The next stop for the 2012 Telstra Australian Business Awards was Perth.

I have never been to Perth but I was assured by everyone that it is a great city… that isn’t just about mining and high-visibility safety clothing.

Let me tell you how true that is. It is a lovely city and the ladies were looking very lovely at the gala night of nights: the 2012 Telstra WA Business Awards gala dinner. And the lads weren’t looking half bad either as a few Tweets exclaimed at the beginning of the night.

Social media has definitely taken hold of the Awards ceremony… as I have found out as I tweet each of the winners at the awards. Nimble fingers make for quick Tweets.

However, it isn’t all about Tweets, Facebook, Instagrams and YouTube – more about that later. It is about the winners.

The Awards finalists in Western Australia are definitely innovative people. Whether that’s overcoming the challenges of buying an existing restaurant and introducing a new contemporary seafood menu like the winner of the HTC Start-Up Award, Mosman Restaurant. Or News Ltd Micro Business Award winner, LushTV whose owners arrived in Perth from the UK with no contacts and no one to help them out but they have since created a communications business specialising in audio and video internal communications for large corporations in Perth.

Then there those who follow their dream and stick to it like Giacomo Collica who established Emission Assessments, winner of the MYOB Small Business Award and is a business that draws on Giacomo’s 20 years of emission monitoring experience to bring together a dedicated team of science professionals to form an independent testing service, auditing and monitoring product business.

Or Skydive Jurien Bay, winner of the Telstra Regional Award who established a sky diving business more than 220km north of Perth and see themselves as playing an important role in helping to attract tourists to the region.

The 2012 Telstra WA Business of the Year was UON, also winner of the Medium Business Award. It’s sometimes moving hearing stories and UON has a very emotional story, dedicating their win to a former colleague.

However, the story of UON is about innovation and determination. Mark Keogh told of how he spent 10 years in a van committed to his business and dream. He told of his idea to mortgage the house to grow his business. Yet he kept all the praise for his team of people in the business. He spoke passionately about his staff, the inspiration and innovation they have that he encourages. “My staff believed in the idea,” he said in his acceptance speech. He also proudly exclaimed he is on YouTube – have a look at the UON video.

That dream and belief has helped Mark grow his business of manufacturing solutions for the supply, management and control of site power, air and water.

Mark also spoke about giving back to the community in particularly he’s sponsoring an Aboriginal girl’s sailing team.

I guess on reflection, Western Australia is a state of high-visibility… but not the clothing, rather, the ideas and innovation of small and medium business.

Well done to all the entrants, finalists and winners.

Don’t forget to follow the Awards on Twitter under the hash tag: #telstrabizawards