"Kick off your slippers."
▶ Watch · BSME Awards highlights 2024
In short —
Editors of Vogue, Wired, and Grazia. Presenters from John Simpson to Kate Garraway. 344 logging in from home. Here's how the British Society of Magazine Editors delivered one of the most polished virtual awards of the cycle.
The programme
On the evening of Thursday 11 February 2021, Maria Pieri of APL Media — then-chair of the British Society of Magazine Editors — invited guests to kick off their slippers
and enjoy the BSME awards ceremony with colleagues and friends, without the hassle of having to get a cab home
. Hattie Brett, editor of Grazia and current chair of the organisation, described the awards as the most significant BSME awards yet because they are a reminder that we made it through 2020!
A not-for-profit organisation, the BSME represents editors of the UK's top consumer, professional, and customer magazines and websites.
Big-name presenters
John Simpson, Alan Titchmarsh, Kate Garraway — and Clara Amfo as co-host.
Top-tier winners
Vogue's Edward Enninful and Lorraine Candy among the headline awards.
M&S hampers
Sent to all winners, judges, and presenters the morning after.
Lively chat
Public board and table chats made the room feel immersive.
The brief
In January 2020, just before COVID struck, Juliette McCrimmon was appointed events director, with David Cotter as creative director. One of their key objectives was to fully embrace social media to maximise the BSME's profile — but they quickly found themselves catapulted into the complexities of delivering events in the era of COVID.
The BSME had previously delivered a single virtual event, a straight edit streamed directly to the audience. McCrimmon and Cotter wanted to try something different. They approached Evessio to discuss using the Awards Room platform — and were delighted that Evessio agreed to sponsor the awards and use the software to power them.
Networking that actually worked.
Many guests stayed on the Awards Room site for up to an hour after the ceremony. The interactive aspect of the digital awards proved to be one of its most successful features.
The production
The awards opened at 5pm, with 45 minutes of music and a montage of magazine covers before the host welcomed guests. The event was pre-recorded with Maria Pieri hosting and guest presenter Clara Amfo from Radio 1 joining by video link. Films of the shortlist and winners across 32 categories were introduced by big names from media.
Winners and Highly Commended entrants included the editors of Campaign, Vogue, Wired, and Which? magazine, as well as the Financial Times, Rugby Journal, and Waitrose & Partners Food. The Editors' Editor award (Edward Enninful of Vogue) and the Mark Boxer Award (Lorraine Candy, previously of Sunday Times Style) included pre-recorded acceptance speeches.
Straight from the room
What the BSME team and attendees took away.
The social media outreach was incredible.
A huge amount of positive feedback from attendees around the great networking.
The ceremony was slick and professional.
There is so much potential for us to deliver really exciting events that meet our audience's expectations.
The data story
The extent of data generated was significant — graphs detailing information down to a granular level, including the number of conversations held on each table and the length of each contact. After the ceremony, the event was posted on YouTube where it remains available on demand at bsme.com/awards.
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