(4 March 2006 6:00 pm)

MUMBAI: As Hollywood hands out the Oscars early Monday morning 6 March in Los Angeles, statuette manufacturer R.S. Owens will be hard at work on its newest creation—a 24-karat gold finished trophy for the MI6 Awards.

Marketing Interactive in the US is calling for entries for its inaugural awards show. The statuettes will be awarded to industry professionals for creative and marketing achievement during a special ceremony closing the MI6 Conference in June.

Among the more than 50 categories slated are Product Television Ad, Product Website, Interactive Experience Promotion, Most Innovative Marketing Strategy, PR Campaign, Art Direction & Design: Logo and The MI6 Student Marketing Award.” Winning entries will be drawn from the highest scoring finalists within each category. Online entry deadline is 7 April 2006.

Under the leadership of Microsoft, G4 Television and Promax/BDA, MI6 is a new conference specifically founded for the professionals who create the consumer demand and passion for electronic games. The MI6 Conference and Awards Show will kick off in San Francisco on 27 June with the awards being presented at the conclusion of the conference on 28 June 2006.

Promax/BDA president and CEO Jim Chabin says, “The gaming and interactive industry is a multi-billion dollar business, yet the people that are responsible for driving this sector’s consumer passions are not being fully recognized for their work. MI6 is a nonprofit initiative created to give interactive and game marketers the recognition they so richly deserve from their own peers in the industry.”

MI6 will offer its participants professional development and education through special key note addresses, custom research, seminars and workshops, all designed to impart knowledge and learn from the experiences of other professionals in the entertainment arena while also fostering industry networking, idea sharing and mentoring.