Vincent Maher for IT personality of the year
I just noticed that ITWeb is holding their IT personality of the year awards. And you'll never guess who has made the shortlist of ten. That's right, the blogosphere's very own Vincent Maher.If you look closely you'll see a very, very cheesy photo of the man himself in the nominee's list.But in spite of this he could possibly be the stangest and most likeable character on that list.The ITWeb has classified the criteria for an IT personality as:
A person who has been successful in building a highly-respected IT organisation or business.A person who has made a major contribution to the IT profession over a number of years.A person who has made a significant technical or academic contribution to the IT industry.An IT professional who has aided the development needs of the community.
Now I know that many of us bloggers out there have felt the impact of Mr. Maher's developments in recent times. Sites like Amatomu, Amagama and Thoughtleader have been at the forefront of online development lately. Maher is behind them all.It looks to me that he is the only serious blogger on the list but the competition is tight. He is fighting CEOs, MDs, OpenSource pundits and others so he might just need our support.The complete list is:Hamilton Ratshefola, CEO of Cornastone ConsultingJames Grcic, MD, Computer Storage Services AfricaMelusi Zwane, MD of Melusi Training & DevelopmentMirriam Zwane, co-owner and director of Praxis ComputingDr Ntsika Msimang, head of the Meraka Institute's Open Source Centre, SowetoPhuthuma Nhleko, CEO, MTN GroupPfungwa Serima, MD of Microsoft South AfricaStephen Smith, founder of the Papillon FoundationVincent Maher, strategist, Mail & Guardian OnlineViola Manuel, executive director of the Cape IT Initiative (CITI)The entire process works as follows:
Out of dozens of nominations received from ITWeb readers and members of the Computer Society of SA, the judges have short-listed 10 candidates, all of whom have made outstanding achievements in their careers and significant contributions to the South African IT industry.Based on the criteria and public votes, the judges will now select five finalists. These five will be announced on ITWeb by Friday 5 October.