In September last year, the glitterati of media once again flocked to the Grosvenor House Hotel on London's Park Lane for the annual pilgrimage to celebrate the media industry's finest work. While the night has undoubtedly become one of the key events in most media folks' diary, it is easy to forget the months of deliberation, cogitation and digestion - as the great Lloyd Grossman might have put it - that have preceded it.
An august selection of judges generously give up valuable time to spend hours poring over hundreds of entries - more than 400 last year - and then debate them over frothy cappuccinos and croissants.
For those yet to grace the judging panel, here's how it works. Once the last stragglers have submitted their entries by 20 June, a 30-strong panel of judges spends the next four weeks reading through between 80 and 100 papers, before gathering for a day's debating to decide who should make the shortlist and go forward to the next round.
They then hand the baton to our agency and media owner councils, each comprising 16 judges, who read up to 60 papers each, followed by a day watching the DVD entries, to arrive at the winners and runners-up in each category.
Finally, yet more judges are hand-picked to race around London visiting the agencies and media owners shortlisted for the Sales Team and Agency of the Year awards to watch the live presentations.
That's not to mention the weeks of sweat and toil that you all put into the entries, the shortlist DVDs and those final bells-and-whistles presentations.
So to help make sure all that effort is put to maximum effect next year, here's an insight into what the judges are looking for when they make those crucial decisions.
Read more on the Media Week Awards