Nominations closed for the Construction Computing Awards (see previous post) on 15 September and voting on the final shortlists has now commenced.
UK collaboration vendors are well represented among the finalists:
4Projects and BuildOnline both feature in three categories, as do Sarcophagus (two related to its collaboration system, the other for Etenderer). BIW Technologies features in five categories, and Causeway features in eight categories (but none, it appears, in connection with its collaboration solutions).
Go to the Construction Computing Awards website (click on ‘voting’) to cast your votes. Closing date is 10 November.
2 comments
your previous post on the construction computing awards reads as faitly cynical, yet as you point out BiW are entered in 5 categories. As the Head of Communications for BiW, I presume you have driven this process.
I wouldn’t say I was all that cynical – most of my previous post simply reports the facts.
OK, I questioned the wisdom of online voting on the nominations, but isn’t that a legitimate area of concern? There are numerous examples of organisations and individuals running internet campaigns to get people to vote for particular candidates. The challenge for the organisers will be to ensure that either they a) take account of such campaigns or b)ensure such a wide pool of voters that the result cannot be unfairly influenced.
Should I let my reservations about a competition overrule a good PR/marketing opportunity? I don’t think so, and I don’t think my BIW colleagues will think so either. At the very least, there is some PR benefit in being shortlisted for (let alone winning) any awards.
However, it’s a bit of a no-win situation. Ignore the competition and you potentially allow competitors to steal some limelight if they win (and, internally, you might face criticism for not participating). If you do enter and win, then your competitors might claim you only won because you organised an online campaign to whip up the votes.
Overall, I welcome the fact we have some construction IT awards aimed at software developers, vendors, products and services (most of the existing construction awards tend to recognise IT only as something that helps existing contractors, consultants, etc to work better – the IT company’s inputs can often be overlooked). Whether it’s the competition run by Construction Computing, the one organised by IT Showcase, or AN Other, I hope one emerges as the “AEC Software Oscars” in much the same way as the Building Magazine Awards seem to be regarded as the pre-eminent awards for the UK construction industry as a whole.