Last night was not just the battle of the Irish web mavens but also the battle of the awards shows as the Irish Web Awards and the Eircom Spiders went head to head – but only one ceremony had an award winner dressed as PSY, a purpose-built money grabber and hoop-offs.
‘What’s a hoop-off?’ you might ask. To settle bitter rivalries, hula hoops were introduced and the real winners decided by whose snake hips did the best work. It started when Balls.ie took on Back Page Football, from which Balls.ie walked away victorious, dignity relatively intact.
When Siliconrepublic.com was announced as joint winner of Best Technology Site alongside The Sociable, yours truly suggested a hoop-off to settle things.
Unfortunately, we lost.
Our own Adam Renardson was just no match for Piers Dillon-Scott’s hula prowess, and he rightfully declared himself to be Hula Hoop King.
With cupcakes, cake pops, false tattoos and a bevy of old school sweets for everyone in the audience, you could say everyone was a winner on the night – but the actual award winners are listed below.
Best Online Publication: Totally Dublin
Best Web-Only Publication: TheJournal.ie
Best Radio Website: Newstalk.ie
Best Independent Podcaster: Arseblog
Best Sports Site: The Score
Best Music Site: GoldenPlec
Best Entertainment Website: entertainment.ie
Best Arts Website: CorkOperaHouse.ie
Best Technology Site: Siliconrepublic.com and The Sociable
Best New Web Application/Service: FixMyStreet
Best Discussion Forum: boards.ie
Best Government and Council Website: DublinCityCycling.ie
Best Education and Third Level Website: NCAD.ie
Best Student Web Project: BetterExaminations.ie
An Suíomh Gaeilge is Fearr: Futa Fata
Best Microsite: 2012.photoireland.org
Best Financial Services Website: bonkers.ie
Best e-Commerce/Services Website: Volta
Best SME/Small Business Website DublinTown.ie
Best Mobile Site: m.luas.ie
Best Responsive Design: Kooba
Best Practice: UCD School of Medicine and Medical Science
Most Beautiful Website in Ireland: Sam’s Potatoes
Most Useful Website in Ireland: DoneDeal.ie
Most Innovative Website: DublinTown.ie
Agency of the Year: Kooba
Best Website in Ireland (Grand Prix Award): entertainment.ie
Adding to the entertainment on the night was the award-winning team at GoldenPlec’s Gangnam Style dance routine, with Aidan Cuffe leading the pack in full-on PSY get-up.
A lucky few were selected to live out their childhood Crystal Maze fantasies in a money-grabber machine built especially for the event (and now looking for a new home), while a very lucky woman went home with a basket full of sex toys from TheSexShop.ie.
Until next year!
