I went last week to Deloitte’s award ceremony for their Technology Fast 50 list and also dinner for their Technology Fast 500 EMEA at Arsenal football ground. Now usually I am a great cynic when it comes to awards, being nominated and the ceremonies themselves, but in this case I was pleasantly surprised. While I appreciate this is nothing more than a marketing exercise for Deloitte, I thought the whole evening was conducted with professionalism and carried a level of credibility most lack.
I think my biggest problem in general with award ceremonies are the fact that they are usually organised by publishing houses as an important money making scheme. And that most companies who are awarded prizes are the biggest spenders with the magazine/membership body. With Deloitte however a huge number had never used the company in the past and also, most importantly, no money changed hands. They had good speakers and a classy venue (I assume the football fans appreciated it more than me) which left all the guests in a jovial mood. The fact that they persuaded businesses from all over Europe to attend just shows the level their awards have reached and the strength of the Deloitte brand.
While we may not make it into the 50 next year I am quietly confident we should make the EMEA, especially as we were 124th this time round. Meaningless measurements in reality, but at least gives us something to work for next year.
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