Speaking as an (ahem!) winner of the best use of Search in Manchester and thereabouts, in less than a week, winning the award has opened a couple of really tasty opportunities and turned some maybes into probablies.

What about you?

Anyone wanting to participate in the live video streaming from the Big Chip Awards tonight please join the Big Chip 11 event on Qik and your videos will be streamed live to the Qik event group and right here on the Big Chip Awards blog.

If you want to install Qik simply go to the Qik website and sign up, there are detailed instructions on how to install on your phone Qik as part of the sign up process.

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When I joined MadeWith back in April, there was a buzz of excitement around the office when, in my first fortnight, the company was named on the shortlist for the ‘Best Newcomer’ category at Big Chip 2009. Since then, as a newcomer to the digital marketing scene myself, I’ve been paying close attention to the runners, riders and general hype surrounding the awards.

The first thing that struck me is that I have become part of something special. It appears to me that Big Chip 2009 is not just a fantastic showcase of the digital talent that exists here in the North West (which it is), but more poignantly a representation of the fact that all of that talent as a collective is gathering momentum and achieving great, positive things at a time of general melancholy in the UK. In the midst of a recession, it is refreshing to feel part of a growing movement.

On a personal level, Big Chip has helped me answer a very important question that has troubled me for years. Stemming from my days in print journalism, there has been a rather unsettling voice in my head asking “do I need to move to London to succeed in the media sector?” It is quite clear from the array of flair (and competition!) on show at Big Chip 2009 that, for a young digital marketer, the North West is a very exciting place to be.

Enough of the altruistic gubbins. Going to the Big Chip awards has helped me secure contracts of pretty damn significant value because I got to meet people and have a beer with them when everyone was having a great time. Each time I have been to the awards, I’ve not made it home till past dawn the next day.

What’s not to love?

Why would you go to the Big Chip Awards?

Do yourself (and your business) a favour and get your tickets here

Two North West companies have been shortlisted for the Game of the North Award at this year’s Big Chip Awards  – with one seeing two of its games in the running.

Connect2Media, based in Manchester city centre has been shortlisted by a special panel of judges for  “Go! Go! Rescue Squad!”  and “Guitar Hero Backstage Pass”.

Evolution Studios, from Runcorn, Cheshire, is the other agency shortlisted for its “MotorStorm: Pacific Rift” game.

The Game of the North Award celebrates the fact that some of the best games work in the UK is done in the North of England and entries were welcomed from anywhere in the North of England.

The games were handpicked by the panel of judges, including Ian Livingston OBE, founder of Games Workshop and creative director at Eidos plc. During his time as executive chairman at Eidos, Ian was instrumental in launching the Tomb Raider and Hitman video game franchises.

Enda Carey, who spearheads Northwest Vision and Media’s Games and Digital Content department and gaming expert Thayer Prime also joined the panel to select stand-alone electronic games working on any platform that demonstrated innovation, outstanding design and ‘playability’.

Go! Go! Rescue Squad available for PC, iPhone, Android, J2ME (Mobile), Blackberry and Windows Mobile, has been developed at Connect2Media’s Manchester development studio and sees the player taking on the role of a brave firefighter in order to save ‘Darwins’, the hapless inhabitants of the town. The game has a wide appeal combining compelling gameplay, original character and level design and gameplay mechanics in 64 puzzle packed levels over six themed districts.

Guitar Hero Backstage Pass, also by Connect2Media and available on J2ME and Java allows the player to promote their band, rehearse songs, and play shows. Gamers earn cash by playing through a range of venues to increase fame and it features traditional Guitar Hero® gameplay but with extra gaming features. Players can go online and get new music, download new guitars, and challenge rockers from across the world to become the ultimate rock star.

Evolution Studios’ Motorstorm: Pacific Rift, for Sony Playstation III, features off- road racing on a dangerous and unpredictable tropical island and has 8 differing vehicle classes, including the Monster Truck. There are 336 vehicles to unlock and race and 16 multi-route, multi-surface race tracks. It features four-player split screen play all in high definition.

Shaun Fensom, Chairman of Manchester Digital, the organisation behind the awards, said: “The judges had an extremely tough decision and we were grateful for the time given by this esteemed panel of experts.”

The Big Chip Awards will be announced at a glittering awards dinner on Thursday 18 June 2009 at the Palace Hotel, Manchester and will be hosted by presenter and former Celebrity Big Brother finalist Terry Christian.

It was announced last week that comedian, actor and musician Bill Bailey will be performing a short private set following his gig at the Palace Theatre in aid of SOS -the Sumatra Orangutan Society.

Tickets are still available for the event, which is being sponsored by Arts Council England, Business Link Northwest, Manchester Digital, Creative Manchester, Marketing Manchester, Melbourne, MIDAS, Montpelier, NWDA, and Orchard. For more information please contact Dara at Out There Events on 0161 214 5200 dara@outthereevents.com

BILL ON THE BILL AT BIG CHIP AWARDS

Organisers of the Big Chip Awards 2009 have announced a special guest who will take to the stage following the awards presentation, to round off the evening in his own unique style.

Comedian, actor and musician Bill Bailey will be making the quick step over from his sell-out ‘Bill Bailey – Live’ tour at the Palace Theatre to the Palace Hotel, where the Big Chip Awards are taking place, on June 18^th 2009.

Bill, who has starred in TV shows ‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’, ‘Black Books’, and more recently, ‘Bill Bailey’s Remarkable Guide to the Orchestra’, will perform a 15-20 minute stand-up set at the end of the ceremony, in aid of his chosen charity, SOS (Sumatran Orangutan Society – http://www.orangutans-sos.org/) for guests.

The awards, which will be hosted by presenter and Celebrity Big Brother finalist Terry Christian are set to be attended by hundreds of guests from companies across the North West specialising in the use of IT and digital technology.

Bill said: “I am delighted to be rounding off a great night in Manchester with this mini-set and hope to enlighten guests about my favourite charity and will be asking them to donate what they can for SOS.”

There were more than 200 entries and around 40 North West companies will be battling out for awards in 13 North West categories, as well as Game of the North award (open to companies in all Northern regions), and the International Award for Innovation. A special Anthony Wilson Original Modern Award will also be presented on the night.

Shaun Fensom, Chair of Manchester Digital, the organisation behind the awards said: “This is a real coup for the Big Chip awards. I know Bill will be a real hit with the Big Chip audience. It’s going to be a great evening.”

The event is being sponsored by Arts Council England, Business Link Northwest, Manchester Digital, Creative Manchester, Marketing Manchester, Melbourne, MIDAS, Montpelier, NWDA, and Orchard.

‘Heritage’, like ‘dietary fibre’ and ‘flossing’, we’re all agreed it’s important, but it’s not something many of us look forward to doing on a Sunday afternoon. Throw in the additional sex-appeal of ‘canals’ and ‘urban regeneration’ and the scene is set for a pretty tough sell…

But it’s just a matter of looking at the problem in a different way. From the outset we wanted to create something that really form-fits the unique physical location and the audience. How could we take maybe five minutes on your route from a to b and transform it into a more interesting experience?

Our solution was simple: create a cross-platform interpretation of the landscape, combining real-world locations with digital locative audioscapes, all consumable on your favourite handheld device.

At the tram station underneath Piccadilly Station, an installation of 10 photographic lightboxes introduce passengers to the 10 themes of hearmanchester.com. Stepping onto the towpath anywhere between Canal Street and Castlefield, landmark physical signage suggest a thematic URL to passers-by. The stainless steel typography is encased in modern pristine acrylic wrapped in an original girder, gently rusting into the urban landscape around. Type the signpost’s URL into your mobile phone and you can hear a 6-10 minute audio portrait hosted by the unmistakable John Robb, blending the real world canal-side location with a mixed reality audioscape.

To us, our users are (even) more important than our clients – after all, how can we meet our clients’ objectives if no-body is going to use it. So, creating a product that fits the users’ needs is key to a successful Stardotproject. Although there is always room to upgrade gracefully to an iPhone or Android app in the future, it was more important to us last summer that the web delivered experience works wonderfully on whatever device the user already has in their pocket: their iPhone, Blackberry, 3G, mobile, Nintendo DS, iPod, or mp3 player. As such you can subscribe to the podcast via iTunes, print off the walking tour maps from your desktop, or listen to the audio portraits directly from the towpath on your mobile – the experience is great no matter where you are or what you’ve got. The content itself should also be accessible in all senses of the word. So, it doesn’t matter where you start your walk, which programme you listen to first, type in the URL on the nearest hearmanchester.com signpost, and discover more about the city you thought you knew.

As a local interactive agency comprised of both native and adopted Mancs, we thought we were fairly au fait with Manchester. But working on a project like this leads you to a whole new appreciation of the city we live and work in. If you can spare 70 minutes in your lunch hour listen to all 10 programmes, if not, my favourite is UNDERGROUND opposite Rain Bar, where our roving reporter Robb explores the secret tunnels 100 foot below your feet.

We are delighted that this project has been shortlisted for a number of awards around the country, not least the Big Chips here in the northwest. What we’re especially proud of however, is the fact that from kick-off meeting, to sign-off by Peter Saville, (via contract negotiations, concept refinement, research, programme creation, photography commission, website design and build, signage development, planning permission, regulations, and signage installation), was all delivered and completed on time, on budget, and in under 7 weeks. We couldn’t have done this without the help of our key consultants and partners, and a group of passionate clients who shared our vision to deliver a quality product regardless of important tight deadlines.

From the the Haçienda to the Hallé, from the splitting of the atom to the first programmable computer, to the birth place of the vegetarian movement and the pubs that Marx and Engels relaxed in after a busy day discussing communism, hearmanchester.com is the augmented audio tour for people that wouldn’t be seen dead doing an audio tour. Whether you’re Manc to the bone or Manc for a day, hearmanchester.com will make you proud to be in the city that invented both the factory, and Factory. Stroll along the Rochdale Canal and hear for yourself.

hearmanchester.com was devised, created and delivered by Stardotstar for Manchester City Council, with the help from 257 Ltd, , Graeme Cooper , All Out Productions and The Hamilton Project. If you think it’s Tasty too, you can vote for it by texting HEAR to 84433.

Use your vote and choose the Big Chip Tasty Website for 2009!

Entrants for this year’s Big Chip awards could opt to have a website entered for the Big Chip Tasty Website Award. Then while the judges worked through the record number of entries in each category, we asked them to put on one side the very tastiest websites they found and make a shortlist for you to vote on.

The shortlist is as follows:

Take a look at the five websites listed above, choose which one you think is the tastiest. Then simply text the codeword using SMS to 84433. Please note that standard network rates apply.

You will then get a response acknowledging your vote.

Only one vote each please.

So, simple. Text “CROWN”, “SOURCE”, “LOVE”, “DOCTOR” or “HEAR” to 84433. Standard network rates apply.

We’re keeping the votes open right up until the last moment at the awards themselves on 18 June. So if you want to keep up the suspense you can cast your vote then.