Beijing :  With just over four weeks until the Digital Asia Festival kicks off, the organisers have announced that over 600 entries from 14 countries have been received into the 2012 awards.

Preliminary judging has commenced ahead of the Festival with 25 jurors, 12 of which will head for the final stage at the Grand Millennium Hotel in Beijing to judge Media and Sector entries into categories which include Mobile, Viral Advertising, Media Innovation, Best Use of Social Media, Gaming, Online PR, Travel/Entertainment & Leisure, Financial Services and Corporate Information. The judging criteria will be based on Strategy, Creativity & Innovation, Execution & Results.

The jury will be led by Matias Palm-Jensen, European Chief Innovation Officer, McCann Erickson. Making up this year’s jury are:

Preliminary and Final Stage Judging in Beijing:

– Amy Chen, Director of Digital Marketing, Coca-Cola, China

– Benjamin Condit, Digital Partner, Mindshare, China

– Manny Fernando, President, Megamobile, The Philippines

– Andrew Knott, Vice President Digital, McDonald’s APMEA, Singapore

– Matthew Lumb, Brand Building Integrated Communication, Asia, P&G, Asia

– Ryuji Mitsuishi Banderas, Director of Digital Strategy, Beacon/Leo Burnett Tokyo, Japan

– Rudi Ramin, Platform Lead Asia, Kraft Foods Asia Pacific

– Patrick Rona, President of Tribal DDB APAC and Chief Digital Officer of DDB Group Asia Pacific, DDB, Asia Pacific

– Sandipan Roy, Regional Strategy Director, Isobar Asia Pacific, China

– Lee Smith, Chief Executive Officer Platforms and President, Annalect, Omnicom Media Group APAC, Singapore

– Susana Tsui, Vice President, OgilvyOne Worldwide, Asia, Hong Kong

Preliminary Judging:

– Melissa Bell, Marketing Director, Volkswagen Group, China

– KiKi Chen, Managing Director, MediaLand Digital Strategy, Taiwan

– Valerie Cheng, Executive Creative Director, JWT, Singapore

– Joel Clement, Regional Creative Director Asia, Saatchi & Saatchi, Thailand

– Damien Cummings, Regional Marketing Director, Digital & Social Media, Samsung Asia, Singapore

– Christer Eriksson, Regional Planning Director, R/GA, Asia Pacific

– James Hacking, Vice President, Blue Current, Hong Kong

– Navin Kansal, Group Creative Director, Grey Digital, China

– Seong Ng Heok, Executive Creative Director, EuroRSCG, Malaysia

– Yoo-Shin Lee, Creative Director, Cheil Worldwide, Korea

– Leigh Reyes, President & Chief Executive Officer, Lowe + Partners, The Philippines

– Olly Taylor, Chief Strategy Officer, Host, Australia

– Wendy Walker, Chief Marketing Officer, iiNet, Australia

– Daniel Wright, Digital Creative Director, Colenso BBDO, New Zealand

Commenting on the appointment of this year’s jurors, Myriam Coupard, Festival Director of the Digital Asia Festival, says, “The digital communications field is one that is fast-paced and working across multiple platforms from social media to mobile. The 2012 jury is an incredibly strong collective of experts from this area who have the expertise to identify those entries that are forward-thinking, ground-breaking and worthy of winning a Digital Asia Award.”

The two-day Festival, taking place across 7 and 8 November, will see an unmissable series of content and networking opportunities which will conclude with the Awards Ceremony, where the jury’s chosen winners will be revealed and honoured on stage.www.digitalfestivalasia.com can be visited for further details on the Festival and information on how to register to attend.

id� d � @#� ad to.”

Eric Monnin (SUI) Okalys Corum was Williams’ opponent in the Petit Final, the Swiss having lost out to eventual winner Canfield 3-2 in their morning Semi Final, despite having held match point himself. Monnin tasted further defeat against Williams to take fourth in the event for the fourth time but his team gave a good account of themselves, fighting back from a point down before losing 2-1. Monnin, said: “Both in the Semis and the Petit Final today we were in a position to win so there are certainly a lot of regrets. Overall we’re happy with our regatta and we matched our ambitions. We could have been out after a close Qualifying so if we’d thought we’d get so close to the Final, we’d have taken it.

“The Petit Final is a tough match to race after the disappointment of not making the Final, especially after being 2-0 up on Taylor [Canfield]. Today could have been very different.

“The positive is that we were able to come close to both of these top sailors, so we’re not too far away ourselves.”