Webby Awards

I attended the Webby Awards this week.

Wow. Whoa. Wawee.

Let me tell you, it was impressive.

We’ve all been hearing about convergence for as long as the Webby Awards have been around—14 long years. That concept feels so much more tangible right now.

Being there felt like I was online, only with real people. I watched the Andrey Ternovskiy, the founder of ChatRoulette, chatting to Ben Huh, the guy behind I Can Has Cheeseburger. I renewed my crush on Isabella Rossellini as she accepted an award for Sundance Channel’s brilliant Green Porno. And I got a wee bit teary as the boys and girls from the PS22 chorus sang, lead by their teacher. Buzz Aldrin was there, and so was Roger Ebert. And so were Jason Bateman, Zach Galifianakis and Amy Poehler. Vinton Cerf ‘the father of the internet’ bounced on stage to receive a lifetime achievement award for his work on the protocol that still, 40 years on, allows data to be transmitted across the internet.

The beauty of all this is the wide spectrum of talent being celebrated. From the brilliance of Pandora to the absurdist humor of Selleck Waterfall Sandwich. From the financially practical Mint.com to the hilarity of The Onion. ‘Old’ media got a pat on the back—The New York Times, NPR and BBC. And so did ‘new’ media—Twitter, Hulu and HuffingtonPost.

I know it’s just an award show, but I also think it’s a reflection of where we are at right now. With artwork by Shepard Fairey, videos by The Wade Brothers and B.J. Novak, from The Office, MCing, the experience was exactly what it should have been—an event celebrating the achievements in a hugely influential medium.

Now let’s see if we can get our hands on one of them slinky-like awards and give a mandatory five word speech.

I wanna hang with astronauts.

Check out the winners.
http://www.webbyawards.com/

Sergio Flores
ACD