EMEA Channel Academy Awards to recognise region's vendors and distributors

Hosted by DISTREE Events, the organiser of leading Information Communications Technologies (ICT) events in the EMEA region, the region's first vendor-neutral channel awards for the entire theatre will take place in Monte Carlo on February 11th 2009.

"The EMEA Channel Academy Awards will combine the glamour of Monte Carlo with the excitement of live voting," said Farouk Hemraj, CEO at DISTREE Events. "These awards are neutral and independent - and the winners will be selected by the channel itself. It is our mission to make the EMEA Channel Academy Awards as open and transparent as possible."

There are eight awards available for vendors on the night with distributors voting live for their preferred candidate from a list of nominees.

In addition, there will be ten awards for distributors and two channel executives who will be inducted into the EMEA Channel Academy Awards Hall of Fame.

More than 1,000 senior executives from the EMEA distribution and vendor community are set to attend the inaugural EMEA Channel Academy Awards.

20 media partners across EMEA are in the process of setting up Local Selection Committees (LSC) made up of senior distribution executives to pick the nominees in each vendor category.

"We are working with media partners across the EMEA region to form committees that will identify nominees in each vendor award category," added Hemraj.

"The nominees from each committee will be collated to finalise the five vendor nominees for each award category. The winner will then be selected using live electronic voting by distributors at the EMEA Channel Academy Awards ceremony."

Vendors will be judged on partner engagement, channel strategy and management, pricing policies, stock management, product evolution, margin potential, and the development of channel programmes.

In addition to seven awards for vendors working in specific product areas, there will also be an award for EMEA Partner Programme of the Year.

The seven vendor award categories are EMEA Desktop/Notebook Vendor of the Year; EMEA Digital Lifestyle Vendor of the Year; EMEA Peripherals Vendor of the Year; EMEA Components Vendor of the Year; EMEA Software Vendor of the Year, EMEA Accessories Vendor of the Year and EMEA Printing Vendor of the Year.

The EMEA Channel Academy Awards will also focus on the vital role of distributors in the regional market, with ten awards planned for the night.

The distributor awards will focus on factors such as sales growth, channel breadth, credit facilities, financing, stock management, logistics, market development and reseller engagement.

The nine regions chosen for the distributor awards are UK & Ireland; Dach (Germany, Austria and Switzerland); Central & Eastern Europe, Northern Europe, Southern Europe, South East Europe, Middle East, Africa and finally Russia & CIS.

There is also an award for the overall EMEA Distributor of the Year.

"Prior to the awards, we are distributing voting forms to more than one hundred EMEA-level channel executives," explained Hemraj. "Each vendor nominates their preferred distributor by region within the EMEA theatre and their overall preferred partner. These results are then confidentially collated to identify the winner in each award category. By polling hundreds of vendors, we will ensure that the winners truly deserve their accolade."

In addition to the vendor and distributor awards, there will also be two inductees into the EMEA Channel Academy Awards Hall of Fame.

"These individual awards represent a lifetime of achievement in the development and growth of the EMEA channel," explained Hemraj. A special executive committee will pick these inductees.