Wales Blog Awards 2014

I don’t get invited to many prize-giving ceremonies, especially not those in which I’m nominated. So it was lovely to get the opportunity to attend the Wales Blog Awards 2014, where my Blakeson Mashup project was up for Best Multimedia Blog. It didn’t win, obviously – that honour went to the somewhat more aesthetically pleasing Drowning Dogs – but it was a pleasant evening nonetheless, partially due to the free wine provided by the sponsors (Warwick Emmanuel PR, Wales Online etc).

The ceremony, at Chapter, was mercifully brief, all done and dusted in just over an hour, and smoothly hosted by HTV Wales’ Adrian Masters. Highlights included the Best Community Blog Award going to my neighbourhood bloggers Roath Cardiff, and the People’s Choice Award (the result of a public vote) being awarded to Alice Roythorne’s online journal detailing her journey through chemotherapy.

The event certainly helped to highlight much of the valuable work being done by citizen journalists in a number of areas – politics, health, food & drink, sport. Obviously, though, the “dead tree media” (as Masters referred to it) with all its professionalism and access to corporate resources, will remain vitally important, as long it evolves in a healthy, inclusive, and socially and intellectually responsible manner.