
Following this year’s Community Awards, we (at Quite Laterally and The OG Group) partnered with the UKOUG to further celebrate the winners of the 2024 ceremony. We highlighted each of their awards and shared their unique stories in exclusive interviews with the acclaimed individuals themselves.
For several weeks on our LinkedIn, we provided direct insight into these esteemed members of our OUG community. We commemorated their triumphs in the several Community Awards’ categories by acknowledging them individually within this celebratory series, sharing their impassioned quotes.
Read them all, collated below!
Our first represented winner:
Nicole Waymark of Magia Consulting, as UKOUG Best DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Advocate of the Year! 🏅
We are proud that our first celebration of the UKOUG Community Awards was recognising the joint winner of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Advocate Award. 🤝
Read on to find out what winning meant to Nicole… 💌
💬 “There needn’t be a requirement for DEI if the culture was to make people feel that they belong and feel more included, as a standard.”

Our second represented winner:
Debra Lilley of Inoapps, as UKOUG Inspiring Individual of the Year! 🏅
We are proud to champion those who inspire, recognising the contribution of leaders and collaborators in our field. 💡
Read on to find out what winning meant to Debra. 💌
💬 “My first award from Oracle was of User Group Advocate in 2008 and I think, for me, it’s quite circular. I stepped up and volunteered and worked with User Groups worldwide. They have catapulted my career and my reputation, and allowed me to do more sharing of my knowledge.”

Our third represented winner:
Andy King of Oracle, as UKOUG Best ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) Champion of the Year! 🏅
We are delighted to highlight the continued contribution of those who value sustainability and performance, promoting long-term business success and upholding the reputation of their company. 🌱
Read on to find out what winning meant to Andy. 💌
💬 “Having worked with and supported the UKOUG for many years, it was a great honour to receive this award. ESG is an interesting and important topic to us all, and further recognition of the teams’ effort to deliver a solution that our customers can leverage. User Groups provide a strong voice and feedback to product development. I look forward to continuing to work alongside the OUGs on future EPM and ESG related areas.”

Our fourth represented winner:
Connor McDonald of Oracle, as UKOUG Speaker of the Year! 🏅
We celebrate those with the ability to embolden others through their words; those who can confidently stand up and provide a strong voice on behalf of their company to share ideas, provoke thought, and catalyse action amongst teams. 🎙
Read on to find out what winning meant to Connor. 💌
💬 “What I would add is a sort of a call to action: If you haven’t been involved in a User Group, or you haven’t been attending things like the meet-ups – make that effort! User Groups went through a terrible time during COVID; it was a big challenge for them. So I think that the more those who are in the community and involved with technology can put time and effort into their User Group, the more I think we can all win.”

Our fifth represented winner:
Pete Gutteridge-Paye of Namos Solutions, as UKOUG Best DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion) Advocate of the Year! 🏅
Returning to complement our first entry in this series with the other half of this shared win, and how apt! We are exceptionally proud to celebrate the advocates who champion Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, so that everyone may be welcome at work and in life, always. 🌈
Read on to find out what winning meant to Pete. 💌
💬 “Because of this award, there’s also been a connection with [fellow DEI Advocate winner] Nicole Waymark now we’ve connected with each-other and we’re going to share what we’re doing! So having UKOUG Community Awards like this has created connections that weren’t there before, where we can share ideas and see what we can do together. I know UKOUG are doing great things with the Shine Programme, so I’d now like to get in touch with them to see if we could do something in a different area as well? Because Shine is really important and so are the other strands in the whole ‘DEI rainbow of colours’. I’m sure there’s much more that we can do there and this is a catalyst for that to start.”

Our sixth represented winner:
Sophia Ravenscroft of Namos Solutions, as UKOUG Unsung Hero of the Year! 🏅
We are delighted to recognise the truly brilliant individuals who often fly under the radar. Those who quietly accomplish should not be silently celebrated, so join us in acknowledging their contributions and expressing appreciation for understated talent! 🦸♀️
Read on to find out what winning meant to Sophia. 💌
💬 “I think I’d just like to say, if there’s anyone who is in the same position that I was in before I moved into consultancy; if there’s anyone out there in the same sort of shoes I was in and would like to follow the same career path as me – you can do it! I never thought I’d win an award like this, and I never thought I’d be able to be promoted in just a couple of years. I remember sitting back at my last place and making that five year plan to become a consultant, so I think I’d just like to say… If you put your mind to it, you can achieve what you want to achieve.”

Our seventh represented winner:
Lydia Maksoud of Brovanture Ltd, as UKOUG Woman in Tech of the Year! 🏅
We are truly thrilled and greatly honoured to recognise the recipient of the award we sponsored at this year’s ceremony, an accolade celebrating the success and contribution of women in our industry. Having more visible female role models in tech fields helps to empower women and promote their inclusion in these spaces, continuing decades of hard work to pursue careers beyond the glass ceiling. 👩💻
Read on to find out what winning meant to Lydia. 💌
💬 “I just want to say thanks to Quite Laterally and The OG Group for sponsoring this award. I think it’s so important to put that shining light onto women and make sure that we’re being recognised in the same way as men in the industry; to make sure that other women know that could be something that they can do and I just think it’s really inspiring, so thank you!”

Our eighth represented winner:
Bill Magkourilos of Namos Solutions, as UKOUG Rising Star of the Year! 🏅
We are proud to celebrate the up-and-comers who showcase both the courage to take the plunge into new fields and the hard work required in order to excel within them. These driven individuals prove what can happen when you give those with perhaps limited experience but keen dedication and demonstrable skills a chance. 🌟
Read on to find out what winning meant to Bill. 💌
💬 “I’m fairly new to this area; to the Oracle ecosystem – I’d heard of the UKOUG but I wasn’t really part of it and obviously now, since the Community Awards, I’m much more exposed to it and gaining even more exposure to everything. One of the main benefits I’ve experienced so far is that personal exposure – after the ceremony, my LinkedIn went absolutely crazy! You get connected with other Oracle users – you can exchange ideas, collaborate together, and make these processes better. I’m getting more involved in it and looking to do more things in it! And if I could urge anything, it would be the support that Namos gives to veterans like me to be made wider – for other businesses to show support to veterans; to help them make that step from the armed forces into civilian society. These individuals add that different flavour to the workforce and, hiring someone from a veteran background, it’s always going to be beneficial to everyone in my eyes. So, if we all support that initiative, I think it’s a good thing to shout about.”

Our final represented winner:
Chris Mason of Namos Solutions, as UKOUG Leader of the Year! 🏅
‘Boss’ isn’t just the noun attributed to a person in charge but an adjective for ‘excellent and outstanding’; a true leader will indeed stand out for their exemplary direction, courageous initiative, clever management, and empathetic guidance. We are delighted to close out this series by honouring those that strive on behalf of and alongside their teams, in unity… So join us in celebrating the ones who spearhead success for all! 👑
Read on to find out what winning meant to Chris. 💌
💬 “Winning Leader of the Year is just representative of the team and board I have around me – without all of them, there’s no way I could win a leadership award! It’s great to get that recognition but I get even more buzz out of the company and individual awards we won, like Pete’s, Sophia’s and Bill’s. When I stop and take a moment to look at our business, seeing their journey as those who came to us as part of the veteran programme or other opportunity initiatives, I’m proud of how they have taken the platform we’ve given them and been able to grow even further – it’s fantastic! My brother served in the armed forces, which was how the veteran campaign came to be – I was chatting to some of his military mates and they all said how hard ‘civvy street’ was. I thought there must be loads of opportunities because there’s a skill shortage of Oracle consultants across the marketplace; this finite pool often gets raised at events… So, I spoke with the Namos Board and we launched the programme! I believe encouraging people from different backgrounds to take these opportunities is what being a leader is all about – our other winners, Sophia and Pete, came from end users with no consulting experience – and we should all be looking at what we can do across the community to help bring people in. I know the UKOUG is a representation of that [sense of] community as well – it’s about knowledge sharing. Bill, for example, has done grades of promotion and is now a Senior Consultant within three years of joining us – that’s exactly why we wanted to do the programme! So my award is truly on behalf of our whole team, and I’m very proud to have got it. Well done to Fiona and Alex as well for winning with me and being nominated – I do think we’re all winners. We can all go out with a boom!”
