The MAX Awards recognize the most effective and compelling experiences created using Macromedia technology, Burgess noted. Winners and finalists were selected by a team of Macromedia judges based on design and development, and the return on investment that the entrant's organization realized as a result.

The winners, in 8 different categories, were as follows:

Advertising: Yahoo! Messenger IMVironments uses Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 and Flash Communication Server MX to provide its instant messaging users with a richer experience through music, movie-themed environments, and photo sharing.

Branding: Nikespeed.com, developed by AKQA, is a celebration of speed created with Flash MX 2004 to deliver a rich, immersive site deployed in 27 countries and 10 languages.

Business: Ofoto NexPress Platform uses Macromedia Flex to enable Ofoto customers to easily create and publish personal products including books and calendars with a great user interface that incorporates drag-and-drop and immediate feedback.

Customer-facing: News Express, developed by T-Mobile International UK Ltd., is an offline news and infotainment service that uses Flash MX Professional 2004 and Flash Lite to deliver a unique experience to mobile phone users in Europe.

E-Learning: TeachIVUS, developed by MultiWeb Communications, Inc., is a medical image measurement simulator for cardiovascular professionals, which uses Flash MX 2004 and Macromedia Captivate (formerly RoboDemo) to measure ultrasound images against expert online measurements.

Education: SPIKE X, developed by The Wharton School - University of Pennsylvania, is a student intranet that uses Macromedia ColdFusion MX Enterprise Edition, Flash MX Professional 2004, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004, Macromedia Fireworks MX 2004, and Macromedia Contribute to integrate academic and social resources for the benefit of Wharton students.

Government: NAVAIR Career Development Office website uses Macromedia Breeze, Flash MX 2004, and ColdFusion MX to provide one centralized location for all computer-based training for the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) community.

Media, Entertainment, and Gaming: The J.K. Rowling website, developed by Lightmaker Group, Ltd., uses Flash MX 2004, Dreamweaver MX 2004, and ColdFusion MX to provide a fun and interactive reflection into the writing life of the author of the Harry Potter novels.

Additionally, MAX attendees selected The Adventures of Seinfeld and Superman as the People's Choice award winner from among 16 finalists across eight categories. Digitas New York, WDDG, @radical.media, and Ogilvy & Mather developed the site, which was a finalist in the advertising category. The team used Macromedia Flash MX Professional 2004 to promote the benefits of the American Express card in a creative way.

Information on the winners and finalists in each category, as well as detail on what Macromedia products were used for each project, can be viewed at http://www.macromedia.com/go/maxawards/.