Website masters awarded on Coast
THE “cream of the crop” of website designers will descend on the Gold Coast for just the second time this month for the 16th Australian Web Awards.
Stead Lane director Adam Stead, who is a director of the awards held by the Australian Web Industry Association, said the two-day event onthe Coast was recognition of the city’s emergence as a digital hub.
The awards recognise technical excellence in website development and social media campaigns. They have historically been held in either Perth or Sydney for the past 15 years.
“This is a coup. We pulled it from WA,” Mr Stead said.
“They were in Sydney and then Perth for a number of years. We managed to bring it over here to give more attention to the east coast. That was a struggle because a lot of the members are from WA but that is now changing. It is much more dispersed across Australia.”
Mr Stead said the Coast was home to a number of leading digital agencies competing with the best operators in Australia.
They support businesses seeking an edge in website design and social media, particularly vital in the days of the COVID-19 pandemic in which e-commerce is growing fast.
Mr Stead said the agencies included Guerrilla, e-CBD, Smart, Thrive Digital and 40/40 Creative.
“Our client base from Stead
Lane has grown quite extensively,” he said. “The quality and growth of clients especially around e-commerce has been extraordinary.
“There have been numerous businesses that have set up here from Sydney and Melbourne because of the lifestyle.”
Stead Lane clients include Morlife, The Mad Hueys, Muscle Nation and Study Gold Coast. The business has helped to build more than 200-plus Shopify stores.
A conference and workshop headlined by Atlassian’s design lead Alex Skougarevskaya will be held on May 21 at co-working and start-up space Cohort followed by the awards at the Q1 building on May 22.
Mr Stead said 60 per cent of tickets had been sold for both events with numbers capped at 50 for Cohort and 80 for the awards due to COVID restrictions. Cohort founder Ben Howe said the event offered digital professionals the chance to mix it with the “cream of the crop”.