AIMIA was an association for the

digital media In mass communication, digital media is any media (communication), communication media that operates in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital content can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, an ...

industry in Australia from 1992 to 2015. The name derives from the acronym of its original name, the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association, which fell out of use in favour of the acronym. It was best known for its annual awards, informally known as the AMY Awards. It was the peak Australian body representing the digital content, services and applications industry in Australia, with members drawn from a broad sector of the digital industry, including Australia's digital content, services and applications companies as well as major industry suppliers. After AMIA was wound up in 2015, the Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA) took over the functions of the organisation, which in 2017 was rebranded as Digital + Technology Collective.

History of AIMIA and Digital + Technology Collective

The Australian Interactive Media Industry Association was founded in 1992 as a

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

membership organisation, by Richard Heale, CEO of Perth-based company Interactive Logic and a group of other invited CEOs from companies in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

and

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

. The Association had chapters in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

and

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...

, with the national head office in Sydney. AIMIA's primary focus was on advocating for

federal government A federation (also called a federal state) is an entity characterized by a political union, union of partially federated state, self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a #Federal governments, federal government (federalism) ...

support for the fledgling " new media" industry, although it did also conduct an awards ceremony in Perth in 1992. In 1994 the AIMIA board gained funding from the Department of Industry, Science and Technology to appoint the first permanent national CEO, who was Stephen Schwalger (1994-1997), who had been a member of the board. After further lobbying, funds were allocated to AIMIA and the new media industry as part of the "

Creative Nation Luke Robert Laird (born May 4, 1978 in Hartstown, Pennsylvania) is an American country music songwriter and producer. He has written over 20 number one ''Billboard'' singles, including Carrie Underwood's " So Small", " Temporary Home", and ...

" initiative by the

Keating government The Keating government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Paul Keating of the Australian Labor Party from 1991 to 1996. The government followed on from the Hawke government after Paul Keating replaced Bob ...

, launched in the same year in every Australian capital city. Significant components of the Creative Nation initiative included The Multimedia Enterprise, a funding bank for the creation of CD titles, and "Australia on CD", where Australian cultural institutions and new media companies were encouraged to collaborate and bid for a pool of funds to create CD titles that reflected Australian history and culture. Over the next three years (to 1997), AIMIA grew from a membership of 40 companies to over 800, set up state and federal structure for the association and negotiated state and federal funding for industry development staff in four states, developed and managed a three-year export strategy in conjunction with

Austrade The Australian Trade and Investment Commission, or Austrade ( ), is the Australian Government's trade, investment and education promotion agency which was also given responsibility for tourism policy, programs and research from 2013. Austrade ...

. Exports generated in this period exceeded million on Austrade figures. A national conference program was established.

ADMA takeover

AIMIA was wound up at the end of 2015, but agreed to host the AMY awards in 2016. In its announcement of going into administration, AIMIA cited a significant change in the industry: "The world of digital has now become so incredibly omnipresent across all industries that the current agency-centric scope of AIMIA is no longer commercially sustainable over the long term". The Association for Data-driven Marketing and Advertising (ADMA) took over AIMIA, which in July 2017 was rebranded as Digital + Technology Collective, initially headquartered in Melbourne. , and since 2019, the Collective is headquartered in Sydney, as is ADMA (in a different location).

AMY Awards

AIMIA was best known for its annual industry awards for excellence (informally known as the AMY Awards or the AMYs, named after the arm-outstretched statuette awarded) that recognise the best digital work in Australia, established in 1994. After AIMIA was wound up in 2015, it hosted the awards for the last time in 2016. In 2017 and 2018 (the latter a revamped version with 23 categories) the Digital + Technology Collective hosted the AMY Awards in Melbourne, and in 2019 ADMA hosted a refashioned edition of the Awards in Sydney in combination with the ADMA Creativity & Effectiveness Awards (AC&Es), which had not been awarded in 2018.

List of AMY Awards ceremonies

Previous venues, VIP guests include: *21st Annual awards *19th Annual awards, Sydney,

Carriageworks Carriageworks is a multi-arts urban cultural precinct located at the former Eveleigh Carriage Workshops in Redfern, New South Wales, Redfern, Sydney, Australia. Carriageworks showcases contemporary art and performing arts, as well as being use ...

Hosts:

Kitty Flanagan Kitty Flanagan (born July 18th 1970) is an Australian comedian, writer and actress. She is known for portraying Helen Tudor-Fisk in the television comedy program '' Fisk'', which she also co-created, co-wrote and co-directed. She spent eight ye ...

and Steve Philp *18th Annual awards, Sydney, Cockatoo Island
Hosts:

Jane Gazzo Jane Gazzo is an Australian radio and television presenter, performance and club DJ, television personality, voice artist, author, and music journalist. Early life and education Gazzo was born and raised in Melbourne and is the daughter of a ...

and Brendan MacLean *17th Annual awards, Sydney, Cockatoo Island
Special Guests Included: Paul Twomey, Former CEO of ICANN

Adam Spencer Adam Barrington Spencer (born 29 January 1969) is an Australian comedian, media personality and former radio presenter. He first came to fame when he won his round of the comedic talent search '' Raw Comedy'' in 1996. Soon thereafter, he bega ...

, AIMIA Awards Ceremony MC *16th Annual awards, Melbourne, Docklands
Special Guests Included:

Stephen Conroy Stephen or Steven is an English first name. It is particularly significant to Christians, as it belonged to Saint Stephen ( ), an early disciple and deacon who, according to the Book of Acts, was stoned to death; he is widely regarded as the firs ...

, Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

Mikey Robins Mikel Mason "Mikey" Robins (born 8 December 1961) is an Australian media personality, comedian and writer. He is best known for the satirical game show ''Good News Week'', which ran on the ABC and Network Ten between 1996 and 2000, and returned ...

, AIMIA Awards Ceremony MC *15th Annual awards, Sydney, Australian Technology Park *14th Annual awards, Sydney, NIDA *13th Annual awards, Sydney, State Theatre *12th Annual awards, Adelaide, Adelaide Convention Centre
Special Guests included: Honorable Paul Holloway MLC, South Australian Minister for Industry and Trade
The Honorable Stephanie Key, South Australian Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education
Mr Kym Richardson MP, Federal Member for Kingston (SA) *11th Annual awards, Sydney, Metro Theatre
Special Guests Included:

Helen Coonan Helen Lloyd Coonan (born 29 October 1947) is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1996 to 2011, representing the Liberal Party. She was a minister in the Howard government, serving as Minister for Revenue an ...

, Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts

, AIMIA Awards Ceremony MC, Triple J radio host *10th Annual awards, Sydney, ABC Ultimo
Special Guests Included:

Daryl Williams Daryl Williams may refer to: * Daryl Williams (politician) (born 1942), Australian politician * Daryl Williams (American football) (born 1992), American football offensive tackle * Daryl Williams (rugby union) (born 1964), New Zealand-born Samoan r ...

, Federal Minister for Communication, IT & the Arts

, AIMIA Awards Ceremony MC, Triple J radio host
Professor Peter A. Bruck, Head of the United Nations

World Summit Award The World Summit Awards (WSA) rewards Information and Communications Technologies projects that have a positive impact on society at the local level. The award was initiated in 2003, within the framework of the United Nations World Summit on the ...

s *9th Annual awards, Melbourne *8th Annual awards, Melbourne *7th Annual awards, Melbourne, Convention Centre *6th Annual awards, Gold Coast, Royal Pines Resort *5th Annual awards, Melbourne, Crown Entertainment Complex
VIP Guests Included: Victor Perton, Minister for Conservation and Environment and Multimedia *4th Annual awards, Melbourne, Crown Entertainment Complex
VIP Guests Included: Richard Alston, Federal Minister for Communications, IT and the Arts *3rd Annual awards, Melbourne *2nd Annual awards, Melbourne
Special Guests Included:

Richard Garriott Richard Allen Garriott de Cayeux (''né'' Garriott; born 4 July 1961) is a British-born American video game developer, entrepreneur and private astronaut. Garriott, who is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, was originally a game designer ...

, Computer Games Legend *1st Annual awards (1994) - Sydney

References

External links