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You might not have heard of Nominet, but they are a very
important company in the Internet world. They provide a valuable
service for companies and individuals to get their website on
the Internet. After the website is on the Internet they will be
running in the background making sure things run smooth and
securely.
Every year Nominet run The Nominet Internet Awards that
showcase organisations that have exceeded expectations to make
the Internet secure, open and diverse. ACE IT has been nominated
for the awards 3 years in a row and once again this year in the
category ‘Building a Network Nation’. In 2008 ACE IT won the
‘Best Development Project’, 2009 we were short-listed for the
‘Best Development Project’ and in 2010 we won ‘Nurturing
Powerful Local Partnerships’.
ACE IT chooses a different team every year to go down to the
awards in London and luckily this year it was my turn to go down
with Jenny Ridge (Chief Executive) and John Elliot (Chairman).
At ACE IT my role is to introduce basic IT skills to the 50+
groups on a 10-week training course, I also do other jobs like
designing posters, flyers and cards.
The adventure started with meeting Jenny at Waverley train
station, from there we got a rather large assortment of snacks
then we were off. The trip took around 4 hours and we were soon
in our hotel – The Eden Plaza in Kensington.
After a quick shower and pamper we were making our away along
the road to the grand Victoria and Albert Museum. I have never
been to the museum, so I was looking forward to having a look
around. Unfortunately that was not on the cards as quite a lot
of the guests had already arrived and were in the garden in the
middle of the museum enjoying the champagne on offer.
10 minutes in the garden we were introducing ourselves to
other organisations and getting to know the competition a little
better. One group we got on really well with from Neighbourhood
Watch based in Leicester who was coming to the awards for the
first time.
Next came the dinner, we were escorted in to the entrance hall
where 10-15 round tables stood in front of the stage. Our team
was sat in table 1, also around our table sat two Nominet
representatives, the Internet Buttons team (they were in our
category), the Welsh Government – e-Crime Wales’s team and one
of the judging panel. The dinner itself was a beautiful
three-course meal with a different wine with each course, I was
happy though to just stick with a full-bodied red.
Nominet really do know how to look after you!
At around 10pm everyone had finished eating and was eagerly
awaiting the awards. They started with three speeches from
Baroness Rennie Fritchie, Lesley Cowley and Rt Hon Alun Michael.
They talked about Nominet itself, the hard working judges and
how each organisation nominated should be proud of themselves.
Up next came the winner and exciting newcomer awards for
category 1 – Building a Network Nation (our category).
Unfortunately we did not win this year, but were extremely happy
to be short-listed.
All together there were 5 winners plus other awards for exciting
newcomer and highly commended in other categories. If you wish
to see all the winners you can visit:
www.nominet.org.uk/about/internetawards/2011
We at ACE IT wish to congratulate every organisation that was
part of this years awards’ for their hard work and dedication in
their field. Who knows maybe ACE IT will be back victorious next
year – watch this space! |
