Presentation
Master of Ceremonies at Awards Events
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Declan Brennan as Master of Ceremonies at Think Global Awards live online presentation in 2021 (top) and 2022 (bottom).
Think Global Awards
The role of Master of Ceremonies, MC, or Emcee combines aspects of both presentation and performance. However, the stars of an awards event are the ones who have done all the advance work – the organisers, the entrants and the winners. With the ‘I’s dotted and the ‘T’s crossed, my role as MC is to join the various pieces as seamlessly as possible. What could go wrong?! Well, since I began presenting the ‘Think Global Awards’ in 2019, a global pandemic could and did force the organisers to change their best laid plans from the live presentation over dinner, which they organised in 2019, to a rapid response pre-recorded event in 2020, and then back to live presentations in April of 2021 and 2022, in the format of an online Zoom Webinar.
The Think Global Awards, which opens for entries between September and November each year, has been running since 2018. It's a way of recognising achievements and promoting an awareness of thinking globally for individuals, communities, start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses, global brands, and large-scale international organisations.
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The 2019 presentation of the Think Global Awards was in Dublin on 3 April.
The range of categories in the Think Global Awards covers brands, digital transformation, the language industry, community and non-profit, retail and eCommerce, education and eLearning, media and advertising, going-global, technology, start-up, travel, sustainability, life sciences and professional services.
2022 was the fifth year of the awards and the fourth year in which I had the pleasure of being master of ceremonies for the presentation. The first year of my involvement was at a presentation of the awards before an invited audience in Dublin. And with the continuation of the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions into 2021, which forced a change to a pre-recorded online presentation in 2020, the organisers responded creatively with another change of format. Benefiting from the evolution and acceptance of virtual meetings, the now ubiquitous video conference service was used. The awards presentation became a Zoom Webinar in 2021. It linked guest speakers and winners of awards in several countries and time zones around the world, including Ireland, the United States, Denmark, Germany, Wales, the south coast of England, and the east coast of Australia – where the winners stayed awake until the early hours of their morning. In April 2022, the virtual format continued – perhaps 2023 will see a return to a hybrid format that includes the opportunity for some to meet again in person.
Here's to another creative response to the acknowledgment of achievement that is the Think Global Awards, organised by the Think Global Forum.
