Once again the judges of the World Mail Awards have risen to the challenge of narrowing down another record level of entries from around the globe, all of which were extremely high quality, to just 26 finalists.

The independent global panels of independent judges will meet on the afternoon of 11 May, just hours before the ceremony, to make their final deliberations and decide a winner for each of the awards. The Gala Dinner will take place in the Sheraton Brussels Hotel & Towers and marks the eve of the World Mail & Express Europe Conference and Exhibition. Former Miss Belgium and celebrity TV presenter, Anne de Baetzelier will present the awards, along with a senior executive from each of the sponsoring companies.

This year’s categories and shortlists are:

CUSTOMER SERVICE (Sponsored by Innovapost)
Masterlink Express for its Special Project Logistics (SPL) direct marketing service
USPS for its Change for the Better address updating service
USPS with Wincor Nixdorf and IBM for its Automated Postal Centres (APCs) self-service facility

e-COMMERCE (Sponsored by ME-News)
Canada Post for its marketing services technology platform ‘Fetch’
IBM with USPS for its Click-N-Ship online application for creating domestic and international shipping labels
Tunisian Post Office for its development of on-line applications and solutions

INNOVATION (Sponsored by Capgemini)
Aramex for its Shop and Ship international delivery service
Canada Post for its marketing services technology platform ‘Fetch’
UK Mail Ltd for its UK Mail Business Class distribution service
USPS for its Intelligent Mail® advanced barcoding services

MARKETING (Sponsored by Triangle Management Services)
Canada Post for its marketing services technology platform ‘Fetch’
Correios de Portugal for its Correio Verde (Easy Mail) size-based mailing product
Deutsche Post Global Mail for its GlobalMail Business marketing campaign
USPS for its public relations USPS Ambassador Programme

QUALITY (Sponsored by Spring)
Australia Post for its Bulk Mail Partner Programme, in conjunction with mail houses
Canada Post for its increased visibility and compliance monitoring of the delivery process using Event Manager
Masterlink Express for its Delivery Information and Alert by SMS system
TNT Financial Services for its Royal Bank of Scotland Group Hub and Spoke internal mail solution

SECURITY (Sponsored by Royal Mail)
Post Danmark for its Cash in Transit safety improvement initiative
USPS for its work in protecting and educating American consumers through comprehensive, multimedia prevention initiatives

TECHNOLOGY (Sponsored by Intermec)
Datalogic for its RFID Mail Tracking service to the Italian Post Office
Kiala for its redesigned Collection Point parcel delivery system
Prime Vision for its advanced OCR technology solution for Danish Post

TRANSFORMATION (Sponsored by Accenture)
Correos de Chile for a successful change in the operating system of the express post mail in Chile
Hongkong Post for the reinvention of Hongkong Post
South African Post for a new wave of transformation

The remaining award, INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP (sponsored by Pitney Bowes), is judged using different criteria so no shortlist will be released. The winner will be announced at the ceremony along with the other awards.

Because places are limited, delegates or industry members who would like to attend the Awards Presentation dinner are advised to book as soon as possible since it is likely to be fully subscribed. Seats or tables can be booked at www.mailawards.com or by contacting the awards team at Triangle on +44 (0)870 950 7900

Notes to the Editor

• This is the 6th World Mail Awards and is an annual programme

• Next year’s ceremony will be in Paris

• World Mail & Express (WMX) events have been running since 1988. They are organised by Triangle Management Services, based in the UK.

• 2005 will also see WMX events in Belgium & America, and Mail and Express Summits in the UK

• Press delegates are welcome to attend the Awards Ceremony, please contact Paul.Trott@triangle.eu.com for further information