Our Second Annual Club World Award Ceremony in pictures.

On the night of March 8, the nightclub industry’s most accomplished contributors and promising newcomers gathered at Nerve Lounge in Miami to celebrate the year’s best venues, systems, products, and parties at the Second Annual Club World Awards. The quiet ceremony, hosted by Club Systems International, DJ Times, and parent company Testa Communications, took place on the Monday of manic Winter Music Conference week (March 8), and allowed attendees to lounge, chat, and drink while the nominees were read.

"It was terrific to have so many club professionals from across the country in one room,” said DJ Times editor and reluctant presenter Jim Tremayne. “The Club World Awards are certainly growing in stature and the American nightclub community now has an event to look forward to each year."

“We’re thinking we might become the Golden Globes to Dancestar’s Oscars,” joked Club Systems editor and Club World host Kerri Mason. “We want to keep it informal, brief, and fun, but still professional.”

Compiled by James Brundage, Daphne Carr, Lizz Gibbons, John Landers and Kerri Mason.

Some interesting points about the winners:

Club Hub: If snagging four disco globes in major categories is any indication, then Las Vegas is North America’s new club capital. Two Vegas hotspots – “meta-club” Ice and ultra-lounge Tabú – took home two awards each: Ice for “Best New Club” and “Best Sound System” (for Sound Investment’s Funktion-One-based system), and Tabú for “Best Lounge” and “Best Video System” (for Reactrix’s touch-sensitive projection system).

Establishing Dominance: There can be dynasties in clubland: Pioneer’s CDJ-1000 won “Best DJ Product” for a second year in a row (albeit for the newly updated MKII model), Denver’s The Church again won “Best Club” by a landslide, and Miami designer Stephane Dupoux again took “Best Interior Design” honors, this time for New York’s Cielo (his award last year was for Miami’s Pearl).

Big Fish, Little Fish: Sometimes the little guys are bigger than they think. Omnisistem’s Stinger laser stole “Best Effects Product” from trendier LED-based products, and Panorama Productions’ trance-focused Glow party, well known in DC but on the DL otherwise, took “Best Party” honors from well-branded players like GIANT LA.

Up The River: Incarcerated? So what? Just a day after police raided Sound Factory New York and arrested its owner, the club took “Best Superclub” honors at The Club World Awards. That disco globe is now sitting in the CSI archives, accruing value.

One Last Time: Another award that has already become commemorative is Danny Tenaglia’s “Best Resident DJ” disco globe, for his weekly Be Yourself party at New York’s Arc. The party and the club will close for good on April 23 of this year.

Big Love: When the CSI staff opened up online voting for the NightStalker Award (the only award determined by clubbers themselves, meant to honor favorite local venues), they were stunned at the outpouring of appreciation for legendary San Fran venue The End-Up. Not only did the after hours favorite snag 67% of the vote and the award, it also inspired patrons to write page-long essays about why it should win.

Nominations and judging:

The Club World Award nominations are determined by the jet-setting staff of Club Systems and its sister publication DJ Times, a staple of the pro DJ industry for close to two decades. An independent panel of 10 club industry veterans determines the winners. They are: Dawn Batsche, Batsche Designs, Austin; Eric Bernstein, Intelligent Lighting Services, Austin; Paul Binder, California Music Express, San Ramon; Diabolique, House of Diabolique, New York; Scott Henry, Buzz, Washington, D.C.; Hohman & Harris, Metromix, Philadelphia; John Landers, Club Systems, Hollywood; Jim Tremayne, DJ Times, Port Washington; Sid Vanderpool, DJZone Network, Twin Falls; Randy White, Washington Music, Wheaton.

For more information, including a complete nominee list, please contact Kerri at kmason@testa.com