Britt Bravo is on a much-deserved vacation, so I'm stepping in for her to keep news and information about the social change web coming your way!

The UK Catalyst Awards highlight examples of individuals or groups putting social technology to use in connecting people and doing good. "It doesn't matter if you're a community group, a charity, in business, or just doing something smart in your own time – we can all do our bit." These stories offer ideas and inspiration about innovative uses of social technology that you or your organization can learn from.

But who won? The eight winners include:

• The Revolutionary Award - Wheelies
  For something that makes people in power more aware of the need for change.
• The Self-Help Award - School of Everything
  For something that helps me help myself.
• The Chalk & Cheese Award - FreqOUT!
  For something that brings two different groups of people together.
• The David and Goliath Award - Liftshare.com
  For something little that made a difference to a something big and powerful.
• The Individual Hero Award - Helen Anderson (SWBB)
  For an individual.
• The Community Award - Savvy Chavvy
  For a community association or group.
• The Enterprise Award - Slivers-of-Time
  For an innovative new technology solution developed by a business.
• The People’s Choice Award - The Freeconomy Community
  This award is for the idea voted best by the public.

Many groups came together to make these awards possible, including: the Council on Social Action, NESTA, BERR, Make Your Mark, Polecat, Coleman Getty, and Unltd. If you are in the UK, you can apply for the next round of awards; learn more about applying and about this round's winners on the UK Catalyst Awards website.

Groundswell Awards

Forrester recently announced their Growndswell Awards to recognize excellence from companies accomplishing business objectives using social applications and technologies. "The 2008 Forrester Groundswell Awards will go to people and companies who have created the most innovative and effective uses of Groundswell technologies like blogs, wikis, social networks, and communities." The winners will get a free ticket to Forrester's Consumer Forum this fall! (Nominations close on September 9th.)

Find out how to enter and more about the awards on the Groundswell blog.

What is your organization doing with social media? Have you checked out Simon Fairway's blog and the Digital Makeover Project? There are so many great projects that awards like these highlight that help us all get great ideas for free!