2008 holography awards open for business

The countdown has started to find the very best in commercial holography with nominations now open for the 2008 industry awards.

Organized by the International Hologram Manufacturers Association’s (IHMA), the Excellence in Holography Awards will recognize outstanding industry achievement and go to organizations that have introduced the most innovative or commercially viable hologram product or technique over the year.

They will be presented at the annual industry conference Holopack•Holo-print, which takes place in Toronto, Canada from November 18-20. A display of product from the winners and runners-up will be on show at the conference.

The closing date for applications is 15 September and must be for hologram projects involving commercial production after 1 August 2007. Any company or individual is eligible to enter – not just IHMA members.

The categories are:
• Authentication/security
• Packaging
• Promotion/Illustration and industrial
• Best New Product
• Best New Technique
• Best of the Year Award

This year, several changes have been made to the nomination and judging process to encourage as many entries as possible and simplify matters.

The entrance fee has been waived and there is now no charge for nominations. The judging process has been reviewed and each regional IHMA Board member will draw up a shortlist in each category from entries, from which the overall IHMA Board will pick the winners and commendations.

And in order to expand the pool of entries, for the first time third party nominations on behalf of companies that have not put themselves or their products forward will also be accepted.

IHMA general secretary Ian Lancaster said: ‘While the entry standard gets better and better every year, the judges have recognized that some excellent projects are not being entered.

‘By simplifying and extending the whole process, we will boost the number of nominations and ensure that all of the remarkable developments introduced each year are considered.’