Marketing & Advertising Recruitment Awards 2010 – roundup

The first Marketing and Advertising Recruitment Awards took place at the start of December.  I should have been there…. but the dumb snow and icky kids meant I spent the evening trying to follow proceedings on Twitter!

The event was hosted by Only Marketing Jobs and full credit should go to Simon Lewis for the superb job he did in getting the event off the ground!  Starting back in March this year he had to determine the nomination process, organise the shortlisting and judging criteria and co-ordinate the whole lot (including some, me included, rather difficult to organise judges!).  By all accounts he also did a superb job of hosting the actual event at which more than 180 recruiters and "industry protagonists" attended.  As well as the awards element of the evening the event was headlined by James Caan.

It was a black-tie do … kicking off with a champagne-reception, before, as Simon's write up states: "attendees moved through to the bespangled Ballroom".   There they were treated to a 3-course dinner.  It seems I wasn't the only one caught out by the weather; APSCO CEO Ann Swain was the scheduled compère for evening but in her absence Simon had to stand in.  Judging by the video he did a grand job!

Then there was James Caan ‘Looking to the Upturn’; talking about the marketing recruitment industry, his experiences and predicting a prosperous year ahead. 

There's a nice little video montage on the site which shows what a swish evening it was, with some soundbites from sponsors, guests and award winners.  It really showed what a good evening I'd missed.  My favourite bit on the video was Steve from Idibu on the screens "live from Barcelona"; I thought he looked/sounded like he was in a space rocket :)   You can also see a slideshow of photos.

Ah – better mention the worthy winners:

– Best Newcomer – Nakama London
– Best Niche Agency – Carrot Pharma
– Best Social Media Strategy – Major Players
– Best Small Agency – Dynamic New Alliances
– Best Candidate Experience – Stopgap
– Best Client Experience – Hays Marketing
– Recruitment Innovation – Stopgap
– Most Effective Marketing Strategy – Major Players
– Best Regional Agency – Adam Recruitment
– Agency of the Year – Major Players

I SHALL be there next year…. assuming Simon forgives me enough to invite me!