I’ve just been looking over the list of nominees for this year’s Net Visionary Awards and I’ve been trying to work out who I should vote for…
Best Blogger – It would have to be a toss up between Keith and Grandad. I know a couple of the others on the list, but I don’t read them regularly so I can’t really vote for them.
While it’s hard choosing between Keith and Grandad I’d probably err towards Grandad as he’s made me laugh so much over the last year. It’s also great to see someone of a slightly older generation not only starting their own blog but also getting other people blogging.
Best Online Banking Service – I’ve no idea. I don’t use any of the banks listed. I really don’t understand why they even have this category. If it was broader ie. “financial services” you could get a lot more interesting stuff in there, but how many banks are there?
Best Podcaster – Conn O Muineachain. He deserves it
Education Contribution – Bernie Goldbach. (congrats on the new arrival by the way!)
Paul Whelan from Biology.ie would be another choice
E-Government – No idea. Sorry!
Innovation – This is a really tough one, as I know quite a few of the nominees personally. David Curtin and his team successfully launched Enum in Ireland and that is true innovation. Newaddress.ie is a really cool service, so Kevin deserves credit (they were nominated previously, but I don’t think they won). Martin Langedijk’s work with Teamwork has made life a lot easier for a lot of businesses including my own! Alan’s someone I respect and who has been doing quite a few interesting things over the last year or so – keep an eye on him!
Internet Entrepreneur – Obviously I’d have to vote for myself – though I never actually win!. If you don’t want to you could do worse than looking at the likes of Derek Quinn, who was also involved with NewAddress and is probably plotting something new already … Pigsback is a cool idea, CentralR is useful and all the other ones listed are either already cool and useful or have lots of potential. There’s just so many of them to choose from! (Maybe you can just pick me and keep it simple! 🙂 )
Internet Marketer – Dave Davis. I’ve no experience of the others. RaboDirect has been very successful with their online marketing, though they were nominated for this last year as well when someone else was involved (I think!) . Mark Tarbatt’s Generator is an interesting business and unlike some of his competitors he actually does provide quotes when you ask for them!
Mobile Internet Damien Farren from DotMobi
I’ve mentioned them several times on here and over on both my domain blog and the company one. They’re doing cool stuff with the mobile web!
Online Trader – Even though I / we are nominated the list is impressive and I really don’t think I should be there. Someone like Geoff Boyle from 123 is much more deserving
Social Contribution – This is always a tough category. Trying to narrow it down is not easy! A lot of the time the nominees are the unsung heroes. The guys and girls that have helped the rest of us in some way (and by “us” I mean people in general)
Damien Mulley has given generously of his time over the last few years in so many ways that it would be hard to know where to start.
Andy Osborn has been slaving away on taking BodyWhys to the next level and it seems to have been paying off.
Paul Clerkin’s work with Irish architecture site Archiseek is amazing. You don’t have to be into architecture to appreciate that it is a labour of love.
Politics.ie is a fantastic resource, so David Cochrane deserves to be on that list.
Technology Journalist – I’d go with Mulley on this one again, though Eamon McGrane makes that decision difficult.
Web Designer – Oh how I hate this category! Take your pick! Alan, Peter and Darren have all done work for me in either a personal capacity or for the company over the last year, so how I’m going to vote in that category…. God only knows!
Web Developer – I know several people on that list (quelle surprise!) but I am at a loss as to who I’d vote for. I know who I won’t vote for, but that doesn’t reduce the list enough!
If anyone has any suggestions on how best to vote please let me know!
NB: Anyone can vote. You DO NOT need to be a member of the IIA
Grandad is a funny bloke so he gets my vote. Its as simple as that. Skip..Skip..Biology.ie is a great read and again gets my vote. My only wish is that they add a ‘Report a Bug’ type service.
And as for E-Government, best to just skip that one or I will end up on a /rant.
Enum is nice and logical. Newaddress is a big Hell_NO, I moved for a reason but I can see the benifits of it. As for pigsback..Me I favour no brands and tend to go with what gets the job done. RedFly does what it says on the tin.(Dave Davis can names get any better than this) 😉
Mobile Internet wise Vodaphone might yet throw a spanner in the works ….
Mulley might be a muppet but he is our muppet and I lub’ him to bytes.
BodyWhys is a great idea but until they sort out the orange on blue menu*(snigger) no straight up honest and in your face they need to do something about that.
Politics.ie is a daily read nuff said.
/I’ve typed enough at this stage. All of the above is ‘imho’.
But I am serious about BodyWhys..great idea great service but it is being let down by its choice of color scheme.
Sorry to come back on myself if I may just follow up on something I said.
These days people are far to willing to give out information about themselves and I thing that newaddress is a prime example of this…..
And to put that in contex I scare my little sisters friends by asking them how such and such went or just how so and so worked out for them.
Its not rocket science that too much info is being put out by people who believe that the internet(www) is just another tool.
Prime example from my side is that having moved from a flat in Bray where she had net access the flat in Lucan did not.
Break out the clue stick …she never paid for net access in Bray she just flipped open the Laptop and Windows found her a connection.(a clueless neighbour at a guess)
I know that at this stage I am typing a lot but what I am trying to get to is this..
Do we have a site.ie that will tell your average Sean/Brona just how to go about using wireless Broadband and Broadband in general hell..whatever about the net in general total mindfark the whole beBo accounts and putting real names on them
Hi Michele
Internet Marketer Nomination: Just to confirm this is my first time getting nominated for Internet Marketer and we had no nominations in this category last year.
Best of luck to everyone nominated!
Martin O’Leary
RaboDirect.ie
Sorry for not replying sooner !
@Rahood – Have you used the NewAddress service?
@Martin – Sorry. I thought someone from Rabo got a nomination last year or the year before. I could have been imagining it and I probably was !
I can not think of any other Irish voluntary organisations that are providing such extensive use of the web as Bodywhys are, others should take a leaf out of their book, as this is the domain in which support type organisations need to reach out to young people. A brilliant example of online service provision and community development for vulnerable people, well done to them, orange and blue and all….
I Totally agree with that last comment about Bodywhys. The internet has been getting such bad press in certain quarters over the last year in relation to the harm it can cause young people, suicide pacts, pro-anorexia websites, damaging self harm information, meeting dodgy people etc etc etc…. yawn yawn. What they have achieved is an all round showcase for the way you can use the web for positive social change. They are also the only entry in this category who provide support services for people in need, online support services. Check out the message board, podcasts, online group, email support. A shining example and puts similar organisations in the UK and Europe to shame.. I hope they win, and i love the colour, the design and the ease of use. (booze.ie – hello??)
Dee