• by Kenneth Fadner , September 1, 2006

We are pleased to announce the finalists in MediaPost's first-ever OMMA Awards for online advertising creativity. Winners in 19 categories will be selected from the finalists you see here and honored at a special OMMA Awards reception on Sept. 26, 2006 at 6 p.m. at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square.

In addition to celebrating the category winners, we'll be awarding Best in Show and Creative Breakthrough of the Year to those agencies that have produced the best work of the year.

In devising the awards categories, we strived to take into account a variety of online creative formats. We were as interested in stellar search copy as we were in rich media, in-banner video, and interstitials. Online advertising for social networks, inventive examples of content integration, unusual contests, gaming, viral marketing, and wireless applications comprised a good portion of the entries.

For a first effort, we were surprised and delighted by the number and quality of entries. Briefs were packed with interesting facts and compelling data points across a broad spectrum of campaigns for consumer and business products and services.

The winners of the OMMA Awards will be selected by our panel of esteemed online creatives, led by Colleen DeCourcy, chief experience officer at JWT, from among the finalists you will read about in these pages. (Judges are prohibited from judging their own work).

We will toast the winners and all the finalists at the OMMA Awards reception on Sept. 26. The event takes place immediately after day two of MediaPost's OMMA Conference & Expo, our annual conference of online media, marketing, and advertising professionals who gather to debate and chart the future of digital media and marketing. We hope to see you all at OMMA and at the OMMA Awards party. Tickets to both events are still available. For more information, go to www.mediapost.com and look for the section on MediaPost shows.

Congratulations to all the finalists, and thank you to all who entered.

Kenneth Fadner

Publisher, OMMA Magazine and Chairman, MediaPost Communications