Wednesday, May 2, 2007

And The Webby goes to ...


The winners of The 11th Annual Webby Awards will be saluted alongside a remarkable slate of special achievement honorees, including rock legend David Bowie, eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman on behalf of the eBay community, and the co-founders of YouTube, at a gala in New York City on the 5th of June, Webby organisers announced today.

Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards are the leading international awards honoring excellence on the Internet, including websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile websites. Established in 1996, the 11th Annual Webby Awards received a record 8,000 entries from 50 states in the USA and over 60 countries. The Webby Awards are presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-person judging academy whose members include The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and film mogul Harvey Weinstein. In addition, over 400,000 votes were cast by people around the world for their favorite sites, videos, and ads in The Webby People’s Voice Awards.

Organisers also announced recipients of this year’s Webby Special Achievement awards, including:

Webby Lifetime Achievement – David Bowie: The rock icon will be honored for a career that has pushed the boundaries of art and technology - from BowieNet, the seminal Internet service provider he launched in 1998, to UltraStar, his digital media company that creates cutting edge online content for artists like The Rolling Stones, The Police, and Mariah Carey, to BowieArt, an innovative website that connects emerging visual artists with collectors worldwide.

Webby Lifetime Achievement – The eBay Community: eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman will accept the award on behalf of the 233 million registered buyers and sellers who have made eBay a cultural phenomenon and permanently changed the way people connect, discover and interact with each other.

Webby People of the Year- YouTube Co-Founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley: The co-founders of the video-sharing sensation will be saluted for YouTube’s role in transforming the media landscape and reshaping everything from politics to pop culture.

Best Actor and Actress – “Ninja” from “Ask a Ninja” and Jessica Lee Rose from “lonelygirl15”: “Ninja,” from the breakout online comedy series “Ask a Ninja,” and Jessica Lee Rose, who became an overnight sensation as the enigmatic star of the acclaimed fictional video diary “lonelygirl15,” will be honored at the first-ever Webby Film and Video Awards.

Webby Award winners range from powerhouses such as Nike (Retail), Sony (Home Page), and The New York Times' "Dealbook" (Business Blog) to independent sites like Blip.tv (Broadband), “we make money not art” (Cultural Blog), Last.fm (Music), and Wikitravel (Travel). Webby People’s Voice winners include Facebook (Social/Networking), Save the Internet (Activism), Dream it Do it (Associations), Best Week Ever (Celebrity/Fan), FabSugar (Fashion), Treehugger (Cultural Blog), Gifts.com (Services), and TripAdvisor (Travel). Multiple Webby Awards winners include: Flickr (5), Adobe (5), HowStuffWorks (4), Jonathan Yuen (3), BBC (3), and LinkedIn (2).

“The Webby winners and special achievement honorees represent the very best in online creativity and innovation,” said Webby Awards executive director David-Michel Davies. “We’re proud to salute the people and organisations whose ideas and vision are transforming how we experience the world.” The 11th Annual Webby Awards will feature Webby Award winners from the USA, United Kingdom, Sweden, The Netherlands, Singapore, Brazil, Italy, Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Germany, India, Japan, and South Korea.

More information about the Webby Awards is here.

As for me, after Round 5, I have risen to equal sixteenth (up from equal twenty-fifth!) on gayfooty.com.au's Tipping Competition!

2 comments:

nash said...

Go Geoffrey! I barrack for Richmond and loyalty to them prevents me from doing well in the tipping (besides I was too late to register)

Hard to believe the Webby Awards are 11 years old and this is the first I've heard of them

Geoffrey said...

Hello Nash! So you're a Richmond boy? I once contemplated barracking for them when South Melbourne went to Sydney.

The Webbys are pretty amazing aren't they? Always useful to point those people who don't think our blogs or cyberspace more specifically has any clout.

Cheers.