Tech Awards 2008 - Vote Now!
It's like the Dragons Den for DJ Technology at the BPM show. Time to get voting as we reveal who is in the running to win one of our coveted Tech Awards.
We're taking the inaugural DJmag Tech Awards to an exciting new climax as we go Live in front of a show audience!
This Grand Finale takes place at the BPM Show over two days at Donington Park on 18-19th October 2008.
The DJTV cameras will be rolling as manufacturers pull out all the stops to pitch 30 of the World's most cutting edge products to our expert panel.
In our game show themed event, manufacturers will battle to win votes from our panel of industry experts, World Class DJs and producers.
Following each no-holds-barred presentation against the clock,
a truth serum will be administered as each judge grills the company experts to reveal any hidden gripes.
The panel finish up with some hands on testing as they score the products against build and sound quality, features, ease of use and value for money.
The winners are revealed at the end of each round as we pass judgement for the cameras. So don't worry if you can't make it down, because we'll be uploading the entire show in a digital magazine special.
MAKE YOUR MARK
This whole process depends entirely on your involvement as we ask our readers to shortlist the nominations on the following pages. According to your vote, only the best three nominations of the first ten categories will make it through the Grand Finale at BPM.
The last ten categories are entirely decided by our readers and the winners will also be revealed at the show.
VOTE AND WIN!
BPM TICKETS AND SEFOUR DECK STANDS UP FOR GRABS
You could make or break the chances of each manufacturer, so get online and start voting.
We're giving away 50 BPM tickets to lucky voters at random, and everyone who completes the form will be entered into a prize drawer to win one of three sefour deck stands - worth over £300 each.
To find out more and to cast your all-important vote, visit:
THE PANEL
Tom Middleton
Tom 'The Jedi' Middleton (Latin name Technophilimas Geekius Maximus) customised his first WA-55 Sony Walkman by adding a varispeed pitch control pot aged 12 in order to 'beat mix' TDK C-90 tapes and has been infatuated with technology ever since.
"You'd better have some proper decent new toys with nice flashy buttons and sick FX," said Tom. "And if no-one comes up with those headphones with built-in thought-to-sound convertors this year then I'm not playing with you lot anymore.Come on... impress me!"
Bill Brewster
Bill Brewster is one of the men behind the best selling Last Night A DJ Saved My Life and How To DJ (Properly) books. When he's not writing books, he is a DJ with a weekly show on Ministry of Sound radio as well as regular club dates around the UK and Europe. As well as being a vinyl hound he is also interested in new developments in DJ/producer technology.
"I'm really looking forward to seeing, in particular, what new developments there are in live DJ technology, especially now that Apple have announced they are entering the market, which means the competition will have to step up their game."
Billy Nasty
Guinness Book Of Record's holder for First commercially released DJ mix 'Journeys By DJ Vol.1', Billy Nasty has long been surfing dance music's vanguard. Runing Turtured Records and producing cutting edge electro and techno to this day.
"It's not like I'm not up on my technology as I'm always in the studio, but when it comes to DJing, I'm a die hard vinyl user. I think DJmag realised I won't be won over by pure gimmicks."
Westend DJ – Eitan Zilkha
Eitan has over 15 years experience in the DJ retail industry. There's hardly a bit of kit out there he hasn't tried or used. His brain is often picked by manufacturers for ideas and product trends and he's always managed to stay on top of the changing face of DJ hardware.
"I'm looking forward to this years Tech Awards more than ever because of the new format and the exciting new products and categories. I really like the idea of your readers picking what gets judged and then someone showing us the features and answering questions."
DJmag's David Eserin
As the Tech Editor for the past six years, David has seen all of the most important advances in DJ technology first hand. Able to compare and contrast with this deeper knowledge, his objective point of view will be invaluable when it comes to crunch time.
"I can't wait to see what the manufacturers pull out the bag when it comes to show time. They'll be scrambling for their best DJs for exciting demos, and pulling out their inventors to fly the flag and stand up for their creations. It's like the Dragons Den for the DJ world."