Review for the Webby Awards

The Webby is the leading international award for online acheivement, as judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Webby reviewers work directly in internet-related fields, and use their professional expertise to provide preliminary evaluations of entries.

Overview

Entry Review is the first step in a two step process leading to the awarding of The Webby Awards.

Step 1: Entry Review
Step 2: Nominee and Winner Selection

As a reviewer, your task is to:

Review and rate submitted entries against the Academy criteria.
Write a brief review of the entry outlining its strengths and weaknesses.

Entries are reviewed by multiple reviewers. Entries that fare the best will be passed on to Academy members for consideration as a Webby Nominee and Winner.

If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact us.

Schedule & Commitment

Round 1 of Webby Reviewing ends December 1, 2008 or on the completion of all entry reviews, whichever comes first.
Round 2 ends February 1, 2009, or on the completion of all entry reviews, whichever comes first.

We ask you to participate until you've completed your chosen assignment for each round.

You may choose one of two assignments. Remember, the reviewer system randomly spits out categories based on your Primary, Secondary and Tertiary cluster selections:

Tera: $350 for 225 points*
Giga: $200 for 150 points*

* The point system is simple:

4 Points for Integrated Marketing Campaigns; Online Campaigns
3 Points for all Websites; Film & Video Series
2 Points for Film & Video Singles; Banner Campaigns; Advertising Singles
1 Point for Banner and Rich Media Singles; Email Marketing

The points have been determined by the time it should take you to get through a review. A single banner ad takes significantly less time than a large Website or an Online Film, so it is worth only 1 point. An Integrated Marketing Campaign often includes a Website, banner ads and other media, so we award you 4 points for that review.

First Round assignments are to be completed by December 1, 2008.

If for any reason you are unable to fulfill your assignment in any given round, you will be paid $1 per point for every entry you did review. If you review more entries than you were assigned, then you'll be paid at the pro-rated rate of the assignment you chose for that given round. If you sign up for a Giga or Tera and all sites are completed, you will be paid the prorated rate for the reviews completed within the assignment.

Please contact davidp@webbyawards.com if you have any questions.

Process

The site will guide you step-by-step through the process of reviewing an entry. It consists of the following steps:

1. Determine if the Entry Loads Properly

Click on the link; make sure it works. Be patient. Allow films and video to download. You may need to download or update software applications in order to view the entry. Test the username and password (always best to copy and paste) if needed.

If everything is working then answer "yes" to "Does the Entry Load". If something is wrong, answer no. Please be absolutely certain that something is wrong before clicking No. Please select one of the possible reasons the site did not load from the pull-down menu provided. In addition, feel free to send a brief note about what was wrong with the entry to davidp@webbyawards.com so that we can look into the problem.

2. Check for a Conflict of Interest

Entries in a selected category will be randomly served to you for review. Before you review a given entry, we must confirm that you do not have a conflict of interest that might prevent you from objectively reviewing the work.

The Academy considers it a conflict of interest if you have:

worked (in any capacity) on the development of the entry - contract or otherwise.
worked for the company that developed the entry even if you didn't work on the particular entry.
worked for a direct competitor of the entry.
any personal or professional bias for or against the entry.

For each entry, you will be asked to confirm no conflict of interest against the conflict criteria prior to reviewing the work. Answering "yes" disqualifies you from reviewing that entry. You will continue to be fed potential entries until you receive one with which you do not have a conflict.

3. Review the Entry

View the entry. Give it as much attention as required to accurately rate and review it. Explore the content, visit the various layers, read the text, test out the tools. If it's a video game, play it a few times. If it's a videoblog, watch several episodes. Login and review the special content if there is a login and password associated with the entry. Please do not use provided login and password information for any other purpose besides Webby Reviewing.

Keep the criteria in mind.

Remember that some entries are frog princes whose value is not immediately obvious. Not all Webby-winning sites are visual 10s; frequently their value lies in the content they provide or the resources they allow access to.

4. Rate the Entry

Rate each entry against the criteria for Websites, Interactive Advertising or Online Film & Video:

Websites

Interactive Advertising

Online Film & Video

Before you begin

"Warm up" and set your own benchmarks before you start reviewing. Check out the following Webby nominees and imagine how you might review them:

Flickr: great example of a site that displays excellence throughout all Webby criteria.

Rocketboom : Though the Visual Design is simple and typical of video blogging, Rocketboom utilizes equal strengths of talent, writing and production to boost itself to the forefront of the online video uh, boom.

The Huffington Post : Like Flickr, a stellar site across the board.
Clearly understand your 1, 5 and 10. And 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9. This will help you remain consistent in the ratings you give.

While rating

Stay present. Focus on the entry you are rating, the criteria, the benchmark values you have set, and your knowledge of the competitive quality of Websites, Interactive Advertising or Online Film & Video in the category.
Be consistent. Although we don't want your benchmark to be the previous entry at any moment, be consistent in the value of a 2, 6 or 9.
Save your 10s. Remember as you go that when you give a 10, you should not run into an entry to which you want to give a higher rating. There can be a site that you think is equal, but not better. Of course, if an entry just can't be beat, dish it out, and hear the crowd roar.
Don't penalize repeats. Some entries are eligible in more than one category, and you may be asked to review the same site twice for different categories. Do not give the site a 1 or 2 simply because you've seen it before. Instead, let David know so we can take care of the problem.
Don't automatically give broken, or foreign language sites a 0. Please mark them no load and use the notes field provided. Often times, we have translations that we can send you for sites submitted in foreign languages (we DO ask that sites be submitted in English).

5. Write a brief review

Draft a four to five (4 to 5) sentence review that gives a snapshot of the entry and its high and lowlights. Be descriptive, and tell us something beyond what you've communicated in your ratings. Instead of writing, "The content is good," explain why the content is good, as we've done in the example review below. You may want to focus on elements not already covered in the ratings or elements from the ratings that deserve further explanation. Be thoughtful and creative, but stay brief. Try to spend more time exploring an entry than you do writing the review.

So what does a Website review look like?

"ThisSite.com is great, but not extraordinary--more worthy of a USA Today "Hot Pick" than a Webby Award. The graphics are a little dated, though still elegant and inviting. The interface is fairly intuitive, but the content is B-Grade at best. The last article dates to two months ago. Where this site really makes up ground is in its functionality - the site is fast, potential downloads come in a variety of formats and are well marked. If only the content was a bit more current."

Wondering how you should write up a banner?

"Great banners make you click on them almost immediately. With so much content on a page, your eyes should go right to the ad. And this banner is no exception. The mouse-over action was very inventive and I found myself actually spending time inputting information -- into a banner ad! The ad wasn't intrusive and was very creative. A simple concept that I've seen copied now many times. A great piece of interactive advertising with inventive creative and unique functionality!"

And how about an online film? Unsure how to review that?

"Although I'm not Scorsese, I've worked on enough films -- online and offline -- to know a clunker when I see one. The plot was barely evident, the acting even more invisible and although the filmmakers were surely limited to a smaller budget (hence posting online) they could have gotten more for their dollars. The fact tthat the film isn't a total bore is a credit to the producers and to their potential. But I'd definitely advise that the Webby be saved for a more deserving, more coherent film. "

Payment

You will be paid based on your chosen assignment: $350 for 225 points; $200 for 150 points; $1 per point.*

An invoice indicating the number of points you accrued and the dollar amount owed will be automatically emailed to you 2-4 weeks after the conclusion of each round or reviewing. Payment for completed assignments will be made two to four weeks after invoices are received.

If for any reason you are unable to fulfill your assignment in any given round, you will be paid $1 per point for every entry you did review. If you review more entries than you were assigned, then you'll be paid at the pro-rated rate of the assignment you chose for that given round. If you sign up for a Giga or Tera and all sites are completed, you will be paid the prorated rate for the reviews completed within the assignment.

*You must "confirm" the review in order for it to be counted as completed.

Contact Us

Have questions? Something changed? Something not working? Don't hesitate to let us know.

David Pallais
Assistant Producer
(212) 675-4890 ext. 5006
davidp@webbyawards.com

The Webby Awards &
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences
19 West 21st Street, Suite 602
New York, NY 10010

To reach other members of Webby Team, visit our executive team page.