Re: The Webbys →

spytap:

moth:

mikehudack:

I’d like to offer congratulations to the Web video Webby nominees… That said…

I don’t disagree with Mike in principle (read his post) — the web video community absolutely needs its own, free-to-enter, non-profit web video awards. That’s why we all love the idea of the Streamys, why I’m a founding member of the IAWTV, and why Next New Networks shelled out a considerable amount of money to sponsor the Streamy Awards this year (for the record, we have not done the same for the Webby Awards).

However, the Webby Awards, while definitely a for-profit business, are also the most well-respected awards for the commercial web media industry, and as a member and a judge I can attest that they have a very strict and well-run voting process that’s fair for all nominees who pay their entry fee. They’re a venue where independent start-ups like ours can go toe-to-toe with big companies like Time Warner and win (last year we won more Webby Awards than the New York Times, and they have a lot more resources than we do), in our case bringing recognition to independent creators who work with us like The Gregory Brothers, Jack Ferry, and Bobby Miller, who are among our nominated producers this year.

It’s also by no means accurate to state that “only the richest of us” can enter the Webby Awards. The cost of entering — $125 to $195 for online video categories, which you can submit with a single video URL and a form submission — isn’t much higher than the current cost of entering the Streamys (which required submission of a DVD this year for nominated series, which many people complained of the time and cost involved) — and it’s considerably less than a lot of web series spend on PR and marketing of their series, or that some shows spent this year on Streamy Award “For Your Consideration” campaigns that seemed to give some web series an advantage (Next New Networks, for the record, opted not to spend money marketing for the Streamys to try to maintain a level playing field).

By being top nominees for the Webbys this year, shows we work with like “Auto-Tune the News” received immediate, international press attention that was well worth the sub-$200 cost of entry.

Attending the awards show — at a cost, to be sure, but it’s a pretty spectacular show — is optional, as is picking up a statuette afterwards. But if you win an award, putting a banner on your site that you won, and participating in all of the resulting press, is free.