International digital and creative luminaries to judge Bookmarks

Fernanda Romano

Fernanda Romano is a prominent international digital figurehead who has held leading positions in agencies around the world, from Sao Paulo, to New York, London and Spain. She has won numerous wards, including the illustrious Lion Grand Prix from Cannes; was named one of Ad Age's ‘Women to watch' in 2006, and is also a member of the Creative Social (creativesocial.com).

Chris Colborn is the highly celebrated digital and experiential designer who previously worked at Byron Preiss Multimedia Company where he was instrumental in creating interface technologies for virtual entertainment and some of the earliest online game applications. Chris joined R/GA in 1998, where he climbed the ranks to Worldwide Creative Director and oversaw creative for leading brands such as Nokia. He has recently been appointed Chief Experience Officer.

In addition to the international judges, Bookmarks has also secured top local judges, thus ensuring entrants are judged according to local criterion too. This panel is made up of; Pete Case, CEO of Gloo; JP Farinha, CEO of 24.com; and Rob Stokes from eMarketing.

Adrian Hewlett, Chairman of the Online Publishers Association, elaborates: "International benchmarking remains critical, but we acknowledge it is vitally important to account for indigenous market conditions. Local judges will ensure that Bookmarks 2009 will be that much more relevant to our industry, whilst still holding entrants accountable to international standards. After all, we want to be an award which engenders growth in the industry, and not fall prey to awarding for the sake of awarding. We simply have to be able to compete on an international field."

Entries for the Bookmarks awards open on the 14 August. For more information please contact Theresa Vitale on 011 454 3534 or email on .