The Web Awards: Bigger and Better

This article was originally published Oct 13, 1999 on http://www.philippinewebawards.com/
https://web.archive.org/web/19991013033036/http://www.islesite.com:80/webawards/news.htm

t’s back! Last year’s highly successful and much talked about Philippine Web Awards is now on its second year. The Webbies gathered together a who’s who in the world’s of entertainment, media, and the Internet, making it one of the biggest and hippest I.T. events last year. The Internet community – yuppies, students, web developers and the digerati – jam-packed the Hard Rock Cafe.

With the likes of Dr. Margie Holmes, Shannen Torres, Lara Fabregas, Jao Mapa, and Teresa Loyzaga adding star power, plus Fatal Posporos and The Eraserheads rocking the night. It wasn’t what you called a typical I.T. event. Not even a regular awards night.

It was what you could say part MTV and part Oscar, produced and directed by well known producer-director David Allen and Mackoy Villaroman.

First, there was an imposing background motif and the giant video wall showcasing the best interactive multimedia display and special effects from the country’s pioneer and leading multimedia firm- David Allen Productions.

The real stars of the evening were of course, the Webby Awards and People’s Choice winners, who waited in suspense, gasping and yelling as their names were called. 38 winners bagged trophies and plaques for the Webby, People’s Choice, and special awards. Big winners included, the Inquirer, Realpinoy, and Mach 1 which won both the Webby and People’s Choice awards; Magoos Oizza for winning Intel’s E-Commerce Site Award; and PhilMusic.com which took the Webby Award for Msuci and the biggest catch of all — PLDT’s Web Site of the Year.

Before the night was over, people were already talking about next year’s Webby’s. For the next few weeks, in fact, even months, the Webbies was featured in newspapers and TV shows like NewsCentral (Studio 23), Balitang K (ABS-CBN 2), The Probe Team (GMA-7), and even snippets in CNBC Asia’s computer show Dot.Com. News web sites from as far as Canada reported the event.

This year’s Web Awards will be bigger and better. There will be a bigger venue to accommodate more people. There will be more special awards. There will be stricter rules and regulations, and higher standards. Bigger stars will be invited. Greater support is expected from the I.T. industry. The promotional campaign will be more aggressive. A bigger and better Web Awards will mean greater awareness of the Internet in the country and wider recognition of the efforts and talents of world-class Filipino web designers and developers.

This May 25, 1999, at the Century Park Sheraton, WS Computer Publishing Corporation, the organizer of the awards, will offcially launch The 2nd Philippine Web Awards. The press conference will feature an audio-visual presentation of last year’s awards, a Q&A portion, and a virtual ribbon cutting to officially open the nominations. The web site will also be launched simultaeneously.