Event Industry Awards 2017 winners announced

The Clayton Hotel, Dublin was recently transformed into a red-draped, cabaret-themed theatre for the Business River Event Industry Awards.

Complete with showgirls and jazz orchestra it welcomed 500 leading event industry figures hoping to win one of the 23 trophies up for grabs

Clive Jackson, operations manager at Actavo Events spoke about their involvement in this year's awards. "In sponsoring this event it's very important for Actavo to get our brand out there to the people who matter the most in the industry and those people are in this room tonight. Tonight, has been a great success, this event is our opportunity to say hello, thank you and we'll see you again next year."

Terri Cullinane was the recipient of the Outstanding Contribution Award. Best Event was scooped by Grooveyard Event Management for Riverfest Limerick 2016. "We are genuinely delighted. Each Event Industry Award we win means so much to us because they are so sought after, well recognised and highly respected," said James Gavin, CEO at Grooveyard Event Management.

The competition for Best Corporate Entertainer ran throughout the evening providing entertainment for the guests. The different acts included the Drum Club, Hell4Leather, Jon Allen’s Big Quiz, XOD dance group, Paul Kennedy History of Ireland in Three Minutes, and Oisín Dance Company. Each act performed on the night, with guests voting for their favourite. Dance troop, XOD were crowned Best Corporate Entertainers.

Dublin Institute of Technology took home the award for Excellence in Education and Training. Speaking about their win on the night, Rachael O'Brien of DIT said, "winning an award at the Event Industry Awards really is recognition of being the best of the best in your industry. It showcases companies that are creative and innovative from all over Ireland. No matter how small your company or idea is we would definitely recommend putting together an application for the awards".

The Event Industry People’s Awards also took place during the ceremony, in conjunction with the main event. These awards are designed to celebrate those people behind the scenes who make each event successful. The winners were announced the week before the awards, over social media, and those in attendance on the night received their trophy. The nomination process took place weeks before the event where people within the industry were nominated by their colleagues within the categories online. If they got enough votes they made the shortlist and then the top three individuals from the shortlist were voted for on social media and the winners were announced.

The Event Industry Awards will return in 2018 with an expanded format and judging panel. The awards were devised and organised by BusinessRiver and produced by Event Strategies.

For more information, visit eia.ie