When it came down to the announcement of Best Digital Agency at the first annual Moxie Awards last night, we were at the edge of our seats (mostly because there weren’t enough chairs). We are proud to announce that Doejo has been named Best Digital Agency of 2012.
We were also stoked just to be nominated and to be among 900 of “Chicago’s most innovative digital entrepreneurs” at Park West and humbled to have won such a prestigious award, presented by Built in Chicago and New World Ventures.
The night was full of great speakers opening with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and surprises like Moxie Award nominee and BodyShopBids VP, C.J. Przybyl charmingly proposing on stage to his girlfriend, Amanda (she said yes, by the way).
Lauded for helping to recruit new businesses and being a champion for entrepreneurs, Mayor Emanuel started the evening off by thanking all the digital companies in the room and assuring the crowd that Chicago will be “a partner, not a problem” in stimulating the city’s emergent tech scene.
“I want [the city] to be known as the most friendly for startup companies to build, succeed and start companies,” Emanuel said. “I want this to be the digital capital of the country.”
J. B. Pritzker, founder of New World Ventures, founding director of CEC, and who led support of 1871 and Built in Chicago, among other endeavors followed up to help put into perspective the significance of the tech ecosystem in Chicago— home to more than 400 major corporate headquarters, 29 of which on the Fortune 500 list. He recognized the local entrepreneurs, accelerators, universities, mentors, online communities, investors, angels and venture capital funds, startups and Matt Moog, for founding BuiltinChicago.org.
“What I see here is a strong, vibrant and diverse community that’s been a long time in the making,” Pritzker said.
“One of the great things about this community is if you ask a Chicagoan for help, you’re likely to get it,” he continued. “Every person in this room has a stake in the success of everyone else.”
Founder of Built in Chicago and Viewpoints, Matt Moog shared BuiltinChicago.org’s success over the past two years—with about half-a-million visits to the site comprised of more than 100 companies actively listing new jobs on the tech scene resource and blog.
“This community is 40,000 people strong,” Moog said. “That’s roughly the amount of people that fit into Wrigley Field and go to a Cubs game and we have a lot in common with those people, we are optimistic, we are loyal and we like beer.”
Check out the other winners of the night at BuiltinChicago.org.
