“All” the inaugural Bookmarks winners

The OPA Bookmarks, held at the Atlas Studios in Auckland Park, have been dogged by controversy as some nominees also opted not to attend after being told to pay for their own tickets, and information has been scarcer than hen's teeth from the organisers .

There were merely a handful of winners that met the high standards of the two international judges Johan Tesch, creative director at BBH London, and Dick Buschman, founder and owner of ACHTUNG!, in this awards ceremony intended to benchmark the best in creative digital media in South Africa - a result that is causing much talk.

Out of 14 categories, a mere two Golds, two Silvers and seven Bronzes were awarded - mainly to ad agencies - seven categories had no winners, only finalists. The Greatest Individual Contribution to New Media went to JP Farinha, the incoming CEO of 24.com. It was almost like being at the Loeries again, hearing the names of companies such as Gloo and Hello Computer called out frequently (except we were standing around cocktail-style and not squeezed into a grandstand of cramped seats in a portable tent).

Winners and finalists

On the question of judges, the OPA Exco was only involved in short-listing the roughly 200 entries; the two international judges made the final decision. Also note that JP Farinha, the incoming CEO of 24.com who was awarded Greatest Individual Contribution to New Media, was not a judge as he resigned from the OPA Exco a few months ago.

View OPA Bookmarks gallery here