Awards ahoy!

the cure-all panacea to startup funding issues that it looks like on the surface? Or is it just as much hard work as going any other avenue – and how do all the different options stack up? Those are just a couple of the questions Vaughn Davis started asking those in the crowd-funding know for our story on the ins and outs (and how-tos) of getting people to cough up cash so you can live your business dream. Check it out – along with perspectives from a few startups who’ve been there, done that – on page 38.

We haven’t just been working, these past two months since you saw us last – we’ve also been celebrating. Firstly, we scored a whole bunch of gongs at the 2013 Magazine Awards, including magazine of the year, editor of the year and best designer (all in the business & trade category). We also scored some highly commended awards: best use of photography for Idealog #39 (our cover with Steven Joyce, shot by Wellington photographer Mike Heydon), best cover for last year’s design issue (you may remember the funky chalkboard) and best journalist for Esther Goh.

On top of the Magazine Awards, we’ve also been getting on the champers (responsibly, of course) for this year’s NZ Innovators Awards. Now don’t call us biased, but we were stoked to see young entrepreneur Ayla Hutchinson taking out the award for most inspiring person and another young innovator Patrick Roksam winning our People’s Choice award on idealog.co.nz. Just goes to show there’s a lot of talent coming up through the ranks. You can find all the winners and some of the finalists we cherry-picked on page 50.

But we’re not done yet. There’s also the Best Awards results now out – have a look at our round-up of Purple Pin winners on page 62. There’s some truly inspiring work coming out of New Zealand right now. (OK, OK, we’re done now.)

Beyond the awards season, there’s plenty this issue to tickle your fancy. Read up on an expat’s wool suitcase (page 28), an engine that runs on any type of fuel (page 26), how facial recognition could prevent problem gamblers from getting worse (page 19), the back-end booking system that’s revolutionising the film industry (page 22) and have a peek inside ASB’s new designer workspace (page 20). Enjoy the issue and hit us up with feedback at the links below or email us on editor@idealog.co.nz.

IS KICKSTARTER REALLY