The Business Marketing Association/Milwaukee Chapter recently announced that its annual Bell Awards ceremony will be driven by a 2.0 theme.
"All aspects of marketing from advertising and public relations to printing and production are becoming more interactive and rules are changing every day. We want to show the Milwaukee business community that BMA Milwaukee is changing the rules too – allowing businesses and agencies to rediscover, redefine and rethink how we communicate together," said Karen Conrad, president of BMA Milwaukee.
The entire awards process has been shifted to a technology-driven program. All promotions, communications and submissions will occur online. At the awards program, all entries will be displayed electronically for guests to enjoy, as well.
Nelson Schmidt of Milwaukee, the "Best of Show" winner of last year’s Bell Awards, was in charge of this year’s event.
"It is no secret to anybody involved in the world of marketing that clients are pulling dollars away from traditional media and pouring dollars into interactive media," said Clay Konnor, interactive creative director for Neslon Schmidt. "The theme for the event typically follows the trends within society, and looking at the different ideas we came up with for the event there is no bigger trend than the masses of people flocking to 2.0 technologies and social networking media."
Going 2.0 with the event has allowed easier entry submission and registration, more convenient viewing of the pieces, the use of less paper and fossil fuels, and has allowed the BMA to reach out to judges as far away as London and other European countries for the contest.
"The presentations will no longer be dictated by the space available on the floor, kiosks will be used and presentations will be interactive," Konnor said. "Because we no longer have to fly the judges in, we were able to reach out to a much broader more esteemed field of judges because they no longer have to take the time to fly here. They can just log in online and then issue a report."
According to Konnor, all of the components of the new awards ceremony are being developed pro-bono by Nelson Schmidt. It will be up to the BMA and the winner of the "best of show" winner this year if the same methods will be used in the future.
"We are developing the components of the award show methodology that essentially will be resellable to anyone hosting an event or awards show," Konnor said.
Entries can be submitted online at www.bmabellawards.com until Tuesday, Feb. 24. The ceremony will take place Tuesday, April 7, at the Italian Community Center, 631 E. Chicago St. Registration to attend the awards show will also be available online.
