Money Marketing Award

Once again, I have been asked to judge one of the categories, and this year I have been looking at the submissions for “Best Network.”

It was good to see that in 2020 all but one network has beaten its 2019 revenues. Given the pandemic, that’s some achievement, and I think it confirms the resilience of the sector.

I agree to judge because it keeps me up to speed as to what is happening. I also like the discussions with my fellow judges and as our meeting is in September I assumed we would be sitting around a table. But no; I was told it would be online. And that got me thinking: ‘Why?’

In my experience, one on one online conversations work very well and I have regular virtual drinks with pals. No worries about getting a table or being overheard and the wine is half the price! But when the meeting involves half a dozen people things are different. The small images give you no signals as to what others are thinking. And many British people tend to hold back from interrupting and instinctively communicate with facial expression. I hope Money Marketing re-think.