WHY I LIKE THE WEBBYS
The Webby entry deadline is looming (25th Jan) so I wrote the following so you know why it’s worth putting something forward.
The Webby Awards are generally misunderstood in the UK, largely because of the precedents award programs have set on this side of the Atlantic. Counter to common perception The Webbys extends its horizons far outside the confines of “the industry,” to a much broader church that reflects the web’s status as a true cultural medium. The web is not just a tool for business and marketing as other awards might suggest.
If you believe as I do that culture leads business, then surely a program regarding this wider remit would surface the tips of icebergs to come, capturing the zeitgeist ahead of mainstream adoption. And sure enough this is precisely what seemed to have happened as I raked back through the winners over the last 11 years, a process which also showed how UK entrants had done pretty well right from the start.
Following is a list of handpicked winners that interested me, not any kind of official or definitive shortlist. It was a nostalgia trip leafing through these old names, concepts and eras and if you have some time spare I’d encourage you to have a look.
So in 1997 the names that rang out for me were salon and The imdb, both now ingrained reference points and both survived all the turbulence of the past 11 years. Even in this first year the UK took a Webby home, the winner (one out of 15) Travelmag.co.uk (beating Travelocity!). Entropy8 picked up the award in the art category (remember how great that was?)
99 saw the first of many wins for Amazon who’ve had good practice now with their five word acceptance speeches.
Motley Fool, Ebay, Epicurious and the Onion all made first appearances in this year and would all be back at the podium for many years since.
The UK win that year went to Londonfashionweek.co.uk
From the outset the awards have had a strong yet non-partisan view of the web’s growing role in politics and activism and in this year we saw Freedomforum.org pick up the award for the political category.
2000 I would say was the year when web-euphoria was burning at its’ hottest and the buzz was awash with names, faces, concepts and gossip that has since flushed clean away. So this era would serve as an acid-test for an awards that look beyond bright flashes in pans. And sure enough, digging through the list we see many names whose quality and integrity managed to transcend the madness of the times, backing the long term winners.
Slashdot, Atom Films, Paypal and the BBC all made a first of many appearances. The rights hot potato of the time Napster received recognition, a clear sign of the jury’s web-side view of the world, a perspective that we see prevailing into the mainstream nearly ten years on.
Hungersite.com and Adbusters.com also made appearances that year.
The UK’s Paul Smith, The Beeb and Backspace.org (remember that!, they taught my dad all about the web!) also collected.
The 2001 awards surfaced google for the first of a long standing presence at the ceremony as did Craigslist.org. Hotornot.com got the tip of the Webby hat (in the fashion category?) and we also see recognition of the fledgling new mode of citizen journalism in the form of Livejournal.com. Cafepress are also in there with heavy.com.
2002 winners of note (other than a lot of other serial winners) were Zefrank.com for the Personal category, Deviantart.com, Kazaa.com, Tolerance.org, and from the UK that year, Donniedarko.com from our friends at hires and the Beeb picking one up for news and another for radio.
2003 winners featured moveon.org before Howard Dean’s campaign made it famous. Movabletype.org and meetup.com were recognised. The UK had the biggest year yet with wins from showstudio.com, news.bbc.co.uk/ and a double win from friend Joel Veitch with rathergood.com
The following years show us more familiar names that are still current and forming. I list a few that I thought were interesting.
2004
Winners of Note
itunes
wikipedia.org
UK
BBC Human Body
news.bbc.co.uk/
2005
Webby Lifetime Achievement: Former Vice-President Al Gore
Webby Person of the Year: Craig Newmark, founder of Craiglist.org
Winners of Note
tenbyten.org
boingboing.net
43things.com
weaponsofmisdirection.com
themeatrix.com
Massive year for the UK
jamieoliver.com (one from Poke - no longer our design)
rathergood.com
eddieizzard.com
BBC Onemusic
news.bbc.co.uk/
guardian.co.uk
virginradio.co.uk
skype.com/
rathergood.com
alexandermcqueen.com (another one from Poke)
vogue.co.uk
2006
Webby Artist of the Year: Gorillaz
Breakout of the Year: MySpace.com
Webby Lifetime Achievement Recipients: Dr. Robert Kahn, Prince
Winners of Note
postsecret.blogspot.com/
flickr.com
google earth
we-make-money-not-art.com
UK Winners
feedmebetter.com (one from Poke)
BBC Cumbria Digital Lives
barbican.org.uk/canihaveaword/
news.bbc.co.uk/
guardian.co.uk
talkingpoint.orange.co.uk (another one from Poke)
2007
A raft of new categories came in 2007 to recognise a plethora of new practices becoming popular online
New Categories
- Film And TV
- Advertising
- Mobile
Webby Lifetime Achievement: David Bowie
Webby Lifetime Achievement: eBay
Webby Artist of the Year: Beastie Boys
Webby Person of the Year: Steve Chen & Chad Hurley, Co-Founders, YouTube
Webby Film & Video Awards Best Actor: Ask A Ninja
Webby Film & Video Awards Best Actress: Jessica Lee Rose (Lonelygirl15)
Winners of Note
treehugger.com
atomfilms.com/
coolhunting.com/video
Stockholm the Musical
facebook.com
linkedin.com
UK Winners
last.fm
zopa.com
bbc.co.uk/news
guardian.co.uk
bbc.co.uk/radio1
manutd.com
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For the full list of past winners you can find them here
So hopefully you’ll by now have a better idea about the Webby’s, what it stands for and why having one on your mantelpiece is our businesses’ highest accolade.
If you have produced something that you think is brilliant and worthy of consideration then make sure you enter. If you know someone else who has make sure they enter too. To be a true benchmark for the very best, then the best have to enter!
The final deadline is set for the 25th of January. Details and entry forms, as always are on the Webby site here
Nicolas Roope
UK Webby Ambassador