The largest event the Town Hall has seen for many years

Date published: 13/03/2006

The inaugural Rochdale Online Awards event at Rochdale Town Hall on Friday 10 March proved immensely popular and a resounding success. It is testament to the revolution in communication that has taken place due to the Internet, and in our town Rochdale Online, that an organization that is still relatively new can organise, sell out (tickets for the event were sold out in less than 10 days) and successfully stage such a large scale event and command such tremendous goodwill and support.

The largest event the Town Hall has seen for many years saw 350 people packed into the magnificent Great Hall for an evening of food, wine, music and dancing with friends and colleagues to celebrate business and community in Rochdale, and of course to present the winners of the 'Rochdale Online Awards' with their certificates and prizes.

Special guests included Paul Rowen, MP for Rochdale and his mother Kathleen Rowen-Pennington, Jim Dobbin, MP for Heywood and Middleton and his wife Pat, Deputy Mayor, Cllr Jean Hornby and her husband Barrie, and Mayor Ashley Dearnley joined the event later in the evening.

The evening began with a champagne reception before guests moved upstairs to the Great Hall for a sumptuous four course meal. Interspersed between courses was the presenting of the awards.

The judging panel consisted of:

• John Kay
  Senior Partner of Molesworths Bright Clegg Solicitors and a Director of Rochdale Online
• Richard Tang
  Founder and Managing Director of award winning Internet Service Provider Zen Internet
• Malcolm Journeaux
  Founder and major shareholder of Rochdale Online

Each winner received a framed certificate and a stunning piece of unique Blanthorn luxury glass worth over £500 (www.blanthorn.com).

The Awards:

Best content for a Community Web Page/Mini Site:

Provided free-of-charge to all non-profit-making community and voluntary groups and organisations.
The judges were looking for good content and quality of information. If you wanted to know what the organisation did, whether they meet, what times, how to contact, etc. how well does the page/mini-site address these requirements. The short-listed candidates were:

• Probus Club of Heywood
• Rochdale Fairtrade Borough Action Group
• Rochdale Youth Orchestra
• Street Cred Credit Union
• The Well Community Church

The winner was: Probus Club of Heywood

Message Board Member of the Year:

The Rochdale Online message board has been running in its current format since March 2002. It is very popular and attracts incredible loyalty from regular users.
The judges were looking for quality over quantity, a member who debates without acrimony and gets involved in both the serious and the trivial discussions. The short-listed candidates were:

• Charly – Linda Phillips
• DaleLad – Jez Parton
• Alison Unwin
• Jeanie – Jean Ashworth
• Philosoteen – Nicola Bamford

The winner was: DaleLad – Jez Parton

Best content for a Business Web Page/Mini Site:

A Web Page is a full page online advertisement for businesses, designed to tell visitors who the business is and what they do, and provides email and web site links and is editable 24/7 from any internet connected computer. A mini-site is a multiple of web pages, up to five.
The judges were looking for content that would persuade you to make contact if you were in the market for the product or service offered. The short-listed candidates were:

• Autodrive Options
• JD Dance School
• Littleborough Home for the Elderly
• Springhill Hospice
• Stroolmount

The winner was: Springhill Hospice

Best content for a Business Sponsored Link:

A Rochdale Online sponsored link gives a business priority at the top of the listings, plus a sponsored link contains 50 words of text, contact details and email and web site links.
The judges were looking for a description that is persuasive enough to tempt you to click on the web site link and investigate further. The short-listed candidates were:

• Hair at Home
• Morris Dean
• Moss Lodge Hotel
• Nexus Drinks & Vending Machine Systems
• Tenon

The winner was: Moss Lodge Hotel

 Best Web Site Content:

The judges were looking for compelling and interesting site content that would encourage repeat visits and/or attract business. The short-listed candidates were:

• Building Help4U
• Butterworth Jewellers
• Northern Employment
• Parentalk
• Rochdale Development Agency

The winner was: Rochdale Development Agency

A raffle took place the proceeds of which were ring-fenced for Springhill Hospice and raised the magnificent sum of £1190 in under ten minutes! The prizes were donated by four local businesses:

• 1st prize donated by Butterworth Jewellers - 18ct gold and diamond pendant by 'Hearts on Fire' worth £400

• 2nd prize donated by Moss Lodge Hotel - Dinner Bed & Breakfast for two worth £135

• 3rd prize donated by PNS Landscapes - One gardener for a full days gardening worth £100
 
• 4th prize donated by Gymophobics – Aqua Detox, a course of six half hour treatments worth £100

The evenings entertainment then commenced with an amusing and witty 30 minutes from after-dinner speaker Rod Barry - Rod is a two times Countdown champion and winner of the Weakest Link and has worked with many well known TV personalities.

Speaking on behalf of the winners of the web content award, Rochdale Development Agency, Susan Ayers said: “We were really pleased that the work we have done with our site earned us this award. Since we launched the website last year we have received a lot of positive comments. Key staff have been trained by Rochdale Online to update the site and take responsibility for updating their own sections.”

Cllr Jean Ashworth, who was short-listed for Message Board Member of the Year, said: "What a brilliant night and what a fantastic turnout. Well done Rochdale Online,  we need more nights like this!" Jean went on to add her congratulations to the winner of the category, DaleLad (Jez Parton).

Jez was completely taken aback at his success and said: "What a great surprise, I am thrilled."

Rochdale Online Director and Senior Partner of Molesworths Bright Clegg Solicitors, John Kay, summed up the awards when he said: "all the short-listed candidates were winners really." Of the overall event John added: "the awards night was a great success. Really enjoyable."

* More Photos:

awards/ro_awards_2006_photos.asp