Multimedia Victoria - Victoria's Best in Digital Content Shine at AIMIA Awards

Victoria's Best in Digital Content Shine at AIMIA Awards Media release - 20 March 2008 Victorian companies beat the competition to make the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association's (AIMIA) 14th Annual Awards a successful night – taking out accolades for best entertainment, financial service planning and online shopping websites. The Minister for Information and Communication Technology, Theo Theophanous, said Victorian creative e-content scored three national awards at the interactive media industry's night of nights, across a diverse range of categories. "The competition for these awards is tough, making it all the more pleasing to see the talent of our Victorian animators, designers and multimedia thinkers in this digital space, shining through," Mr Theophanous said. "These awards showcase the robust skills, creativity and ingenuity of Victoria's ICT industry, which is creating jobs and strengthening the local economy." Girl Friday – an interactive comedy series delivered via online and mobile - won the coveted Best Entertainment award. The 16 episodes can all be downloaded to wireless devices, including iPods, while a website offers extra viewing content on the series' characters. Viewers can also send to and receive personalised email and text messages from Girl Friday. One of the night's unique award winners was Clemenger BLUE Digital for Best Financial Service, with its take on NAB Life – an interactive guide providing banking and planning advice. The flash site was built to seamlessly integrate with the existing NAB website processes, making for easy content updates. Melbourne's Citrus won the Best Online Retail award for its Sportsgirl website, providing a shopping experience rich with options including an interactive magazine, styling guide and the option to share clothing choices with friends via community site Facebook. "I would like to congratulate all the Victorian winners on their impressive awards. It is fantastic to see such strong creativity and commercial success originating here in Victoria," Mr Theophanous said. "The digital content field is a key component of Victoria's ICT sector, and through the Brumby Government's ICT Industry Plan, we are working hard to help our innovative local companies continue to go from strength to strength," he said. "These awards are testament to the Brumby Government's strong investment in a progressive industry that drives our economy and innovation, delivering new products and thousands of new jobs right across Victoria every year."