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the big picture
Over the past couple of years, you may have noticed some technolog- ical advancement surrounding the voting process for the Academy’s awards. We have embraced technology in order to ensure accuracy of counting and allow the whole voting process to be executed as effi- ciently as possible. From 2003, we wish to go one step further. We will add to the computerised counting of ballots the option of voting on-line (over a secure Internet site) for any members who wish to vote in this way. The benefits for members will be speed in receiving and returning voting forms, access to an infor- mative interactive website and an easier way to vote. The ben- efits for the Academy will be considerable cost savings in postage and administration, a highly accurate way in which to count votes and creation of valuable extra time in a very tight voting schedule.
On-line voting facilities will be made available at 195 Piccadilly during the voting period. The Film Committee has already commit- ted to introduce on-line voting in 2003 and other Committees are set to follow. I hope you will agree that this is a very positive move all around. Members who wish to vote on-line in 2003 should register their interest by leaving their name, membership number, voting category(s) and e-mail address at voting-on- line@bafta.org. We will be pub- lishing further information on this subject over the coming weeks.
Would you like to be a jury member for the 2002 Interactive Entertainment Awards? The IE committee wish to involve as many members as possible in the voting and nominee selection process. This will help promote and communicate the skills and expertise involved in Interactive Entertainment as the genre grows
Kevin Price, Director of Finance and Administration
in importance in the media and entertainment worlds and, of course, within BAFTA. Any mem- bers, be they from IE, Film or Television, who believe they have the experience to be a jury mem- ber, should contact Duncan Best at duncanb@bafta.org.
The 2002 AGM takes place on 1 July at 6.30pm and, as always, we encourage as many mem- bers as possible to attend the for- mal meeting of the year – which we try to make as informal and as informative as possible! You will have by now received the formal notice of the AGM as a separate document and on page 28 of our first ever Annual Review. We hope you enjoy the Annual Review, which has been designed as an informative and interesting publication through which to report on our activities and financial performance to members and our industries.
An annual closure of 195 Piccadilly in August has become a customary feature of the Academy’s year; 2002 will be no exception. The Academy will be closed between 5 and 26 August inclusive to give us 3 weeks in which to undertake some minor maintenance to the building. We are on course for a substantial overhaul of the Academy’s build-
ing in the summer of 2003 and I look forward to reporting more on this exciting development in the coming months.
Over the past few weeks we have welcomed two new members to the BAFTA team at 195 Piccadilly. Jo Atherton joins as our permanent no.3 in Accounts and Toby Coke beat no less than 800 other applicants to become our new no.3 in the ever expanding Membership and Events Department.
And finally, following the end of the spring Awards season in London with the wonderfully pro- duced and very successful Television Craft Awards – thanks to Lisa Prime, Clare Brown and the very dedicated Hilary Bevan- Jones – I had the pleasure of joining our colleagues in Cardiff for the 2001 BAFTA Cymru Awards on 25 May. This was another glittering success for BAFTA and I would like to send congratulations to Bryn Roberts and the BAFTA Cymru Committee and especially Geraint Evans, Sarah Howells
and Lisa Nesbitt for putting on a truly successful celebration for Film, Television and New Media in Wales.
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