On 24 July this year the Lateral INCITE Awards hosted their first virtual Awards night, with key note speakers from our Patron, Prof Lyn Beazley AO, and WA Government Sponsor, Hon. Dave Kelly MLA, Minister for Innovation and ICT, Science and Youth.

Like many industries, COVID19 has forced many organisations to adopt alternative ways to continue business through various digital mediums.

Our first virtual awards night utilised a number of media solutions such as; YouTube and Zoom for live broadcast, Eventbrite for event registration and automated reminders, tawk.to for live instant messaging throughout the event, and Google forms for the interactive quiz.

Early indications show that there were over 483 people who attended the event online from locations across Australia, South Africa, the UK, US, Singapore, Malaysia and India.

Planning this event and applying these technologies took many months from committed volunteers and industry leaders across WA. We couldn’t have done this without them. Nor could we have funded the event without the continued support from our loyal sponsors.

The WAITTA INCITE Awards program will be entering its 30th year this year. Who knows what challenges and opportunities await us. One thing we can say is that, our ability to pivot in a time of crisis is one of our fundamental strengths.

Well done to everyone who helped put this together in such a short space of time.

A special thank you goes to our INCITE Chair Sue Findlay, (Managing Director for Bidbuddy), who made this year’s event possible with her unwavering support, entrepreneurial spirit and can do attitude.

Thanks also go to our Chief Judge Celia Jordaan for her direction and leadership throughout the rigorous judging process.

And many thanks go to our events and marketing specialists Petra Vanessie, Kiri Trent and Lan Tran who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to bring the event together.

Lastly, congratulations to our finalists and winners. This event is for you to showcase your innovations and promote your brand across Australia. WAITTA wish you every success in the future.