Awards to celebrate digital talent

A NEW awards ceremony to celebrate digital talent has been launched as part of this year’s Leeds Digital Festival.

The Digitally Leeds awards have been set up by Dom Hodgson, creator of the region’s largest SEO and search conference Think Visibility.

They are designed as an alternative to large corporate industry awards, celebrating all areas of the digital industry.

“Many freelancers, students and small teams can’t afford to enter some of the industry led awards as prices can start from £150 just to enter with single ticket prices for the ceremony going for as much as £300 in some cases,” said Mr Hodgson.

“This doesn’t mean that their work is any less creative or pioneering, just that they don’t have the same platform to promote themselves and celebrate the hard work that created campaigns for an impressive client list.”

The awards will be held on November 30 to mark the end of this year’s month long Leeds Digital Festival.

Categories have been selected to help bring together the Leeds digital community honouring freelancers, agencies and in-house client teams for their work and spreading the scope of the awards to include everything from social media and search to website design, games development, film, television, broadcasting and viral campaigns.

“By focusing the awards on the teams and individuals we haven’t limited the range of digital disciplines that can be celebrated at the event,” added Mr Hodgson.

“The idea is to bring the Leeds digital scene together whether they are one man bands or established companies and teams employing large numbers of people. The point is to focus on the work, the knowledge, the creativity and the talent we have in Leeds, which is why this event has been made both affordable and flexible.”

The categories include freelancer of the year, small team of the year, large team of the year, best blog and best selfless act.

There are also four voted for categories where individuals and teams can be nominated by industry peers. These include best tweeter, and Leeds digital star of the year which will celebrate an individual who contributed the most to the Leeds digital scene in the last 12 months.

The awards are now open for entries and all categories are free to enter.

The closing date is October 27.

For further information contact Dom Hodgson  doma@hodgetastic.com