The shortlist for the 2016 eir Spider Awards was revealed today, as was the MC to host the awards ceremony in Dublin on November 30. Taking place in the DoubleTree by Hilton, the ceremony will by hosted by Panti Bliss.

The eir Spider Awards are, at 21, the country’s longest-standing annual digital awards, which celebrate excellence in online efforts. Dozens of companies, organisations and digital campaigns have been shortlisted in 17 categories.

Commenting on the finalists, Lisa Kelly, head of marketing with eir Business and chairperson for the awards judging panel, said: “We expanded the categories this year and have seen a considerable increase in entries, which is just fantastic. There is an increasing number of Irish businesses realising the importance and potential of reaching their customers online.”

Kelly added: “It’s important to shine a light on the great work that is being done in Ireland and to reward the many businesses who are taking advantage of digital. A strong digital presence allows businesses to compete not just in a national market but it also opens up opportunities across the globe”

Tickets for this year’s eir Spider Awards ceremony can be sourced at http://eirspiders.ie/, starting from €295 plus VAT each.

The full shortlist includes the following:

Best in Business2Business

• CDE Global
• Glanbia Nutritionals
• Kitman Labs
• CoreHR and B2B excellence
• ENBIO

Best in eRetail

• DPD Parcel Wizard
• Lily O’Brien’s Chocolates
• Lottery.ie – The Fastest Growing Lottery in Europe
• Littlewoods – From Catalogues to Mobile
• iClothing
• ClickandGo.com
• Sisu

eLearning and Education

• Lámh time
• Elephants don’t forget and Clever Nelly
• GoConqr
• Institute of Art, Design + Technology
• Digital Marketing Institute
• A career in insurance: the possibilities are endless
• MI – Monaghan Institute

Suiomh Gaeilge is Fearr

• Portráidí na Scríbhneoirí Gaeilge / Portraits of Irish-Language Writers
• COMHARTaighde
• TG4 Website/App
• Gael Linn
• Futa Fata
• Cula4
• Irish for Parents
• Conradh na Gaeilge

Best in News Publishing and Entertainment

• RTE News Online
• Lovin Group
• The Sunday Business Post
• Clubify
• Spin 1038.com
• First1000days.ie

Financial Services

• Sage One
• EY Financial Services Thought Gallery
• New Foreign Direct Investment Portal, Bank of Ireland Corporate & Treasury
• KBC Digital On-Boarding
• Permanent tsb – delivering a new mobile-first digital experience for 1.1m customers

Best Campaign

• Spin 1038’s “The Drop”
• HSE Quit.ie
• Play Anywhere / Win Anywhere – The National Lottery App
• That Winning Feeling Multiplied – Money Multiplier from the National Lottery
• Boys and Girls for Digicel – “Bring the Beat”

Best in Travel, Sport, Leisure and Tourism 

• Outdoors.ie
• Guinness-Storehouse.com
• Croke Park
• Roomex
• Dublin Airport – daa and Arekibo
• Ireland XO

Charity and Not-for-Profit

• SpunOut.ie
• Breakthrough Cancer Research
• BioBank Ireland
• An Cosán Virtual Community College
• The Dublin Well Woman Centre
• IFI Player
• Tackle Your Feelings

Best in Blogging

• ESB Archives
• Rob Lipsett
• Teamwork.com High Performance Blog
• The Travel Expert
• Webdoctor Blog
• Avalanche
• Core HR and the Power of Blogging for Business

Best Use of Mobile Technology

• Daft.ie
• Webdoctor.ie
• DPD Parcel Wizard
• KBC Mobile On-Boarding
• Clubify
• Viralbamboo: Turn2me.org
• Hello Pegg
• Mobility Mojo – “Access” at your fingertips!

Best Use of Data and Web Analytics

• daa 360 Analytics – Dublin Airport Authority & Arekibo
• Social Honey Audience Platform
• GlowMetrics for Barnardo’s Ireland
• Hennessy – Very Special
• GlowMetrics for VHI
• Bringing Order to Chaos in Conversion Optimisation
• GlowMetrics for Griffith College

Best in User Experience

• The Police Service of Northern Ireland
• Smartvote.ie
• CPL.ie
• Digicel “Bring The Beat”
• TenderScout
• Saint Patrick’s Cathedral Website
• Dublin Rising 1916-2016
• DPD Parcel Wizard

Digital Geography and Location-Based Services

• Catchments.ie – Water from Source to Sea
• Logainm.ie — Placenames Database of Ireland
• Education Authority Online School Transport Applications
• GeoHive – Historic Mapping of Ireland
• Dublin Rising 1916-2016
• GeoFindIT

Best Digital Start-Up

• Ann Marie Corbett
• VideoDoc
• TenderScout
• Groopeze
• Wyldsson
• That’s Farming
• Dobiquity

Agency of the Year (Less than 10 employees)

• The Friday Agency
• Fathom
• Connector
• Artizan
• iZest Strategy, Growth & Innovation 2016
• ViralBamboo Ltd.
• Avalanche Designs

Agency of the Year (More than 10 employees)

• Software Design
• Webfactory
• Annertech
• The Web Bureau
• Monsoon Consulting
• Arekibo Digital
• Showoff
• Strata3

Photo: eir Spider Awards MC Panti Bliss and Lisa Kelly, eir Business (Pic: Maxwell Photography)