Along with three other Brisbane-based CEO’s I am very pleased to have been short-listed for the Mercedes Benz Young CEO of the Year Award for the 2008 Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Business Awards; moreso that my fellow cohorts are certainly proven business successes and previous award winners on many levels.

I would have to say that as pleasing as the short-listing, was the quick responses I received from client referees at Microsoft (Amelia Agrawal), IBM (Karen Davis), and Evolution Media (Vanessa Stoykov) when approached to take a call from the judges on my behalf. And to think there was only one comment on how did I ever qualify for the young criteria.

While hardly the industry’s best kept secret let’s just say I still have a few years to run to hit the 40 milestone. Turning grey as far back as my teens hasn’t hindered credibility so far.  However to say that I was in good company with my fellow nominees would only tell half the story.

Photograph Left to Right: Phillip Di Bella, Di Bella Coffee; Avraam Solomon, Solomon Food Group; and Peter Carr, Longhaus.

My primary and eternal appreciations go to the two other key people within Longhaus who have made the nomination possible, and whom I consider good company every working day. Firstly Kristine who agreed that it was a great idea for me to resign from the security of full-time employment and pursue the challenge of business creation. Idealism was certainly an early driver in our business.

And secondly my good friend and colleague Sam Higgins who is without doubt one of the top analysts with whom I have shared the privilege of working in the ICT analyst industry for the past 10-years, and whose appropriation to the Longhaus team in the face of other competitive offers probably stands as the greatest achievement to date. Good people. Good team. Good company. The winner will be announced at a gala dinner on the 23rd October.

Other ICT industry finalists include Adrian DiMarco, CEO and Executive Chairman Technology One for the Business Person of the Year award, and Technology One itself for the IBM Award for Innovation.