Webby Award Winners Keep it Pithy at New York Bash

By: David S. Hirschman At a ceremony in Lower Manhattan last night, the International Academy of the Digital Arts and Sciences honored the winners of the 10th Annual Webby Awards.

The winners, in over 65 categories, accepted awards for excellence in web design, creativity, usability and functionality, each giving an acceptance speech of five words or less (as is the decade-old ceremony's tradition).

"Darlings, make blog. not war," said Arianna Huffington, accepting the best political blog award for her Web site.

Other five-words-or-less haiku-like acceptance speeches included:

-- "Sports, pornography, sports, pornography, sports," from sports site winner ESPN.com.

-- "Does this go with Manolos?" from fashion site winner Style.com.

-- "Liberals have mojo; we win," from peoples' choice politics winner MotherJones.com.

A full list of winners' acceptance speeches can be found here.

Held in the cavernous Cipriani Wall Street, the event seemed to host a strange mix. While the New York Times may have dubbed the Webbys the "Oscars of the Internet" there was a distinct sense in the crowd that no one knew who anyone was. Of course the Web is a medium where everyone is, for the most part, trapped behind keyboards and screens. The room was full of the kind of anonymous Internet celebrities who make millions behind the scenes (or behind their keyboards) but are seldom seen anywhere near a red carpet.

"Daily Show" correspondent Rob Corddry hosted the event, cracking wise about Internet pornography and product freebies. Unlike fellow Comedy Central personality Stephen Colbert, however, Corddry stayed mild in his jibes; he occassionally chimed in with bits of irony when calling up award winners, but was, for the most part, flat.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban declined his invitation to speak, despite being billed as one of the top draws at the event (his team wasn't playing in the NBA playoffs Monday ... but perhaps his private jet was being serviced).

The event also honored Web pioneers like Dr. Robert Kahn (who is credited with "inventing" the Internet, all due respect to Al Gore).

Prince, the artist formerly known as an incomprehensible symbol, was honored as well with a lifetime achievement award for his New Power Generation site.

New York Times Op-Ed columnist Thomas Friedman was also honored with a special award for being "Webby Person of the Year." In his acceptance speech, Friedman spoke about a "tipping point" as regards the Web. He also joked about being able to come out from behind the TimesSelect "pay" wall, although he added he might have to charge everyone for listening to him.

"Whatever can be done will be done," said Friedman in his speech. "If you've got an idea, don't wait six months. Because there are so many people connected and so many cheap tools of collaboration and connectivity. ... The one question is whether it will be done by you or to you."

The academy is a 500-member body of "leading web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities." Its members include David Bowie, Internet inventor Vint Cerf, "The Simpsons" creator Matt Groening, and Oracle chairman Larry Ellison, as well as writers and editors from a wide variety of publications.

A complete list of winners and nominees can be found here.