By Business & Finance 
The annual search begins today for Ireland’s best and brightest online, with a call for entries to the eircom Spider Awards 2013.
Entering their 18th year, the awards are the longest standing and most prestigious digital awards in Ireland. They reward Irish businesses and community organisations for their creativity and innovation and provide an important opportunity to recognise and showcase online excellence.
This year’s awards will take place on Thursday, November 28th in The Convention Centre Dublin and will be hosted by comedian Neil Delamere.
Each of the categories at this year’s awards are designed to acknowledge and promote business and communities through technological advancements, innovation and e-commerce. Similar to previous years, the awards will highlight digital achievements across a range of categories including: financial services, tourism, charity, retail, news, education, entertainment, web design, user experience, social media and sports.
The awards have evolved hugely over the years matching the continued innovation and key trends within the digital area. For the first time, this year’s awards will include a ‘Cloud Excellence’ category. This category celebrates the technical and commercial success of the cloud industry and recognises the best of web-based IT services.
Chairman of the judging panel and marketing director, eircom Business, Gary Disley commented: “We have a long standing relationship with the Spider Awards and we’re proud to continue supporting them. As well as rewarding digital success they also allow us to highlight emerging trends and future potential growth sectors within the online community.” He added: “Each year there is an outstandingly high standard among the entries which demonstrates the very high level of innovation and creativity in Ireland in the digital area. eircom is committed to supporting businesses, especially when it comes to helping them develop and maximise their digital presence. We work hard to ensure businesses have the necessary tools and advice to help them advance their business online. We also feel strongly about rewarding those efforts that companies the length and breadth of the country make to the digital world and initiatives like the Spider Awards are a great way to do that.”
Joan Mulvihill, CEO of the Irish Internet Association and a member of this year’s judging panel also commented at today’s launch: “I welcome the opportunity to be taking part in this year’s eircom Spider Awards. I attend these awards every year and was delighted to be invited to the judging panel. With so many IIA members as past winners I’m looking forward to seeing this year’s entries of talented web businesses.”
The closing date for all nominations in the 2013 eircom Spider Awards is Monday, October 14th 2013.
