To ensure everyone has the chance to see the presentatation we recoreded it and it’s now available on affiliates4u.com.

Before you enter it’s wortwhile spending just 10 minutes of your time reviewing. The slides are also available for you to download.

DJ’s dry cleaned, dresses unpacked and shoes a’shining… I’m sure you are all ready for this year’s Black Tie a4uAwards co-sponsored by DGM and JD Williams.

650 industry greats will be in attendance for the year’s most prestigious and glamorous night on the affiliate marketing calendar.

Itinerary

• 7pm – Champagne Drinks Reception, hosted by Affilinet
• 7.45pm – Call for Dinner
• 9.15pm – The Awards Commence, hosted by Kevin Bridges
• 10.45pm – After Party in the ‘Cube’, hosted by Digital Window
• 2.30am - Carriages

Although we will not be issuing paper invitations we will be confirming your details on the door.

Backlit table plans will be available on the mezzanine and within the Great Room, please look for your table sponsors name.

Warning: The a4uAwards may contain strobe lighting or sudden loud sound effects.

If you have any questions relating to the event please call Sarah Pickthall or Sarah Parsonage on 01172 033010

Advertisers such as Sainsbury, Premier Inn, Natwest, Oasis and Karen Millen are just a few of the larger brands that are vying to win one of the 25 awards up for grabs at the industry’s annual ceremony which takes place at The Grosvenor House Hotel in London on June 9.

Matthew Wood, founder & organiser of the a4uAwards, says: “Each year we see more and more large brands being shortlisted, which is a clear signal that the channel is being more cleverly integrated into some pretty big marketing efforts.

“This year, the impact of 3^rd party applications in the market has also been deliberately recognised with its own refined category and as expected, its shortlist shows the diversity of innovation that’s being unveiled on a regular basis.”

The Shortlists are:

Best 3rd Party Application

• PrismaStar
• Quidco for In-store Cashback
• Skimlinks for Skimbit
• Storm for Affiliates

Best Advertiser Incentive

• Buyagift
• Maximuscle
• Red Letter Days

Best Agency in Affiliate Marketing

• Azam Marketing
• BLM Quantum
• Existem Affiliate Management
• i-level
• NEO@Ogilvy
• R.O.EYE

Best Lead Generation Campaign

• Azam Marketing for Advent
• Perfect Storm Media for MHL
• TMN Group for Air France KLM
• VoucherCodes.co.uk

Best New Entrant in Affiliate Marketing

• 7thingsmedia
• Affiliate Window for Sainsbury’s
• FusePump
• Latitude for Get The Label
• LinkShare for Karen Millen

Best Paid Search Partnership

• Artemis8 and Premier Inn
• Azam Marketing and Advent
• Perfect Storm and Seatwave

Best Use of Affiliate Marketing as part of a Wider Marketing Campaign

• Argos
• Commission Junction for Weightwatchers
• LOVEFilm
• SKY

Innovation Award (Advertiser)

• Affiliate Window for DRL
• eBay partner Network
• Prezzybox
• Red Letter Days
• Tagman for Thomas Cook

Innovation Award (Network)

• Affiliate Window for Affiliate Window Gets Social
• Affiliate Window for Strengthening Relationships
• AffiliateFuture for White Label Travel Products
• Dgm for dgm Travel Maps
• LinkShare for #tweetshop

Innovation Award (Publisher)

• MyVoucherCodes
• Perfect Storm Media
• Top10.com
• UK Web Media for Recombu

Finance Vertical

Publisher

• Leadbay
• Media Ingenuity
• Quidco for Natwest Home Insurance

Advertiser

• Experian for CreditExpert
• Lloyds TSB Airmiles Suo Credit Card
• Media Contacts for Nationwide
• NEO@Ogilvy for American Express

Technology & Telecoms Vertical

Publisher

• Rightmobilephone.co.uk
• Top10.com
• UK Web Media for Recombu

Advertiser

• BLM Quantum for T-Mobile
• Profero for Vonage
• TalkTalk
• Vodafone

Gaming & Casino Vertical

Publisher

One breakaway winner

Advertiser

• Locker Room for Bodog
• Paddy Partners for Paddy Power

Retail Vertical

Publisher

• Quidco
• Vouchercodes.co.uk

Advertiser

• 7thingsmedia for USC
• Argos
• Firebox.com
• Azam Marketing for Gonedigging.co.uk
• JD Williams
• LinkShare for Oasis

Travel & Leisure

Publisher

• Artemis8 for Premier Inn
• Quidco for Expedia and Hotels.com
• VoucherCodes.co.uk for Hotels.com

Advertiser

• AffiliateFuture for onthebeach.co.uk
• BLM Quantum for Haven Holidays
• Commission Junction for Lastminute.com
• Lowcostholidays.com

To view the community choice shortlist please click here

Innovative Publisher of the Year

• Easy Content Units
• Net Media Planet
• Quidco
• Skimlinks
• VoucherCodes.co.uk

Innovative Merchant of the Year

• Books Direct
• Buyagift.com
• CreditExpert
• PrezzyBox

Innovative Affiliate Network of the Year

• Affiliate Window
• AffiliateFuture
• LinkShare
• WebGains

Best New Entrant in Affiliate Marketing

• Harveys
• musicMagpie
• Oasis
• Skimlinks
• The It Guide

Best Use of Affiliate Marketing as Part of an Integrated Campaign

• Argos
• Elemis
• LoveFilm
• Play.com
• SKY

Affiliate Marketing Digital Media Agency of 2009

• BLM Quantum
• I-Level
• R.O.EYE

Best Use of Technology within Affiliate Marketing

• Affmeter
• Awin Analytics
• Coull TV
• Easy Content Units
• Skimlinks

Finance Vertical (affiliate)

• Dot Zinc Limited
• Leadbay

Finance Vertical (merchant)

• CreditExpert
• Payday UK
• Virgin Money

Technology & Telecoms (affiliate)

• Artemis8
• Net Media Planet
• Formula (Top 10 Broadband)

Technology & Telecoms (merchant)

• BT Business
• Dialaphone
• T-Mobile
• Vodafone
• Vonage

Casino & Gaming (affiliate)

• TBA

Casino & Gaming (merchant)

• PaddyPower
• SKY Betting and Gaming
• Sporting Bet

Retail (affiliate)

• Artemis8
• Easy Content Units
• mydeco.com
• V.A.C Media
• VoucherCodes.co.uk

Retail (merchant)

• Argos
• Debenhams
• JD Williams
• LoveFilm
• PrezzyBox
• Red Letter Days

Travel & Leisure (affiliate)

• Artemis8
• Carrentals.co.uk

Travel & Leisure (merchant)

• Fly Thomas Cook
• Haven Holidays
• Lastminute.com

This prestigious category which is now open for final round voting already has a competitive short-list as chosen by publishers working in the industry.

* Agnieszka Marchewka (buy.at / Platform-A)
* Daniel Austin (R.O. Eye)
* Darren Newmark (LinkShare)
* Hannah Swift (Existem A.M.)
* Hero Grigoraki (Webgains)
* Hildegunn Iversen (Commission Junction)
* Julie Wood (Affiliate Window)
* Kevin Sutton (DGM)

Duncan Jennings, Managing Director of eConversions will be presenting the award on the 2nd of June.

The community have until the 22nd of May to cast their final votes, after which the votes will be counted and a winner and runner up will be announced at the Park Lane Hilton on the 2nd June.

A huge congratulations to all the winners, we really enjoyed ourselves!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/existemevents

For those attending tonight don’t be late or you’ll miss the Champagne Reception at 7pm (please remember to enter through the ballroom entrance) The evening will close at 1am.

Tonight will very much be about celebrating how far we have all come, and rewarding those individuals and companies who have shown excellence within our industry, and we’re very thrilled that so many of you will be part of that tonight.

Look out for our a4uAwards booklet in today’s NMA for more more in-depth information about the awards.

It’s time to double check those DJs and dresses, cufflinks and shoes and prepare to be dazzled!

We’ll see you all there!

June 5th will see the UK’s leading affiliate marketers in the space coming together to celebrate the innovation and excellence within the flourishing channel.

As this is our first black tie awards ceremony we have been really pleased with the support from the community and the quality of the entries received– it really does show how Affiliate Marketing is now a central channel of the online marketing mix - we raised a few eyebrows when we announced the format of the awards, but deep down we knew the time was right to shout out how great we all are!

If you’ve not already booked a table or place then we are opening a waitlist. Contact Claire Hoyland at Existem, and if any places or tables become available we will let you know.

We look forward to seeing you in early June!

LinkShare whose UK clients include House of Fraser, Lego, Figleaves, Goldsmiths and more recently British Airways will be taking a table of 10 to the awards ceremony on 5^th June 2008.

The Retail category proved to be one of the most contested categories and the judges have a difficult decision ahead rattling the entries down to a shortlist of just five in the coming days.

Don’t forget to play your part with the final round of voting for the Publisher’s and Community Choice awards - vote now before it’s too late.

The first round of results are in for the highly anticipated Affiliate Marketing Awards taking place on the 5th June 2008 at the Sheraton Park Lane, London.

We have compiled the nominations from affiliates4u members and would like to congratulate the following publishers, bloggers, account managers, affiliate networks, and agencies for getting through to the shortlist for the final round of voting for our Publisher and Community Choice awards.

Affiliate Manager of 2008

• Chris Bishop (Hotel Chocolat now House of Fraser)
• Chris Clarkson (Sunshine.co.uk)
• Daniel Morley (Alpha Rooms)
• Graham Keen (Buy a Gift)
• Jasper Van Der Bliek (Jackpot Joy)
• Zak Edwards (Prezzy Box)

Affiliate Marketing Agency of 2008

• Equator
• Existem AM
• Media Vest
• Quantum BLM
• R.O.EYE

Affiliate Marketing Blog of 2008

• Jason Dale (www.onelittleduck.co.uk)
• Kieron Donoghue (www.here.org.uk)
• Kirsty McCubbin (www.affiliatestuff.co.uk)
• Lee McCoy (www.leemccoy.co.uk)
• Paul Wheatley (www.mooseontheloose.co.uk)

Publisher’s Account Manager of 2008

• Jonathan Erwin (OMG)
• Julie Wood (AW)
• Kier Marston (Webgains)
• Thuy Pham (AW)
• Vicky Long (OMG)

Publisher (affiliate) of 2008

• ClickAngel
• Net Media Planet
• Quidco
• Spear
• UK Web Media
• eConversions

Publisher’s Choice Of Network 2008

• Affiliate Future
• Affiliate Window
• Buy.at
• OMG
• Paid On Results
• Webgains

Members of affiliates4u can now cast their vote in the final round by visiting www.affiliates4u.com/awards - Voting closes at 3.00pm on Wednesday 28th May, and the winners will be announced on the evening of the Awards.

We are busy compiling together our judged awards for which we had well over 100 entries.

The judges will be considering these over the coming weeks and a shortlist will be announced a week before the event. For more information on attending this prestigious networking event, please visit www.a4uawards.com or give Claire Hoyland a call on 0117 972 3269 as places are now very limited and are expected to sell out shortly.