FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Jill Feldman, jill@mkpr.com
Patrick Kowalczyk, patrick@mkpr.com
Michael Kaminer Public Relations, 212.627.8098
EIGHTH ANNUAL WEBBY AWARDS®
ANNOUNCE BEST SITES OF THE YEAR
San Francisco, CA (May 12, 2004) –
Capping a year that saw the web play an increasingly vital role in everything from politics to pop culture, The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences® today unveiled the winners of The 8th Annual Webby Awards
With record numbers of people going online to follow, debate, and influence world events, the Academy unveiled the winners for the year’s best web sites in 30 categories, including Activism, Community, Film, Music, News, Personal Web Sites, Politics, and Spirituality. A complete list of winners is available at http://www.webbyawards.com.
Hailed as “the online OSCARS®” by Time Magazine, The Webby Awards is the leading international honors for web sites. The awards are presented by the Academy, a global organization that includes over 480 members such as musicians Beck and David Bowie, Internet co-creator Vint Cerf, political columnist Arianna Huffington, “Smart Mobs” author Howard Rheingold, “Simpsons” creator Matt Groening, Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser, The Body Shop president Anita Roddick, and Oracle chairman Larry Ellison.
Reflecting the egalitarian spirit of the internet, winners ranged from Wikipedia.org (Best Community), a free, community-built encyclopedia, to the official site for the OSCAR®-winning documentary The Fog of War (Best Film), to web powerhouses like Google (Best Practices and Best Services).
Google was also one of several sites to win both a Webby Award and a People’s Voice Award, which is determined by the public. Other dual winners included The Onion (Best Humor), Epicurious.com (Best Living), Apple iTunes (Best Music), and beliefnet (Best Spirituality).
Other notable winners included:
- Two of the world’s leading public broadcasting networks won multiple awards. PBS.org won for Best Television and its P.O.V. Borders www.pbs.org/pov/borders/index_flash.html won for Best Broadband. BBC-affiliated web sites received three awards: BBC Human Body www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody (Best Education), BBC News www.bbc.co.uk/news (Best News), and BBC Sport news.bbc.co.uk/sport (Best Sports).
- In addition to the BBC wins, other international winners include: Colette www.colette.fr (Best Fashion; France); RAKU-GAKI.com www.raku-gaki.com (Best Personal Web Site; Japan); Map 24 www.map24.com (Best Technical Achievement; Germany) and Car Stuck Girls www.carstuckgirls.com (Best Weird Site; Germany).
- Meetup.com and Blog for America www.blogforamerica.com, two sites that transformed the 2004 U.S. Presidential election, won the Webby Award and People’s Voice Award, respectively, in the Best Politics category.
“This year’s Webby Awards winners are changing the way we live in ways big and small – from how we listen to music to how we elect a president,” said Tiffany Shlain, the founder and creative director of The Webby Awards. “We are proud to salute their fearlessness, ingenuity, and vision.”
Like last year, nominees and fans organized local parties around the world including Frankfurt, London, New York City, and Olympia, Washington to celebrate this year’s nominees & winners.
About The Webby Awards
Founded in 1996, The Webby Awards is the leading international honors for consumer Web sites and individual achievement in technology and creativity. The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences selects the nominees, winners, and presents the awards event. Sponsors of The Webby Awards include The Creative Group, IDG, Business 2.0, Fortune, PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Rackspace Managed Hosting. For more information visit http://www.webbyawards.com.
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 Academy’s goal is to assemble a brilliant panel of leading new media experts, visionaries, journalists, and luminaries to propel the Internet and Interactive Technology into the future. The Academy is an intellectually diverse organization that includes over 480 members such as musicians Beck and David Bowie, Internet co-creator Vint Cerf, political columnist Arianna Huffington, Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser, “The Simpsons”creator Matt Groening, “Smart Mobs” author Howard Rheingold, Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, and The Body Shop president Anita Roddick.
Members also include web developers, internet experts and technology writers and editors from publications such as The New York Times, Wired, Forbes, Spin, Fast Company, Travel + Leisure, the Los Angeles Times, Dwell and wallpaper. For more information, visit http://www.iadas.net.