Australia’s digital luminaries come together to judge the AMY Awards 2017

Sydney, 20 February 2017 – Shortly after announcing its annual AMY Awards, AIMIA is following up the news with an exciting line-up of Executive Judges that will lead a stringent judging process that’s set to span over three months and cross borders to include an international judging panel.

“Our call for judges this year went beyond Australia and we were overwhelmed with the level of response and the support for the AMY Awards,” said Mandy Eyles, General Manager of AIMIA. “Over 500 experts put their hands up to help us recognise and celebrate Australia’s most outstanding and inspiring digital work. The selection process for the judges was no easy task, but we have now narrowed it down to 200 judges from all over the world, spread across 40 categories and chaired by six executive judges.”

The AMY Awards celebrates the biggest achievements and innovations across Australia’s digital landscape and, for the first time will accept entries from both AIMIA members and non-members. The international judging panel include judges from renowned organisations such Leo Burnett, DigitasLBi, Facebook and AKQA.

Meet the AMY Awards 2017 Executive Judges

Matt Griffin, CEO of Deepend is the Chair of Judges. With a very impressive CV, Founder and Chief Executive of the Deepend Group, Matt Griffin brings over 20 years of experience in design and interactive media to the AMY judging panel. Matt’s digital career launched in the UK during the formative years of the digital communications industry and has been riding the digital wave ever since.

Under his management, the Deepend Group has grown to include brands such as Deepend (Digital), Nomad (Creative Tech), History Will Be Kind (PR/ Social) and How to Impact (Innovation). The businesses cover a breadth of consultancy and have won numerous awards.

 

Rebekah Horne, Chief Digital Officer of NRL is the Executive Judge for Overall, digitally led marketing campaigns. From start-ups to the National Rugby League (NRL), Rebekah Horne is no stranger to the digital industry. With over 20 years’ experience in digital, telecommunications, mobile and media companies, spanning five continents, Rebekah has an impressive list of achievements under her belt.

Named ‘CDO of the Year’ by the CDO Club in 2016 (the first Australian to ever win the title) is just the most recent addition to the list. Rebekah is currently the Chief Digital Officer of the NRL, and previously held the same role at Network Ten for four years. During her time at the network, Rebekah launched Ten’s online streaming service tenplay. According to Ten’s CEO, Paul Anderson, tenplay generated an average of 25 million page views and 13.5 million video views per month in 2015.

 

Melina Cruickshank, Chief Editorial & Marketing Officer of Domain is the Executive Judge for Social/Content led marketing campaign plus Social good. Melina Cruickshank has over 16 years of experience in the digital media industry with a focus on digital publishing. Leading teams across client services, product, editorial and marketing, her experience covers audience acquisition, content marketing, custom and display commercialisation, mobile and social marketing.

Currently, Melina is the Chief Editorial and Marketing Officer at the Domain Group. In her short time at the Group, Melina has built a new division of 55 staff (consisting of journalists and audience marketers); launched a video series (Avalon Now), which racked up 2.2 million views in its first season (and incidentally, winning last year’s AMY Award for best use of social media or content); and has achieving some impressive results for the company.

Mike Sribney, Executive Manager Wealth, Digital Channel at Commonwealth Bank is the Executive Judge for Website or online services. With his passion laying in making a difference to customers and the bottom line, Mike has had a string of leadership roles in various markets, including Financial Services, Travel, Telco, Education and Media covering B2C and B2B markets.

His specialties include: digital strategy, agile delivery, customer centred design, design thinking, and innovation.

Anna Pearce, Head of Interactive at Disney is the Executive judge for Smartphone or tablet application. An expert in digital user experience and interactive media, Anna Pearce is the Head of Disney Interactive for The Walt Disney Company Australia and New Zealand. She has undoubtedly one of the coolest jobs on the planet: creating (magical) digital experiences for the Disney, Pixar, Marvel and Star Wars brands.

Anna’s team of creative content experts across Melbourne and Sydney manage Disney’s web, social media, mobile and gaming presence, as well as the development of content and unique interactive moments for next-generation audiences.

Ryan Svaghi, Group GM Product & UX for Car Sales is the Executive judge for Best use of emerging technology. Ryan Svaghi is a digital specialist with over 20 years’ experience across digital media, product strategy, user experience, content publishing and leadership.

Ryan’s areas of focus are across digital products and strategy, UX, web and apps (iOS and Android) as well as coaching and leadership. He celebrates innovation and embracing emerging technologies that simplify our way of life.

Ryan has also worked for leading brands such as Jetstar Airways, Qantas, Mercedes-Benz, Fairfax, GoPro, Oakley, Herschel Supply and Nixon just to name a few.

Lance Eerhard, Chief Digital Officer at Dan Murphy’s is the Executive judge for Student, digital team, digital start-up. Lance Eerhard is passionate about developing seamless customer experiences at touch points and using a data-driven approach to deliver a world class customer experience in the retail environment.

It’s this passion for perfecting customer experience that has helped Dan Murphy’s score the Omnichannel Customer Experience title at the Retail Customer Experience awards in 2016.

With a career in retail spanning over 15 years, Lance is a leader with a strong digital and commercial acumen.

To see the full list of judges visit our AMY Judges page. For more information on the AMY Awards 2017 and the categories, please visit http://www.amyawards.com.au

 

ABOUT AIMIA

AIMIA is the Digital Industry Association of Australia, representing companies that have embraced the digital world and organisations that provide digital services and solutions in the online, social, mobile, cloud and Internet of Things space. 

As the hub for the Australian digital industry, our focus is on customer outcomes, through the modernisation of business technology.

 

Media Contact:

Alicia Tan

Managing Editor

0478 417 656

Alicia.Tan@adma.com.au