For the benefit of anyone who doesn’t know, RAR – aka the Recommended Agency Register -  was set up to help companies source, select and engage marketing suppliers. The newly-established RAR Awards honor excellence in service for all things digital and design. (This was only its second year running).

What makes these awards especially gratifying, to all nominees, no doubt, is that they’re voted for by the clients. I wasn’t at last year’s inaugural event but I can tell you, this year the competition was  stiff – more than 620 companies had been rated.

NSDesign was rather blessed with seven nominations!

At NSDesign, we’re a decidedly-optimistic bunch, by nature, and thus suspected, (or at least hoped), we might win one. What I don’t think any of us were prepared for was the fact we scooped three,…plus a runner up (#3 out of 10) for the top price “The Grand Prix” – a Top Ten UK company.

That essentially made four, framed award certificates to lug back to the hotel (pic: right) after the festivities, but hey, I’m not complaining.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve met folks from a number of other web design firms – many who scoff at the idea of these awards ceremonies, but perhaps they ought to re-consider their stance.

As guest speaker, Chief Executive of Talk Talk, Paul Lawton said to the crowd “keep entering them” – because not only are they good for the PR angle, and lend a note of credibility to the firm, but they also entice potential employees as well. Salient points.

As the newest member to the NS team, (and as such feeling like the least qualified to accept the honours), what struck me most was how NSDesign won against companies who were often several times its size.

Honestly, we were just so proud to be nominated for one category let alone seven, and along side such an esteemed group of fellow contenders.  I’m telling you, this room simply oozed talent.

Over all, it was a great night with plenty of food going, the wine flowing, and tweets tweeting to make it a lively and entertaining evening.

I think it’s fair to say that a good time was had by all.

Incidentally, the awards we ended up walking away with were:

• Best in Client Service
• Best in Digital
• Best Value for Money

So finally, I think all of us at NSDesign would like  to thank our valued customers for these accolades, as we’d literally not been able to do it without you!

Thank you all! Here’s to 2012!

“The judges commended NSDesign as a great example of a UK enterprise that has taken the drive for continuous improvement to heart”

Personally, I think it was the kilts that did it….

Check out the photos here.

All in all, it was a great night, and just to mingle among the “big guns” of the industry was worthwhile, not to mention chewing the ear off Nick Horne – former UK ambassador to the United Nations (and all round nice guy!), and Emily Taylor (Nominet’s Director or Legal and Policy)…  Just so they remember who NSDesign are for next year !!

The awards themselves are essentially about making the internet a better more accessible place, and so it’s a great pleasure for us simply being shortlisted among other giants within the industry.  Accessibility has always been at the forefront of what we do at NSDesign, so to gain some recognition for this (and other initiatives we get involved in) is fantastic.

Talking of accessibility – the European Union has just published a public survey on accessiblity, which aims to gauge the current situation with regard accessible websites, the costs/efforts associated with building them, and the affects (and improvements) they give to disabled users.  The research will all be used to determine if a broader EU law on accessibility (rather than a country by country implementation of different laws) is a better approach to take than what we currently have.  Pretty interesting stuff, and I’d encourage everyone to complete it.  It’s just a shame their own survey doesn’t meet accessibility guidelines!