Internet’s best and brightest to shine at 9th Philippine Web Awards

This article was originally published Dec 6, 2006 on http://www.philippinewebawards.com/newsroom.asp

Internet’s best and brightest to shine at 9th Philippine Web Awards
Tom S. Noda
Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Expect a night of fun, glamour and high-tech online creativity on December 7, Thursday at the 9th Philippine Web Awards (PWA) to be held at the Carlos P. Romulo Auditorium Podium 4, RCBC Plaza located on Ayala Avenue corner Sen. Gil Puyat Ave. in Makati City.

For the 9th consecutive year, Media G8way Corp. (MGC) will honor the countrys best Web sites competing in 13 different categories. A total of 60 Web sites have made it to the PWA finals.

The 13 Web site categories are: Arts and Portfolio; Banking and Finance; Blogs; Celebrities and Personalities; Community and Portal; Corporate; e-Government; Lifestyle and Leisure; Media; Organizations; Personal; Schools; and SMEs (sites of small and medium enterprises across all industries).

Guest celebrities JM Rodriguez and Sheryll Crystal will host Thursdays event with actresses Francine Prieto, Pinky Amador, and lounge singer and former Philippine idol contestant Jelly Mateo as presenters.

Also, three local Filipino alternative rock bands are scheduled to do live performances in the event, composed of DNA Rock, Helen, and Join the Club band.

Prestigious local and foreign judges have evaluated all the 60 Web site finalists. The finals judging ended on December 1 and the scores of each finalist are now being tabulated by the Isla Lipana & Co., a member firm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers.

For each of the 13 categories, two separate awards will be given: The Best Web Site and Peoples Choice. An award will also be given for The Most Popular Web Site of the Year.

Beginning this year, the countrys Best Local Government Unit Web Sites will be honored during the PWA. The inclusion of the category is made possible through a partnership signed between MGC, the National Computer Center (NCC), and the Commission on Information and Communication Technology (CICT).

Winners of Peoples Choice awards are those that garnered the most number of SMS and Online votes in their respective categories, while the Most Popular Site of the Year winner is the site that, overall, has garnered the most number of both SMS and Online votes.

Meanwhile, although the judging for the Best Web site in the 13 categories ended on December 1, SMS and online voting for the Peoples Choice awardees is ongoing and will officially end at 11:59 p.m. on December 6.

As a treat, voters will get a chance to win two free tickets to the PWA event. A regular ticket costs P250.00. Bulk purchases of 10 tickets are entitled to a 10% discount. For inquiries, call Ayla Cruz at 812-8401 to 03 loc. 110.

The PWA serves as the stepping-stone for a bigger and glitzier awards event the Annual Webby Awards the global index of success for interactive work. It is hailed as “the most prestigious award in the world” by the British Broadcasting Corporation.

Recently, MGC president and CEO Ibarra Gutierrez, was appointed Webbys Ambassador for the Philippines. Webby Ambassadors are a group of passionate Internet supporters and entrepreneurs in over 15 countries, serving as a “voice on the ground” in their area.

You may catch the live Webcast of the Awards Night on December 7, from 7:00 – 10:00 p.m. through the PWA Web site at http://www.philippinewebawards.com/.