Web 2 Ireland

We’ve mentioned before the iQPrize – created by Dublin internet consultancy iQ Content.

Today they announced the panel of judges for its internet start-up competition, the iQ Prize. Global heavyweights Google, Microsoft and Facebook are all represented on the judging panel, alongside local internet heroes Daft, Statcounter and Loudervoice.

With 6 days to go to the deadline, 63 entries have already been submitted.

The judges are:

* Aodhan Cullen, founder & CEO, StatCounter

* Colm Long, Head of Online Operations (EMEA), Facebook

* Conor O'Neill, co-founder & CEO, LouderVoice

* Eamonn Fallon, co-founder & CEO, Daft.ie

* Gail Power, Senior Manager, Google

* Martha Rotter, Internet Evangelist, Microsoft

iQ Content Managing Director Morgan McKeagney will also sit on the panel, but in a non-executive capacity.

The iQ Prize is an open competition for the best business plan for an internet start-up, with a no-strings-attached grand prize of 10,000 euro. Potential applicants still have until May 12th (6 days and counting!) to send in a brief 5-page business plan to show that they have what it takes to turn their idea into a great online business.

Shortlisted applicants will then be asked to present their business plans in person to the judging panel. The winner will be announced at an event in Dublin in early July.

APPLY NOW

The site goes live at 2pm today. It’s very simple, send IQContent a 5-page business plan that shows how your will turn your idea into a great online business.

The best submissions will be shortlisted and asked to present their business plans before a panel of independent judges.

The final winner will be announced at the end of June.

This bit is important:

We're not investors. We're not venture capitalists. We're not looking for equity and we don't want any intellectual property. There's no catch. There are no strings. Seriously.

All details on iqprize.ie. What are you waiting for, get your ass over there!

IQContent announced the iQ Prize at FOWADublin.

It’s World Usability Day on Thursday 13th November. The guys in IQContent have put together a cracking event in the Dandelion Cafe Bar on Stephen’s Green to support this.

The idea is that they are going to spend the day getting ordinary people to weigh in on the country's most essential transport websites, including:

• Dublin Bus
• Irish Rail
• Luas
• Aer Lingus
• Ryanair
• Bus Eireann

They want to get as many real people to give independent, honest feedback on these websites in one day.

All details over on their site.

The Deloitte Fast 50 Awards were held last night in Dublin.

Two friends of Web2Ireland did very well.

First Roomex.com won the Deloitte Technology Rising Star Award for 2008. With growth of over 3,100% over the last 3 years, Roomex.com is fast becoming one of the most widely used booking hotel portals in Ireland and Europe.

IQContent came in at Number 8 in the top 50. The team there have built a fantastic business with a focus on usability and accessibility in building great websites for an impressive range of clients.

I’ll update this post when Deloitte actually publishes the full list!