What: WebbyConnect, The Webby Awards’ First-Ever Summit
When: October 3-5, 2007
Where: The St. Regis Resort, Laguna Beach, CA
Registration: www.webbyawards.com/webbyconnect
Contact:
Gita Chandra, gita@mkpr.com
Patrick Kowalczyk, patrick@mkpr.com
MKPR, 212.627.8098
WEBBY WINNERS, ACADEMY MEMBERS TO HEADLINE
WEBBYCONNECT, THE WEBBY AWARDS’ FIRST-EVER SUMMIT
First-Ever Webby Summit Connects Guests with Internet Luminaries;
Arianna Huffington and Internet Co-Inventor Vinton Cerf to Deliver Keynotes
http://webbyawards.com/webbyconnect/
New York, NY (September 10, 2007) – Having reinvented the traditional awards show, The Webby Awards will bring its trademark flair and style to the staid world of industry conferences with its first-ever summit October 3 -5, 2007.
WebbyConnect offers attendees an opportunity to interact and engage with more than thirty Webby Award winners, Academy members, and Internet innovators in fields such as entertainment, advertising, and politics.
The three-day program focused on the future of the Internet and emerging media features a diverse roster of speakers including Internet co-inventor Vinton Cerf, Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington, MySpace co-founder Josh Berman, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone, BoingBoing co-editor David Pescovitz, and AKQA Global Creative Director Rei Inamoto.
To buy WebbyConnect passes, guests can register online at http://webbyawards.com/webbyconnect/.
Hailed as the “OSCARS® of the Internet” 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 content.
“Five-word speeches are perfect for an awards show, but we’ve long wanted to give our winners and Academy an opportunity to say and share more,” said David-Michel Davies, executive director of The Webby Awards. “The Internet has become so massive that we saw a need to create an event where they could connect, offer insights, and exchange ideas with the larger Webby community.”
Reflecting the ever-increasing breadth of the Internet, attendees will debate and discuss a wide range of emerging issues and hot-button topics- from the Internet’s role in the 2008 presidential election to privacy issues raised by social networking sites to the power of branded content as a marketing vehicle.
“The Webbys reinvented the award show,” said Webby academy member Harvey Weinstein. “I can’t wait to see what they do with a conference.”
The launch of the WebbyConnect comes on the heels of The Webby Awards most successful years ever. The 11th Annual Webby Awards and the first-ever Webby Film and Video Awards received a record 8,000 entries from over 60 countries. The awards season was capped by a star-studded June gala attended by an eclectic group of Internet luminaries including David Bowie, eBay CEO Meg Whitman, Beastie Boys, and YouTube co-founders Steve Chen and Chad Hurley.
The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-person judging academy whose members include Cerf, Huffington, R/GA’s Bob Greenberg, “Simpson’s” creator Matt Groening, and Harvey Weinstein.
The summit will take place at The St. Regis Resort in Laguna Beach, the only five-star resort in California, October 3-5. For WebbyConnect details, visit http://webbyawards.com/webbyconnect/.
About The Webby Awards:
Hailed as the “OSCARS® of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet, including Web sites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile web sites. Established in 1996, the 11th Annual Webby Awards received a record 8,000 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: Adobe; The Creative Group; Verizon; AOL Video; dotMobi; The Barbarian Group; CondéNast|CondéNet; Level3; Adweek; Fortune; Reuters; Variety; Wired; IDG: Brightcove; PricewaterhouseCoopers; 2advanced.Net; KobeMail and Museum of the Moving Image.
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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