• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, September 21, 2012

The word “star” has many connotations, but in an industry known for hyperbole, it may be an overused one at that. Which is why when omma magazine began recognizing the best and the brightest digital executives, we put the word “all” in front of it — to help clarify that people being celebrated in our annual awards are a cut above the rest. So welcome to the eighth annual edition of omma’s All Stars, and the induction of nine new members — three each from three categories: media, creative and marketing.

As I’ve explained in the past, our picks are not like a baseball all-star team in the sense they are the best composite of players in this year’s digital game. They are individuals who consistently achieve excellence year-in and year-out, and could probably play for any team, any year.

But this year I’d like to borrow from the connotation of one of our inductees, Digitaria’s Daiga Atvara, who used an astronomical reference to help brand the agency, whether you know the derivation of it or not. Yes, Digitaria has the obvious digital association to it, but Atvara picked the name because of a different kind of star power — the solar kind. Digitaria is also the name of a second, not-as-famous star orbiting the super bright Sirius. Never mind that the “digital” shop is named after part of a “binary” star system, Atvara liked the name because of the astronomical phenomenon that occurs when the two stars orbit close to each other: They shine brighter. And that’s something our All Stars have in common, making the people — colleagues, clients, partners, etc. — all grow brighter from their association.
So please join me in congratulating omma’s 2012 Online All Stars, and thank them for making us all a little bit brighter.