IBDAA 2002 OFFERS MORE OPPORTUNITIES TO MEDIA STUDENTS Awards evoke enthusiastic response from the industry

Dubai Media City today announced the Second Annual Ibdaa Media Student Awards that will lead its intensified drive to develop young media talent in the region. The 2002 edition of the Awards will add a new category and feature a wider promotional campaign in a vast region stretching from the Middle East to the Indian subcontinent and the CIS countries to South Africa.

DUBAI: May 5, 2002
Dubai Media City today announced the Second Annual Ibdaa Media Student Awards that will lead its intensified drive to develop young media talent in the region.
The 2002 edition of the Awards will add a new category and feature a wider promotional campaign in a vast region stretching from the Middle East to the Indian subcontinent and the CIS countries to South Africa.
The first Ibdaa Awards were launched by Dubai Media City in June last year under the patronage of His Highness General Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and UAE Defence Minister with the mission of discovering, showcasing and recognising exceptional student media talent in the region. Named after the Arabic word for creativity, the Ibdaa Awards seek to tap talent from a vast region stretching from the Middle East to the Indian subcontinent and South Africa to the CIS countries.
In the knowledge economy, regions develop competitive advantage based on their ability to quickly mobilize talent," said Ahmad Bin Byat, Director General of the Dubai Technology, E-Commerce and Media Free Zone. Ibdaa has created a tremendous momentum for the development of young media talent in the region. With the second edition of the Ibdaa Awards, we hope to consolidate on its successes," he added.
The 2002 edition of Ibdaa will add a new category -- Animation, to the existing list of seven categories -- Journalism, Radio, TV, Film Production, Photography, Graphic Design and Advertising.

Dubai Media City will also conduct a wider promotional campaign to reach media students in more key media markets. This year Dubai Media City will take its Ibdaa roadshows to universities in Iran, Turkey, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in addition to the UAE, South Africa, Egypt, India, the GCC countries and the Levant.
At Dubai Media City we are constantly exploring ways of enhancing the availability of quality talent for the media industry here," said Bin Byat. We are keen to partner with key industry players to widen access to the vast wealth of media talent in the region," he added.
The first Ibdaa Media Student Awards attracted a total of 824 entries from 18 countries around the world. There were 250 entries from the Indian subcontinent, 171 from South Africa, 50 from the Levant, 20 from Egypt, 15 from the GCC countries, and 18 from Australia and New Zealand.
A judging panel of regional and international media experts selected 47 finalists from the entries received for the Awards. An exhibition that displayed the works of the finalists was held at Dubai Media City before the final Awards ceremony. The seven eventual winners of the Awards were felicitated at a ceremony held in November 2001.
The first Ibdaa Awards evoked a tremendous international response," said Abdulhamid Juma, Coordinator General, Ibdaa Media Student Awards. The entries represented the cream of media student talent in the countries they came from. The second Ibdaa Awards will see the shifting of Dubai Media Citys talent strategy into a higher gear. Along with our other initiatives we will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to drive the development of media talent in the region," he said.
The Second Ibdaa Media Student Awards has attracted the sponsorship of leading media companies in the region. Key sponsors include the Gulf News, Motivate Publishing and Saudi Research and Publishing Company (SRPC). The UAE chapter of the IAA will continue to support the Ibdaa Awards by assisting with the screening and shortlisting of entries and coordination of the judging process.
Akram Raffoul, Treasurer of IAA-UAE reiterated the organisations support for the Ibdaa Awards saying: We are extremely happy to be involved in Dubai Media Citys innovative efforts to catalyse the development of talent in our region. The IAA has always been at the forefront of regional efforts to boost media talent and we are glad to offer our expertise to Dubai Media City."

Duleep George, Marketing Manager Gulf News also expressed his happiness at sponsoring the Awards: We are proud to once again support Dubai Media Citys drive to develop the regional talent pool through the Ibdaa Media Student Awards. We believe that talent determines the key difference between success and failure in the media industry. Identifying, developing, and recognizing talent is key to Gulf News success as a leading newspaper. Our involvement in the Ibdaa Awards gives us an opportunity to express our commitment for these values."

Ian Fairservice, Managing Director, Motivate Publishing reiterated the critical importance of talent in the media industry saying: Human capital is the key source of competitive advantage in the media industry today. Motivate Publishings development into one of the leading publishers in the region has been made possible by the exceptional talent that we have attracted. By sponsoring the Awards a second time we are demonstrating our belief in the importance of talent."
Abdullah Kahtani, Assistant Managing Director, SRPC said: The leading companies in the media industry today are the ones that value, attract and nurture the best talent. As a leading publishing company in the region we are delighted once again to support the Ibdaa Media Student Awards through our Pan Arab daily newspaper 'Asharq Al Awsat. By sponsoring the Awards we are expressing our commitment for the development of talent in the region."

For further information please contact:

Amira Abdulla
Assistant Marketing Manager
Dubai Media City
Tel: +971 4 3914555
Fax: +971 4 3914589
e-mail: amira.abdulla@dubaimediacity.co.ae
web: www.dubaimediacity.com