Nominees Announced April 2nd
Honoring the Best
of the Internet

Kicking Off Its 15th Year, The Webby Awards Expand to Reflect Sweeping Impact of Apps on Advertising and Branding

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KICKING OFF ITS 15th YEAR, THE WEBBY AWARDS EXPAND TO REFLECT
SWEEPING IMPACT OF APPS ON ADVERTISING AND BRANDING

Kicking Off Call for Entries for Year’s Best Interactive Advertising,
Webbys Debut New Categories Honoring Apps, Augmented Reality

New York, NY (September 14, 2010) – Kicking off its 15th year celebrating the best of the Internet, The Webby Awards today announced it is expanding its mission to reflect the profound impact apps and the mobile Web are having on advertising, branding, and marketing.

As part of the launch for its call for entries for the year’s best work in interactive advertising, Websites, and online film and video, The Webby Awards debuted a new suite of categories saluting apps for handheld and tablet devices. New Academy members such as Yelp.com CEO Jeremy Stoppelman, UrbanDaddy CEO Lance Broumand, and Thrillist co-founder Ben Lerer have been tapped to judge the new honors, joining veteran members such as Wieden + Kennedy’s Iain Tait and AKQA’s Rei Inamoto.

Organizers also announced a new interactive advertising award honoring work in the rapidly expanding field of augmented reality. The award will recognize campaigns that merge the real-world environment with digital imagery and interfaces via Q codes, cameras, Tag, and more. Other interactive advertising categories include Branded Content, Viral Marketing, and Best Use of Social Media.

To enter work in the 15th Annual Webby Awards, visit www.webbyawards.com. The early entry deadline is October 29, 2010.

Last year, the 14th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from more than 60 countries. The awards season was capped by a star-studded June gala, where BBDO was saluted as Webby Agency of the Year alongside such Internet luminaries Roger Ebert, Chatroulette.com creator Andrey Ternovskiy, Zach Galifiankis, OK GO, Amy Poehler, and Internet co-inventor Vint Cerf.

“In our fifteen years honoring the best of the Internet, we’ve seen few developments have as profound an impact on advertising and branding as apps and the mobile web,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. “Apps, as well as breaking trends like augmented reality, are changing the way consumers interact with brands in sweeping ways. We’re looking forward to honoring the agencies’ pioneering work not only in these areas but in all aspects of interactive advertising.”

In keeping with tradition, all winning agencies will have the opportunity to deliver one of The Webby Awards’ famous five-word speeches. In conjunction with the call for entries kick-off, The Webby Awards debuted a new video featuring Amy Poehler, Zach Galifianakis, OK Go, Buzz Aldrin and other Webby winners that reveals how many five-word speeches can be delivered during the typical 60-second award show acceptance speech.

Nominees for the 15th Annual Webby Awards will be announced in April, and winners will be honored at the gala ceremony in June 2011.

The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 650-person judging academy that includes Martha Stewart, David Bowie, Vinton Cerf, and Arianna Huffington.

About The Webby Awards:

Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 14th Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft Expression; Aol; YouTube; Pepsi; Aquent; Yahoo!; HP; Sony Electronics; .CO; Corbis Images; Rackspace Hosting; Motorola; Southwest Airlines;; East Media; IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail; Museum of the Moving Image; Behance; Business Insider; Time Out New York; paidContent and The Guardian.

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