FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Anne Muscarella
(212) 918-2044
(New York) March 4, 2014 – The Webby Awards in conjunction with The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, Tim Berners – Lee, World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and the World wide Web Foundation , today announced a special online campaign to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Web, which falls on March 12. The month long campaign will culminate with a presentation by Berners-Lee at the 18th annual Webby Awards Ceremony on Monday May 19th, held during New York’s Internet Week.
The theme was chosen to honor the vision of Berners-Lee, who sought to create a truly free and open space to exchange ideas. This empowered billions to create, communicate and collaborate; sparking a new era for creativity, advancing our economies, and spreading democracy.
“We are so humbled to be partnering with the Web Foundation, the W3C and Tim to celebrate this milestone in Internet history,” said The Webby Awards President David-Michel Davies. “This initiative is not only an opportunity to reflect on how the Web has changed personal lives and transformed our culture, but also to inspire a new wave of innovation for the next 25 years.”
“I have always been a big fan of The Webbys,” said Berners-Lee. “Whether people are creating video or music or other things on the Web, or fostering human rights online, or developing open standards, this is the time for us to come together to celebrate and build the future. In addition to the projects we are commissioning with The Webbys, we invite everyone to use film, music, art, technology and other means to celebrate this creation that belongs to all of us.”
The contributors’ submissions will focus on the breadth and depth of the Web’s resources, the reach and impact of social networks and the speed with which people and organizations have been able to connect online. All original content will be catalogued online, along with a curated collection of artifacts from the Web’s early days.
For more information about Web anniversary activities throughout 2014, visit webat25.org and follow us on twitter at @Web25 .
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 & Media, Online Film & Video, Mobile & Apps, and Social. Established in 1996, The Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries worldwide last year. The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS). Sponsors and Partners of The Webby Awards include: Microsoft, Citibank, Twitter, Dell, Vitamin T, Quantcast, MailChimp, Yext, Tumblr, Engine Yard, Funny or Die, AdAge, MLB Advanced Media, Mashable, Business Insider, Guardian News and Media.
About The World Wide Web Foundation:
Established by Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the World Wide Web Foundation (webfoundation.org) seeks to establish the open Web as a global public good and a basic right, creating a world where everyone, everywhere can use the Web to communicate, collaborate and innovate freely.
The Web Foundation’s team of 20 works with more than 90 partner organisations across 60 countries. Our current initiatives include co-leading the burgeoning Web We Want movement (webwewant.org) creating the world’s first ever Open Data Contracting Standard (www.open-contracting.org) and spearheading the Alliance for Affordable Internet, the broadest technology sector coalition.
About the World Wide Web Consortium:
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) is an international consortium where Member organizations, a full-time staff, and the public work together to develop Web standards. W3C primarily pursues its mission through the creation of Web standards and guidelines designed to ensure long-term growth for the Web. W3C celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2014. W3C is jointly run by the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (MIT
CSAIL) in the USA, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM) headquartered in France, Keio University in Japan, and Beihang University in China, and has additional Offices worldwide. For more information see http://www.w3.org/.
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