Caterersearch.com launches second year of Web Awards
Following on from the success of last year's awards, Caterersearch.com launches the second Web Awards for the hospitality industry, reflecting the tremendous growth of the internet as a tool for business.
The Caterersearch.com Web Awards are the only web awards for the hospitality community. They recognise and reward the people and organisations responsible for developing some of the most effective hospitality websites on the internet today.
Reflecting the tremendous growth of the internet as a tool for business, the Caterersearch.com Web Awards honour the best websites in hospitality across 12 categories.
The awards are open to all organisations and individuals involved in designing, managing, marketing or promoting websites for hospitality-related businesses.
Entry is by online submission only and the official deadline is Friday 18 September 2009. Entries include an admission charge of £95 plus VAT per entry.
The awards recognise excellence in the judging year July 2008 to July 2009, so all data must pertain to this period. Websites submitting an entry must have been live and in general use for at least part of the judging year. They do not, however, need to have been created this year.
The entry form will ask you for a brief, 50-word description of the site, site access and traffic details, and a supporting statement of no more than 250 words. There's no limit to the number of categories you can enter.
Websites are selected for recognition based on - but not limited to - excellence in the following criteria: visual design, innovation, content, interactivity, ease of use, commercial success or potential and overall user experience.
The judging panel will be made up of web specialists and industry operators. Judges will not be allowed to vote in any categories which cover their main category of business, or which their company or business partners have entered.
This year, the Caterersearch.com Web Awards will take place virtually and there will not be a physical event - all the voting and the results for the awards will be announced online via www.caterersearch.com/webawards.
By entering the Caterersearch.com Web Awards, you are giving yourself and your company the chance to win the recognition you deserve. So, what are you waiting for?
For further details, go to www.caterersearch.com/webawards or contact Katherine Alano at katherine.alano@rbi.co.uk.
THE AWARD CATEGORIES
RESTAURANT WEBSITE: INDEPENDENT
Open to websites belonging to an independent restaurant business of three units or fewer, wholly owned and operated by its owner.
RESTAURANT WEBSITE: GROUP
Open to any website belonging to a restaurant group operating at any market level. A group is defined as having four or more units.
HOTEL WEBSITE: INDEPENDENT
Open to websites belonging to an independent hotel business of three units or fewer, wholly owned and operated by its owner.
HOTEL WEBSITE: GROUP
Open to any website belonging to a hotel group operating at any market level. A group is defined as having four or more units.
FOOD SERVICE WEBSITE
Open to websites belonging to any contract caterer, in-house catering operation or events caterer. They may be servicing any sector of the food service industry, such as business and industry, education, healthcare and institutional catering.
PUB OR BAR WEBSITE
Open to websites belonging to pub and/or bar groups, or individual pubs and bars of any size, and operating at any market level.
EQUIPMENT SUPPLIER WEBSITE
Open to websites belonging to suppliers - both manufacturers and distributors - of equipment to hospitality businesses.
FOOD OR DRINK SUPPLIER WEBSITE
Open to websites belonging to suppliers of food and drink to hospitality businesses.
RECRUITMENT WEBSITE
Open to recruitment consultancies that predominantly serve the UK hospitality industry, or to direct employers that have developed websites to meet their own recruitment requirements.
DIGITAL MARKETING CAMPAIGN
Awarded to the most enterprising and effective overall digital campaign run by a restaurant, hotel, food service operator, pub or bar. Entrants should demonstrate how their digital marketing communications strategy contributed to brand or product success.
INNOVATION/INTERACTIVE FEATURE
Awarded to online products, services or websites that incorporate an innovative feature that is relevant, original and of real benefit to its users. For example, this could be through use of video, social media, mobile, rich media or other imaginative use of technology.
WEBSITE OF THE YEAR
The winner of the overall Caterersearch.com Website of the Year will be chosen from the shortlisted entries from the other 11 categories and voted for by the 250,000 users and readers of Caterersearch.com, the award judges and the senior editors of Caterer and Hotelkeeper and Caterersearch.com.
By Katherine Alano
