Free Press : Winners of 11th Annual Webby Awards Announced

The winners of The 11th Annual Webby Awards will be saluted alongside a remarkable slate of special achievement honorees, including rock legend David Bowie, eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman on behalf of the eBay community, and the co-founders of YouTube, at the June 5th gala in New York City, Webby organizers announced today.

The Webby Awards winners were revealed today in a wide range of categories, including Websites and brand new categories honoring online film and video, interactive advertising, and mobile content.

Hailed as the “Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a 550-person judging academy whose members include Vinton Cerf, R/GA’s Chief Bob Greenberg, “Simpson’s” creator Matt Groening, Arianna Huffington, and Harvey Weinstein.

This year, winners will be honored at two ceremonies: The Webby Film & Video Awards on June 4th and The 11th Annual Webby Awards on June 5th. Both ceremonies will be hosted by comedian Rob Corddry (“The Winner”, “The Daily Show”) and will feature the Webbys’ famous five word speeches. (Al Gore’s 2005 speech: “Please don’t recount this vote.”)

“The Webby winners and special achievement honorees represent the very best in online creativity and innovation,” said Webby Awards executive director David-Michel Davies. “We’re proud to salute the people and organizations whose ideas and vision are transforming how we experience the world.”

Highlights of this year’s winners include:

Webby Award winners range from powerhouses such as NPR (Podcasts), Nike (Retail), Sony (Home Page), and The New York Times’ “Dealbook” (Business Blog) to independent sites like Blip.tv (Broadband), “we make money not art” (Cultural Blog), Last.fm (Music), and Wikitravel (Travel).

Webby People’s Voice winners include Facebook (Social/Networking), Save the Internet (Activism), Dream it Do it (Associations), Best Week Ever (Celebrity/Fan), FabSugar (Fashion), Treehugger (Cultural Blog), Gifts.com (Services), and TripAdvisor (Travel).

Multiple Webby Awards winners include: Flickr (5), Adobe (5), HowStuffWorks (4), Jonathan Yuen (3), BBC (3), and LinkedIn (2).

Achieving both critical and popular consensus, 20 sites won both a Webby Award and a People’s Voice Award including: Norelco’s ShaveEverywhere.com (Beauty/Grooming), Truthdig (Politics), Pan’s Labyrinth (Movies), The Onion (Humor), Mindflood Seduction (Professional Services), and Cute Overload (Weird).