WATAwards has seen an unprecendented response in the last week. We already have over 70 nominations currently across the several categories. Given the eagerness among folks we have decided to extend the dates to 1st of APRIL, 2011! Submit your nominations here -> http://watawards.com/submit-entry.php We thought it was the right time to introduce you to the Jury that shall be Judging the event. Between them they bring over 70 years of experience in media and digital media. Here is a look at them (in alphabetical order): Bipin Chandran The Editor , Entrepreneur “Mr. Bipin Chandran is the Chief Editor of Business magazine “Entrepreneur” of Infomedia18, the publishing arm of the Network18 group. He is from Delhi and after completing his schooling from Delhi he did his post graduation in Philosophy from Delhi University. His areas of interests are entrepreneurship, economy development and social development. He is in the field of business journalism for more than 12 years and has an extensive experience in writing articles for prestigious media bodies. Bipin started his career with Indian Express and then went on to the business newspaper “Business Standard”. He had another stint with the Indian Express Group as Senior Assistant Editor. He has been with Infomedia18 since the past 2 years. The group’s magazine Entrepreneur was launched in India 1 year ago and he has been the Chief Editor of magazine, since its launch.” Carlton D’Silva Creative Director , Hungama Digital Media Entertainment Carlton D’Silva is the Creative Director at Hungama Digital Media Entertainment PVt. Ltd. Carlton joined Hungama in 19999 and since then has won innumerable accolasdes for the company, such as the PMAA’s, Abby’s and The Globes. With Hungama he created over a 1000 promotional campaigns. With over 15 years of experience, his expertise in the digital arena is imaginative and inspiring, giving the company a creative edge in the industry. Prior to Hungama, Carlton headed the Creative Department at Internet Resource Pvt. Limited. He then moved to Hungama in its early days in 1999 and was instrumental in creating the brand it is today. With an agile and dynamic team of visualizers, designers, and copy writers, he has been responsible for creating over 3500 websites and games for domestic and international clients. He is also on the jury of the Abby Awards (Ad Club of Bombay) and Yahoo Big idea chair Awards and was a part of the jury in the New York Ad festival in 2010. Carlton is also on the Cyber Lotus Jury Panel for the Ad Fest Asia 2011. Over the last decade, Hungama has created and executed some award winning campaigns in the digital space. The company has created innovative marketing solutions for over 350 MasterCard, ICICI Bank, Axe, Nike, Bacardi and Cadbury’s to name a few. Hungama is also very closely associated with the Indian Film Industry ( Bollywood) and is involved in marketing films as well as celebrity management on the digital space. With Hungama, Carlton works on ideas across multiple devices apart from the PC like WebTV, IPTV, Tablets, Mobile and the new App platforms like the Intel App World. Karl Gomes Co-founder , AgencyDigi KarlGomes is an Advertising and marketing communications professional specializing in Digital marketing, Media, Social and Web 2.0. Karl Gomes has worked as a Computer Art lab instructor, freelance consultant, taught advertising professionals, set up New Media divisions at various Advertising agencies and spearheaded creative teams. Karl has been awarded at Festival, Webby, The One Club, New York Festivals, Asia Pacific Adfest, Abby and AAAI. Karl has also served on the Cannes Cyber Lions jury at Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival, ADFEST Cyber Lotus Jury, Asia Interactive Awards Jury, Abby Awards Jury and the Yahoo Uncannies Jury Mahesh Murthy Founder , Pinstorm Managing Partner , Seedfund Mahesh Murthy is one of India’s recognised experts in youth marketing – having helped launch MTV India, run Channel V and managed offline and online marketing efforts for brands like Pepsi, Nike, Idea Cellular, Lipton and The Economist. Mahesh has spent over 25 years in marketing and advertising, of which the last 15 have been in digital marketing. After dropping out of college, Mahesh sold vacuum cleaners from door to door, worked with Grey in India and Ogilvy in Hong Kong, where he won notoriety and awards as a creative director on HP, Korean Air and other brands – for whom he wrote and directed a spot voted “Asia’s best commercial of the decade”. He then moved to a Silicon Valley firm, CKS Partners as Creative Director, General Manager and Partner – where he helped launch Yahoo and Amazon.com globally. After a successful NASDAQ IPO, Mahesh moved to head marketing at iCat, an e-commerce firm in Seattle subsequently acquired by Intel. Mahesh then returned to India to run Channel V, a rival to MTV, until its sale to Newscorp in 2000 and then founded Passionfund to invest in startups. Some of his investees include Geodesic, Compassbox, Indiaproperties, EBS and Webdunia. Mahesh penned a reasonably infamous column in Business Today and Businessworld, and played the investor in Business Baazigar, a game show similar to The Apprentice, involving entrepreneurs and business plans. While running search marketing campaigns for his favourite charity in 2003, Mahesh believed there was a need for a digital brand management company – and set up Pinstorm in Bombay. With over 120 people across offices in India, Singapore, Malaysia and Europe and the US, Pinstorm is today among the world’s path-breaking digital marketing firms, handling the digital brand management needs of ICICI, Jet Airways, HSBC, Nestle and Greenpeace Mahesh writes a column in the Wall Street Journal and speaks regularly at conferences around the world like AdTech, 140conf and Search Engine Strategies. He tweets regularly at @maheshmurthy Max Hegerman President , Tribal DDB India Max Hegerman heads Tribal DDB India, which specializes in interactive and new media. It is a part of Tribal DDB Worldwide, which was awarded Global Agency of the Year by Advertising Age in 2007. Tribal DDB India’s roster of clients includes LIC, Times Group, Nike, MTV, Idea Cellular, Volkswagen, Citibank and Wrigley, among others. Prior to this appointment, Max was Regional Managing Director at TBWAMedia Arts Lab – Beijing, where he opened and managed a MAL office to support regional marketing needs of Apple. Max brings with him 18+ years of solid leadership and experience on varied world class brands such as Nike, Apple, Volvo Cars (North America), BMW, Land Rover (North America), Pizza Hut, SBC Communications (wireless), Scion (Toyota), Playboy, Hyundai/Kia and Oakley. Max began his career in 1990 with Hal Riney & Partners in San Francisco, California. Within just three years he was handling Nike on a global level at Wieden+Kennedy in Portland, Oregon. Since then, Max has worked with several other renowned communications agencies, such as StrawberryFrog in New York, Energy BBDO in Chicago, Euro RSCG in Irvine (California), GSD&M in Austin (Texas) and Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. Max has spent the past eleven years integrating digital capabilities into traditional advertising agencies – all the while working with the top online creative talent in the industry. In 1998, he took home the Cannes Grand Prix and Clio Awards (Television and Print) for Nike Skateboarding. He was instrumental in the development of a number of memorable marketing projects, including the launch of Saturn (GM) in 1990, The Saturn Cycling Team in 1991, Nike Apparel in 1994 and Nike Skateboarding in 1998. Max is married to Roshni, and is blessed with two sons. Matthew, the older of the two sons is 12 years-old and Prem has just turned two. Max and Roshni are both motorcycle enthusiasts (owning a Harley-Davidson Road King Classic and a Ducati Sport Classic 1000 S), and dream of touring India on a motorcycle – and photographing the journey. Sajan Raj Kurup Founder and Creative Chairman , Creativeland Asia From age 11, Sajan Raj Kurup was possessed with the idea of starting his own country. Twenty years on, he realized his dream. In the summer of 2007, he set up Creativeland Asia, the land for people in the business of creativity. Today from Advertising & Brand Management, Creativeland Asia has already made foray into Design, Film Production, Television Content, Brand Incubation & Licensing, Music and Digital Media. Creativeland Asia today is the fastest growing independent creative house from India. Raj started dabbling with work from the age of 13. A newspaper boy in his summer holidays, an animal caretaker, a spoken English tutor, a pizza maker, a sales guy, a stage actor, a masseur and a bartender. Finally, after completing his Honours Degree in Mathematical Economics and proudly dropping out of Business School, he settled for a career in creativity. In an advertising career that spans nearly 16 years Raj Kurup has worked in six countries in Asia and Europe. At Mudra (DDB), Leo Burnett, Orchard, Lowe and Grey before founding Creativeland Asia. Raj’s office resembles that of a metallurgist’s. What with over 280 awards including the The One Show, D&Ad, Asia Pacific Adfest, Spike, Cannes, Abby@Goafest, Creativity Annual, London International Awards and New York Festival among others. He’s rated among the top 10 creative people in India and the hottest Creative people in Asia. Raj is a believer in young talent. He loves interacting with students and learning from them. He’s been invited to motivate and speak at many institutions, companies and colleges in India and abroad. In fact, he just set up youngcreative.org, the student arm of Creativeland Asia to promote new talent and give them international exposure. Showcase Your Digital Work Here! Win An Award! Log onto WATAwards Related Posts Announcing WATAwards – Rewarding India’s Digital Media Stalwarts! The End Of IE Domination In India? 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