The Club World Awards winners were announced yesterday, and New York’s Pacha won five awards including “best super club.” If you look through the list of winners, many of the categories will have little relevance to the average reader, since technical awards take up at least half of the list. Still, all of this is very relevant to the people who plan and actually build nightclubs. The trophies voted on by industry experts (including me, your humble servant) show investor types and club industry insiders that these people know what they are doing. Besides “best super club,” Pacha was recognized for “best one-off event,” “best resident DJ” (Victor Calderone), “best resident lights” (Timmy Lights) and “best DJ set” (David Guetta). David Guetta, incidentally, is spinning this Friday night at the 46th Street joint, which after three years stands at the top of the heap not only in New York but also in the rest of the country. I said it (my votes were shown here last week) and a panel of 11 other players agreed.

This isn’t about whether or not Paris Hilton or Leo like to pop bottles at a table; this vote is about big sound, amazing lighting, booking world class talent, handling crowds of thousands, and surviving in an environment that doesn’t favor your very existence. There is no club that comes close in these parts. I caught up with Pacha honcho Eddie Dean and asked him what he saw looking back, and what he sees looking forward as he sits on this mountain of current success.

I just got back from South Beach, where we had an amazing Winter Music Conference. We hosted several sold-out events on the beach as well as downtown with all of our New York City residents, such as Victor Calderone, Danny Tenaglia, Boris, and Jonathan Peters, along with many special guests. We also took over the Royal Palm Resort for the week and made it the Pacha South headquarters. We had all of our up-and-coming DJs spinning poolside during the day and in the lobby all night. It was surreal; after just three years, to be able to do so many successful things was really rewarding. On another note, we won many awards. We won five Club World Awards including the most coveted “best super club” in North America for the third straight year (record). In a world where clubs come and go so often, just to be around after three years is great, but to be recognized by your peers as the best is so rewarding. We also won the official WMC award for “best club in the U.S.” So it was a clean sweep for Pacha. Everywhere you looked in South Beach, you saw Pacha Cherries, I was so proud. When I look back on how much we have accomplished in the last three years, I can’t believe it. But in this business, you can’t spend too much time looking back; there is always a new guy coming along trying to take what you have. I work harder today than I’ve ever worked before. I know what it took to get here, and I have no intentions of letting anybody come take it away without a fight. Our lineup gets better and better every year. We are getting offers all the time to expand, but I have seen so many clubs fall apart when they try to expand. My objective is to make Pacha the best club it can be and try to get better and stronger every week. It would have to be a great opportunity for me to consider expanding.

Congratulations to Eddie and the Pacha family and to all the other winners and nominees. There are a great many people whose names don’t appear on Page 6 or even on blogs like this who work very hard so that you can have a great time.