InformationWeek Wins 2009 Excellence Award for Best Virtual Event Innovation

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- TechWeb's InformationWeek was recognized for its InformationWeek 500 Virtual Event by the Online Marketing Institute and ON24 with the 2009 Excellence Award for Best Virtual Event, Innovation.

The first-ever Virtual Event Excellence Awards, jointly sponsored by ON24 and the Online Marketing Institute, were created to recognize those organizations that pushed the boundaries of virtual communication and defined best practices for the industry. Nominee evaluations were based on ROI, immersiveness, branding impact, and achievement of business objectives, as well as overall quality. Five Virtual Event Excellence Awards were given for 2009, honoring the best in virtual event innovation, international reach, attendee engagement, training and partner/customer communication.  A total of 22 nominations were submitted among the 300 events produced on the platform last year.  The program was co-sponsored by the Online Marketing Institute, which provided judging on the nominees. 

InformationWeek, the leader in virtual events and environments, was recognized in the innovation category for the 2009 InformationWeek 500 Virtual Event, titled "Navigating The Boardroom."  The judges recognized InformationWeek for presenting an editorially driven event using strong virtual technology that delivered compelling content that worked across real and digital platforms. 

"The nominated events were all worthy of recognition, as they were all great examples of accomplishment and excellence. However, the TechWeb InformationWeek 500 virtual event stood out because it was visually stunning and provided first-rate content, ideally suited for its target audience," said Mike Angiletta, President of the Online Marketing Institute.  "It delivered a truly compelling end user experience." He added that the event received perfect scores in:

• Innovation leadership
• Immersiveness
• Branding impact/reinforcement
• Overall quality

The following innovations put the 2009 InformationWeek 500 Virtual Event in the winner's circle:

• The merging of the virtual event and the live InformationWeek 500 Conference created an online event that had all the energy, immediacy and rich social interaction of a real-world exhibit
• Utilizing content from the live event, keynotes, awards and rapid fire discussion, mixed with content specifically for the virtual environment (interviews with the Top 5 CIOs, educational webcasts and moderated chats) delivered an unparalleled learning experience.
• Innovative use of ON24's 3D virtual show platform that showcased a custom designed interface that mimicked the Southern California live executive conference that took place at the St. Regis Monarch Beach Resort the week prior to the virtual event.  This unique interface brought the live event to life in a virtual environment.

"We are extremely honored for being recognized for the unique power of InformationWeek's quality of virtual events," said Martha Schwartz, Vice President, Group Sales, InformationWeek Business Technology Network. "This is InformationWeek's second honor for the InformationWeek 500 Virtual Events.  The combination of the InformationWeek brand, a strong and engaged audience, unique editorial perspective with robust content, and a world class execution team makes a significant difference in the value we provide to both our audience and clients."

A video showcasing the award-winning events can be viewed here: http://bit.ly/cEYS8N.

About ON24, Inc.

The recognized global virtual events market share leader, ON24 is the world's leading provider of webcasting and virtual environments for corporate communications and demand generation. ON24 offers fully integrated, enterprise-wide solutions for a wide range of applications, including training, conferences, company meetings, partner expos and virtual trade shows. More than 750 organizations in publishing, technology, life sciences, government and financial services, including IBM, Cisco, United Business Media, Credit Suisse, GE Healthcare, Oracle and the National Science Foundation, rely on ON24. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in New York, London and Singapore. For more information, visit http://www.ON24.com.

About InformationWeek Business Technology Network (http://www.informationweek.com/)

The InformationWeek Business Technology Network provides IT executives with unique analysis and tools that parallel their work flow -- from defining and framing objectives through to the evaluation and recommendation of solutions. Anchored by InformationWeek, the multimedia powerhouse that looks across the enterprise, the network scales across the most critical technology categories with online properties like DarkReading.com (security), IntelligentEnterprise.com (application architecture), NetworkComputing.com (networking and communications) and PlugintotheCloud.com (cloud computing). The network also provides focused content for key IT targets, such as CIOs, developers and SMBs via InformationWeek Global CIO, Dr. Dobb's and InformationWeek SMB, as well as vital vertical industries with InformationWeek Financial Services, Government and Healthcare sites. Content is at the nucleus of our information distribution strategy --IT professionals turn to our experts and communities to stay informed, get advice and research technologies to make strategic business decisions.

About TechWeb (http://www.techweb.com/aboutus)

TechWeb, the global leader in technology media and professional information, enables people and organizations to harness the transformative power of technology.  Through its three core businesses -- media solutions, marketing services and paid content -- TechWeb produces the most respected and consumed brands and media applications in the technology market. More than 14 million business and technology professionals (CIOs and IT managers, Web & Digital professionals, Software Developers, Government decision makers, and Telecom providers) actively engage in TechWeb's communities and information resources monthly. TechWeb brands includes: global face-to-face events such as Interop, Web 2.0, Black Hat and VoiceCon; award-winning online resources such as InformationWeek, Light Reading, and Network Computing; and market-leading InformationWeek, Wall Street & Technology, and Advanced Trading magazines.  TechWeb is a UBM company, a global provider of news distribution and specialist information services with a market capitalization of more than $2.5 billion.

SOURCE TechWeb