & Co., head of technical and eCommerce for leading UK retailer I Want One of Those.com, head of database operations for one of Canada’s largest direct marketing firms, and a freelance Web designer and database marketing consultant

Event Date: 19th June 2008 | Time: 08:30 to 10:00 hrs
Venue: Bar 19/21, Soho House Club, 21 Old Compton Street London W1

Register now to avoid disappointment