Social Media Awards founder Damien Mulley, host Rick O'Shea and Eoin O Suilleabhain, social media manager, Bord Gáis Energy, at the Bord Gáis Energy Theatre. Photo by Photocall Ireland
This year’s Social Media Awards will take place in the grand surrounds of Dublin’s Bord Gáis Energy Theatre, and companies big and small across Ireland are encouraged to get their nominations in now.
The change of venue for the awards show comes courtesy of the event’s sponsor Bord Gáis Energy and the need to accommodate a growing audience.
Last year, 450 people attended the Social Media Awards, with gongs doled out to O2 Ireland, AA Roadwatch, Hailo, Spin 1038, the Irish Defence Forces and more.
More than 400 entries were received for last year’s awards and this year’s closing date is 18 April. Businesses across the country are welcome to enter, and new categories have been added to entice more SMEs and agencies experimenting with new technologies.
“As more and more Irish businesses and organisations successfully use social media to engage with their customers and grow their businesses, it is important that we continue to recognise the great work being done and the results being achieved at many different levels throughout Ireland,” said Damien Mulley, founder of the Social Media Awards and the Irish Web Awards.
There are 22 categories open for submissions, including Best Use of Social Media by an SME and Best Experimental Format. “It is important that we look to evolve the categories every year to reflect changing trends and to shine a light on innovation in social media,” Bord Gáis Energy’s own social media manager Eoin O Suilleabhain said on the evolution of the awards.
“This year, we are really keen to encourage more SMEs to allow us to recognise their social media campaigns. It is also important that we specifically celebrate mobile campaigns using social media and campaigns that have successfully involved Vine, Snapchat and Instagram, as these have become an integral part of the social media toolkit now available to businesses,” he added.
The awards ceremony – so-called #sockies – takes place on 5 June and will be hosted by RTÉ 2FM DJ Rick O’Shea.
