A record number of entries have been received for the Media Awards 2017 which will be held on April 20th in the Clayton Hotel, Dublin 4.
The deadline for entries was last Wednesday and a total of 381 entries were received, up from 340 last year.
The judging process for the awards gets under way next week and a panel of industry experts drawn from the worlds of advertising, media, marketing and sales have been assembled for this year’s Awards.
In addition to announcing details of the Awards, the organisers have also announced that Michael Bowles will chair the judging panel this year.
Michael Bowles started his career in 1964 and after working in two Dublin agencies moved to London. He later returned to Ireland and joined Peter Owens and in 1969 he joined the start-up agency Hunter – which quickly became a leading agency in Ireland. During that time, he lectured in media at the Rathmines College of Commerce, the forerunner of DIT and has contributed to many Irish, UK and International publications.
During his career he served as a member of many of many Industry committees and has been a regular speaker at industry events. Last year he was Jury Chairman of Kinsale Sharks Media Awards.
In 1976 he set up The Media Bureau (TMB) – the first independent media agency in Ireland  and in doing so, kick-started the unbundling of the full agency model in Ireland. TMB worked with many national and International clients as well as UK/international advertising agencies with no representation in Ireland.
At the turn of the century he sold TMB to his colleagues and became a spectator of the business and now , in his own words, struggles to be an unsuccessful script and short story writer!
