By Ian Neubauer

SpiceNews publisher The Intermedia Group won three major awards when Publishers Australia hosted the 2008 Bell Awards gala luncheon at the Sydney’s Four Seasons hotel on Friday (November 21).

The awards include B2B Magazine of the Year for Professional Beauty, Best Subscription Marketing Program and Best Digital Publication eNewsletter/website for TheShout, Australia’s only news portal for the hotel and liquor industry.

Ten other Intermedia websites and magazines were also honoured at the awards, named as finalist or ‘highly recommended’ for excellence in graphic design, printed annuals and editorial campaigns, among other categories.

As one of the publishing industry’s most prestigious awards programs, the Bell Awards have seen phenomenal growth in the last 12 months. The organisers received 340 submissions for 33 awards this year, compared to 260 submissions in 2007.

“With a cloud of doubt over the economy, we managed, despite the doom and gloom, to pull in 30 per cent more entries on last year” said Publishers Australia Executive Director, Alan Sarkissian.

“We have actually become more relevant which is shown in the number of entries. The profile of membership and involvement has really gone across the four target segments — B2B, B2C, and now even more custom publishers and digital publishers are coming on board.”