13th annual Webby Awards nominees announced


14 Apr 2009

In a roll-call of the best and brightest from across the web, the nominees for this year’s Webby Awards were announced today.

With over 10,000 entries from more than 60 countries in the mix, the organisers had their work cut out for them to whittle the worthies down to a handful of nominees in each of the awards’ some 70 categories, which cover websites, online videos and films, interactive advertising and mobile websites.

Categories span the breadth of the internet, from serious news sites and political satire to the altogether hilarious but chillingly relevant Sad Guys on Trading Floors and weirdly wonderful re-enactments of the sex life of insects. Categories include: Activism, Celebrity/Fan, Corporate Communications, Education, Food and Beverage, Government, Law, Movie and Film, Music, Games-related, Netart, Radio, Tourism, Travel, Weird and Youth.

For a full list of this year’s nominees, see www.webbyawards.com/webbys.

The Webbys are presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-member body of leading web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and celebrities.

Celebrated members include internet inventor Vint Cerf, political columnist Arianna Huffington, Real Networks CEO Rob Glaser, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and musicians Beck and David Bowie. Members also include writers and editors from publications such as The New York Times, Wired, Details, Fast Company, Elle, The Los Angeles Times, Vibe, and WallPaper.

The public has until 30 April to vote for its favourites, with winners announced on 5 May. The awards themselves will be presented in a gala ceremony hosted by Saturday Night Live‘s Seth Meyers at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

The Webbys are famous for limiting recipients of awards to speeches of five-word duration – cue former US vice-president Al Gore’s famous 2005 acceptance: “Please don’t recount this vote”. Now, if only the Academy would bestow such an honour on its over-exuberant Hollywood stars.

By Jennifer Yau

Pictured: David Bowie accepting a Webby Award