For Immediate Release
Contact: Jill Feldman,jill@mkpr.com
Patrick Kowalczyk, patrick@mkpr.com
Michael Kaminer Public Relations, 212.627.8098
10th ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS UNVEIL YEAR’S BEST WEB SITES;
MYSPACE FOUNDERS, THOMAS FRIEDMAN, THE GORILLAZ, MARK CUBAN,
INTERNET CO-INVENTOR DR. BOB KAHN, AND WEBBY WINNERS
TO BE HONORED AT JUNE 12TH CEREMONY IN NEW YORK
New York, NY (May 9, 2006) – The winners of the 10th Annual Webby Awards will be saluted
alongside a remarkable slate of Special Achievement honorees, including the founders of
Myspace.com, Thomas Friedman, Mark Cuban, The Gorillaz, and Internet co-inventor Dr. Robert
Kahn, at the June 12th gala in New York City, the International Academy of the Digital Arts
and Sciences announced today.
Webby Awards winners were revealed today in 69 business, consumer and culture categories –
from favorites like Community, Fashion, Film and Politics to new categories making their
debut this year such as Podcasts, Best Visual Design, Business Blog and Best Use of Video
or Moving Image. The 10th Annual Webby Awards received a record 5,500 entries from over 40
countries around the world.
In addition, over 300,000 votes were cast by people around the world speaking out for their
favorite sites as part of the People’s Voice Awards. A full list of Webby Award and People’s
Voice Award winners – and the people behind them – can be found at www.webbyawards.com.
Organizers also announced recipients of this year’s Webby Special Achievement awards, including:
- Webby Breakout of the Year: social networking sensation MySpace.com and its founders Tom Anderson and Chris DeWolfe.
- Webby Artist of the Year: The Gorillaz, the world’s most successful virtual band and a pioneer in fusing music and animation.
- Webby Entrepreneur of the Year: Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and HDNet and evangelist for the power of technology to drive change.
- Webby Person of the Year: Thomas Friedman, New York Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The World is Flat: A Brief History of The 21st Century.
- Webby Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr. Robert Kahn, co-inventor of the TCP/IP protocols, the technology used to transmit information on today’s Internet.
Proclaimed “the online equivalent of an OSCAR®” by the New York Times (June 21, 2005), The Webby
Awards is the leading international honor for Web sites and the innovators behind them. The Webby
Awards is presented by the Academy, a global organization with over 500 members including musician
David Bowie, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, The Body Shop president Anita Roddick, “Simpsons”
creator Matt Groening, Naked Chef Jamie Oliver, and fashion designer Max Azria.
Over 600 winners, industry leaders, and celebrities will attend the June 12th ceremony at New York
City’s landmark Cipriani Wall Street For the second year in a row, Rob Corddry of The Daily Show with
Jon Stewart will emcee the evening’s festivities.
In keeping with Webby tradition, all winners and Webby Special Achievement honorees will be limited to
five-word acceptance speeches. Last year’s Webby Lifetime Achievement Award honoree Al Gore made worldwide
headlines with his speech – “Please don’t recount this vote.”
“The winners of the 10th Annual Webby Awards reflect the web’s incredible diversity and the vital role it
plays in all aspects of our daily lives,” said Tiffany Shlain, Webby founder and ambassador. “We’re proud
to salute the people and organizations whose groundbreaking ideas are reshaping how we experience our world.”
Highlights of the 10th Annual Winners include
- Winners ranged from new and up-and-coming sites like The Huffington Post (Political Blog), Style Wars (Best Visual Design) and FabChannel.com (Music) to powerhouses like Paypal (Financial Services), ESPN (Sports), Expedia (Travel), and Bank of America (Banking/Bill Paying).
- Reflecting the past year’s news, trends, and ideas, winners include The Katrina Help Center (Charitable Organization), San Francisco’s disaster preparedness site 72Hours (Government) and hybrid vehicle guide UCS HybridCenter (Guides).
- Sites winning in more than one category include BBC for BBC Cumbria/Digital Lives (Community) and BBC News (News); Google for Google Earth (Best Visual Design/Function and Broadband) and Google Maps (Services); and Flickr (Best Navigation/Structure and Best Practices). BOOK OF COOL won three People’s Voice Awards for Best Navigation/Structure, Best Use of Video or Moving Image and Retail.
- People’s Voice winners included established sites like BabyCenter (Kids/Parenting), MyYahoo! (Best Home/Welcome Page), Library of Congress (Cultural Institution), and CNET (Guides/Reviews/Ratings), as well as popular favorites like TripAdvisor (Community), CuteOverload (Cultural/Personal Blog), and Bebo (Social Networking).
- 19 sites won both a Webby Award and a People’s Voice Award including: Redken Haircolor (Beauty and Cosmetics), Style.com (Fashion), The Onion (Humor), 2006 Sundance Film Festival (Movie and Film), mediaBOOM (Professional Services), Above the Influence (Youth) and Google Maps (Services).
- International winners of The 10th Annual Webby Awards include: The United Kingdom’s Official Portable PlayStation Site (Consumer Electronics), The Netherlands’ Fabchannel.com (Music), New Zealand’s NewZealand.com/travel (Tourism), and Canada’s Big Ideas Come from Big Pencils (Best Visual Design/Aesthetic).
- Arnold Worldwide, POKE, Avenue A/Razorfish , Critical Mass, DDB, Big Spaceship, Second Story Interactive, Framfab, Mullen, and Bloc Media are among the interactive, advertising, and design agencies behind the winning sites.
Title Sponsors for The 10th Annual Webby Awards are:
- AOL LLC, a leading network of Web brands including the new AOL.com®, AOL’s next generation broadband Web portal, which offers an extensive array of content and features available for free.
Web users can access industry leading communication products; the best programming from news, sports and personal finance to music, movies, television and games; as well as an innovative video media
experience, all from one place. - The Creative Group, a division of Robert Half International, the premier staffing company for creative professionals.
For a list of all winners of The 10th Annual Webby Awards, visit www.webbyawards.com
About The Webby Awards:
Founded in 1996, The Webby Awards is the leading international honors for Web sites. The Webby Awards is presented by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 535-member judging organization consisting of leading experts in a diverse range of fields. Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: AOL.com, The Creative Group; Verizon; Adweek Magazines; Fortune and FSB; OnRequest Images, IDG; PricewaterhouseCoopers; iStockphoto, American Marketing Association; 2Advanced Studios, 2 Advanced.net; MX Interactive. For more information visit
www.webbyawards.com.
About the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS):
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences is dedicated to the creative, technical, and professional progress of the internet and interactive media. The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes over 500 members consisting of leading experts in a diverse range of fields, such as musician David Bowie, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, business guru and author Tom Peters, The Body Shop president Anita Roddick, fashion designer Max Azria, Simpsons creator Matt Groening and Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser. The Webby Awards and The International Academy of DigFor more information, visit www.iadas.net.
OSCAR® is a federally registered trademark of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Webby Awards and the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences are in no way affiliated with or sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences or OSCAR®.
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