An annual gala recognizing Vancouver Island’s high-tech leaders looked more like a party in Rio than an awards ceremony for techies last week, when hundreds of garishly dressed dancers organized by Tom and Gary’s Decentralized Dance Party turned up to add a DayGlo vibrancy to the VIATeC Technology Awards on June 20.
The DDP are high-tech party hounds who organize dancers carrying boomboxes, all tuned into the same dedicated radio station, from which the organizers can broadcast their own party music.
It was a fitting highlight to an awards ceremony that recognizes innovation. Unfortunately for DDP, there is no award category for most flamboyant startup.
Quester Tangent, a Sannichton-based company that makes vehicle-monitoring hardware and software for trains, earned top honours at the VIATeC Technology Awards. Quester received the Company of the Year award in recognition of excellence in innovation and a commitment to the technology community.
The awards added a new category this year – startup of the year – which went to Go2mobi, a Victoria-based company that specializes in mobile marketing and advertising.
Other winners this year were:
- Emerging Technology Company of the Year: Tutela Technologies;
- Executive of the Year: Stuart Bowness, MediaCore;
- Innovative Excellence: 3DA Systems Inc.;
- Online Strategy of the Year: Tap for Tap;
- Product of the Year: IONode Flight Data Monitoring Device by Latitude Technologies Corporation;
- Team of the Year: Vancouver Island Health Authority – IMIT; and
- Employer of the Year: Edoc Systems Group.
