On December 10, at a gala dinner held at the luxurious Pavillon restaurant in Biel concluding Middle East Broadcasters’ 2005 conferences and exhibition, MEB president Ahmad Al Maaz announced plans for the Mebby Awards. Maaz told an audience of 500 guests and media celebrities from Lebanon and the region gathered specifically for the occasion that “celebrating excellence in broadcasting in a number of categories, the awards will be the first of their kind” in the Arab World.
“There are many worthy awards in our part of the world that recognize the great achievements of our industry; however, we wanted to create something that was different, in that it allowed all of us, members of the broadcasting profession, to designate the finalists and the winners. We believe that being recognized by our peers is the highest form of praise,” said Maaz.
The Mebby Awards will be conferred by media professionals to media professionals through a voting mechanism similar to that exercised by the  Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in Hollywood, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in their granting of the Oscar and Emmy awards respectively.
Maaz exhibited a life-size replica of the Mebby trophy, designed by the award-winning US firm R.S. Owens, that is also responsible for the design of the Oscars and the Emmys. A three-meter replica of the trophy was also displayed on stage.
Lebanon’s distinguished composer and TV personality Elias Rahbani, who delighted the audience with a few of his compositions on the piano, commended Maaz for his initiative, saying it was important for the Arab World to recognize its artistic achievements through a credible process.
The awards will cover 20 categories, including directing, acting, dubbing, editing, as well as screenplay,  photography, sound, music, costumes, set design, documentaries, and video clips. The selection process will involve initial submissions by television stations, followed by a narrowing of the entries to five nominees by designated juries for each category, and finally a voting by members of the MEB Association, also designated by categories, for the selection of winners. The process, says MEB representatives, will involve about a thousand MEB Association members. The results will not be known to anyone until the last minute, and will remain a closely guarded secret until announced on stage,” says Ramez Maluf, editor of MEB Journal and one of the organizers of the awards.
During March, MEB will be designating the juries for the nomination stage of the process and making public the conditions and procedures for participation, said Maluf.