Blog 
So here we are. Look at those trophies gleaming above! In less than three weeks, five winners (one in each category) will walk away proudly with these beautiful affirmations of social media supremacy.
It has been a long journey. After a rigorous process of nominations, shortlisting, voting and, ultimately judging, we are pleased to announce the Top 3 finalists in each category of the 3rd SimpliFlying Awards for Social Media Excellence. Each of the finalists will be invited to attend the official awards ceremony at the EyeforTravel Summit in Amsterdam on Oct 3, 2012. They will get the opportunity to publicly present their social media initiatives at the summit.
Without further ado, here are the Top 3 in each category. The actual positions (and overall winner) will be revealed on October 3 at the awards function.
Best Airline in Social Media
- American Airlines
- KLM
- SAS Scandinavian
Best Airport in Social Media
- London Gatwick Airport
- Kansas City International Airport
- Helsinki Airport
Best Use of Social Media to Drive Customer Service
- American Airlines
- Kulula
- Swiss International Airlines
Best Use of Social Media to Drive Revenue
- Nasair
- WestJet
- KLM
Best Social Media Solution Provider for Travel
- Airsavings
- TrustYou
- Satisfly
For the benefit of our readers, here’s how the Top 3 were chosen. The finalists‘ scores were a combination of scores from our 4 esteemed judges as well as the votes received during the voting period which was open for about 2 weeks. About 30,000 votes were received! The judges’ scores and votes counted for 50% each of the final score. Votes were counted as a percentage of the fan-base to make the vote-counting process more relevant; e.g. an airline with a small follower base that got 3000 votes received more marks than an airline with a million followers that got the same number of votes. In all cases, however, as mentioned previously, the judges had the power to override the mandate of votes.
Congratulations to all those who secured a position in the Top 3 and a huge round of applause to all the airlines, airports and travel solution providers who participated so enthusiastically in this year’s awards! We look forward to seeing you on October 3rd. In the meantime, tell us who you think is going to win in the comments below!