FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Judie Mulligan, mulligaj@fleishman.com
Fleishman-Hillard Public Relations, 415.356.1086
“ABSOLUT DJ” TOUR, G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE TO HEADLINE
1999 WEBBY AWARDS BASH
Conan Regular Marc Maron to Emcee Awards Show; Bjork,
Richard Branson, Geraldine Laybourne Join Stellar Roster of Judges
San Francisco (March 3, 1999) – The ultra-flavorful G.
Love & Special Sauce and the trailblazing multimedia artists Emergency
Broadcast Network (EBN), a headliner on the ABSOLUT DJ Tour, will take
center stage at The 1999 Webby Awards post-ceremony bash at San Francisco
City Hall, Webby Awards organizers announced today. Organizers also announced
that Intel is the exclusive sponsor of the post-ceremony bash.
The Webby Awards are the leading creative honors in digital
media. More than 3,000 people from around the globe will descend on San
Francisco for one of the year’s hottest tickets, while thousands more
will tune in to the live Webcast at the Webby Awards Web site http://www.webbyawards.com
to watch the invite-only awards ceremony.
Tiffany Shlain, executive producer/creative director
of The 1999 Webby Awards also announced that comic Marc Maron, a Late
Night with Conan O’Brien regular and the star of several Comedy Central
and HBO comedy specials, will emcee the awards ceremony at San Francisco’s
Herbst Theatre on March 18, 1999. “The topcat of the alternative scene
in Manhattan” (The New Yorker), Maron will be responsible for entertaining
the crowd with his “twisted” sense of humor while holding winners to the
Webbies’ strict five word or less acceptance speech limit.
Organizers also announced PricewaterhouseCoopers and
Hewlett Packard will be the co-hosts of a VIP party for nominees and judges
prior to the ceremony.
“All of these acts are thrilling performers and complete
originals,” said Shlain. “I think we’ve lined up a post-show that may
match the electricity of the Webbies themselves.”
Shlain added that Gillian Anderson, Bjork, Olympic gold
medalist skier Johnny Moseley, Virgin Atlantic Airlines chairman Richard
Branson, Oxygen Media president Geraldine Laybourne, and EMILY’s List
founder Ellen Malcolm have joined the stellar roster of judges that will
choose the best Web sites of the year in 22 categories.
Other judges include David Bowie, Tina Brown, Francis
Ford Coppola, and Deborah Norville. The 220 members of the International
Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences will cast their ballots online prior
to the event and PricewaterhouseCoopers will audit the balloting process.
Epic recording artists G. Love & Special Sauce, whose
unique blend of funk, blues, rock, and hip-hop has earned them a huge
international following, will perform at The Webby Awards Post-Ceremony
Party, which will be held at the just-restored San Francisco City Hall,
a Beaux Arts masterpiece and national landmark. The band’s 1994 self-titled
debut album has sold more than 250,000 copies in the U.S. alone, and their
much-anticipated fourth album is slated to be released in Summer 1999.
Described as “a hypnotic, politically subversive sound-and-vision
barrage” by Entertainment Weekly, EBN’s multisensory, mind-numbing performances
involve everything from live DJ turntable operation to video projection
and laser effects. EBN will be appearing as part of the ABSOLUT DJ Tour.
An extension of ABSOLUT DJ http://www.aboslutvodka.com,
an inventive and unique “visual music” Internet site, the tour features
emerging artists from the growing underground DJ movement.
About The Webby Awards and The International
Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences
The Webby Awards are the leading creative honors for digital
media. Nominees and winners are chosen by The International Academy of
Digital Arts and Sciences, a global organization dedicated to the creative,
technical, and professional progress of new media. The Webby Awards are
an IDG event. The VIP pre-party is co-hosted by PricewaterhouseCoopers
and Hewlett Packard. Intel is the exclusive sponsor of the post-ceremony
party. The Webby Awards ceremony is sponsored by Entertainment Weekly,
Time Magazine (The Digital supplement), vivid studios, Levi Strauss
& Co., AboveNet, ABSOLUT VODKA, BroadVision, Access Magazine, AdForce,
NaviSite, The Motley Fool, VISA, Hotel Triton, The Menlo Technology Group,
Alice 97.3 (CBS affiliate), PC World, TipWorld, LinkExchange, The
Industry Standard, ARTBYTE, San Francisco Bay Guardian,
and Rocket Lab. For more information, visit http://www.webbyawards.com.