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The 2001 Webby Awards Need You: Internet Honors Seeking Entries for Best Sites of the Year

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:
Judie Mulligan, mulligaj@fleishman.com

Fleishman-Hillard Public Relations, 415.356.1086

THE 2001 WEBBY AWARDS® NEED YOU: INTERNET HONORS SEEKING ENTRIES FOR BEST SITES OF THE YEAR

http://www.webbyawards.com

SAN FRANCISCO, CA (August 2, 2000) – How would you like to have your Web site singled out as the world’s best by the likes of David Bowie, Francis Ford Coppola, Larry Ellison, and Sandra Bernhard?

Scanning the Internet’s 40-million-plus sites for the best of the best, The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences has kicked off the call for entries for the fifth annual Webby Awards, to be held in the summer of 2001, organizers announced today.

Hailed as the “only awards show for Internet sites that matters” by the Los Angeles Times and “the preeminent honors for digital media” by The Times of London, The Webby Awards have become famous for their over-the-top ceremony, outrageous fashions, and legendary five-words-or-less acceptance speeches. They are presented by the Academy, a 370-person organization whose membership includes Bowie in Music, Coppola in Film, Ellison in Technical Achievement, and Bernhard in Humor.

“Our first ever call for entries last year resulted in thousands of submissions from over 27 countries,” said Maya Draisin, director of The Academy. “We’re looking forward to generating an even more diverse and dynamic range of nominees this year. Our goal is to shine the Webby spotlight on the very best that the Internet has to offer.”

Draisin noted that several of last year’s open-submissions entrants eventually took home a 2000 Webby Award, including little known sites, such as Lost and Found Sound (Best Radio Site) and Cocky Bastard (Best Personal Web Site), as well as the hugely popular search engine Google (Best Technical Achievement).

In response to the most requested new categories – surprisingly “church” and “state” –Draisin also announced that two new categories will make their debut at the 2001 Webby Awards – Best Spirituality Site and Best Government & Law Site. Other categories include: Activism, Arts, Community, Commerce, Education, Fashion, Film, Finance, Games, Health, Humor, Living, Music, News, Personal Web Sites, Politics, Print & Zines, Science, Sports, Technical Achievement, TV, Travel, and Weird. Sites are judged on the basis of content, structure and navigation, visual design, functionality, interactivity, and overall experience.

For a chance to win the coveted award, aspiring award winners should visit The Webby Awards Web site, where they will find submission rules and an official online entry form. Deadline for entries is December 15, 2000.

About the Webby Awards
The Webby Awards are the leading international honors for Web sites. Nominees and winners are chosen by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences. The Webby Awards are an IDG event. Sponsors for the 2000 Webby Awards include Intel, Hewlett-Packard, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Adobe, Modem Media, Flyswat, Visa, Warburg Dillon Read, BeSeen, Xpedior, AboveNet, Audi, commission junction, worldlyinvestor.com, PlanetClick, One Media Place, Fleishman Hillard, netRaker, The Creative Group, Netpulse, Ofoto.com, Entertainment Weekly, Business 2.0, Access Magazine, NewCity.com, Metropolis Editorial, MVFX and MVFXi, divisions of Manex Entertainment, Inc., ArtByte, MacWorld, San Francisco Bay Guardian, MacWorld Expo, MSN bCentral, Internet World, Upside Media, EMC, We Also Walk Dogs, The Hornet, Pacific Bell, Honkworm, Illusion 2K, Bla-Bla.com, Atomz.com, FloNetwork, Image Bank, eVite, and United Airlines. Balloting is audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers. The live Webcast is produced by USA Video Interactive and hosted by Yahoo! Entertainment.

About the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences

The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences is dedicated to the creative, technical, and professional progress of the Internet and evolving forms of interactive media. The goal of The Academy is to assemble a unique and brilliant panel of leading new media experts, Web visionaries, journalists, and luminaries to propel the World Wide Web into the future. The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes over 350 members such as film director Francis Ford Coppola, musician David Bowie, Chairman of Miramax Talk Media Tina Brown, cyberguru Esther Dyson, creator of “The Simpsons” Matt Groening, National Public Radio personality Ira Glass, computer scientist Jaron Lanier, and Oxygen Media President Geraldine Laybourne. Members also include writers and editors from publications such as Wired, Details, Fast Company, Elle, The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times, Vibe, Forbes, and Premier. For more information, visit www.iadas.net.

About IDG
IDG publishes more than 290 computer magazines and newspapers and 700 books and offers online users the largest network of technology-specific sites around the world through IDG.net, which comprises more than 240 targeted Web sites in 55 countries. IDG is also a leading producer of 168
computer-related expositions worldwide and provides IT market analysis through 49 offices in 41 countries worldwide. Company information is available at http://www.idg.com.

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