Here Awards 2021 got Dicey.
Tell you what, Covid-19 really has dampened plans since we launched in February 2021. Our very first national roadie kicked off well but just as we drove Moby the Blue Holden to the Auckland border we were turned away and a quick U-turn was required. That turned out ok as we managed to successfully stalk the regions.
We were all set to show off in front our hospo family for the first time with our new moniker in September with the Red+White trade tour. Everyone crossed fingers and toes but again — foiled by the Coronacoaster! What a ride.
Not to be put off, we began planning our next pursuit of a public-facing love festival with chats with the fine team of folk who craft the amazing Here Magazine. They were putting on their inaugural Here Awards with the promise of a get-together or two. The Awards, designed to appreciate inspirational and successful buildings across Aotearoa, were sponsored by Citta, Fisher& Paykel and Resene with the fine wines to be nothing but Dicey.
The Here Awards 2021 event was to be a real celebration for everyone involved. It felt like a sort of antidote to the doldrums that had washed over us all and at the same time act as a significant milestone and achievement for this independent publisher (it’s quite outstanding to bust out a premium level architectural awards night 18 months after the magazine’s first issue!) We were stoked to be given the chance to pour our wines at not one but two Here events around the awards night. One event was to announce nominees. The second — the swish soiree, the safari suit requiring knees up, the mingle mash up — was to announce the winners. Bloody Covid.
As if Simon and Hannah — founders of Here Magazine hadn’t already proven their metal for making stuff happen despite a shit-storm, they just put it down to how the universe rolls, rolled up their sleeves and threw everything online (and with the same panache as the mag they publish). The end result was an awards evening where we could all bond over buildings from the comfort of our couch. If ever there was a way to celebrate the places we call home, that was it. It was sort of genius. Thanks to the hospitality mind that shares the creative cerebral space of Simon’s head, he planned for a special delivery of a bottle of Dicey Pinot Noir 2020 to those guests who had invitations to the original gigs and with whom he had intended to party in person.
So, cheers to the winners and runners-up and nominees of the Here Awards 2021. Cheers to Simon and Hannah and their team and cheers to celebrating again — let’s hope in person — in 2022.
