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Photo du Jour 501
Hey, the (once prestigious) Webby Awards have been announced, but we're finding ourselves strangely bereft of euphoria. Wanna know why?
Waaay back in January, we got an email from the Webby folks:
I am delighted to let you know that members of the Int'l Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS), the judging body for The Webby Awards, have suggested that SFist would be a strong contender in the Blog, Community and News categories for the 10th Annual Webby Awards.
"Well, hot damn!" we thought. We could win us a (once prestigious) Webby! We hadn't heard much about the (once prestigious) Webbies since they left the Bay Area for New York, but it's sure nice to be recognized. We read on.
While more than 5,000 sites have already been entered into 10th Annual Webby Awards, we want to make sure we leave no stone unturned in our search for the best. All sites entered go through our stringent process, each one evaluated by multiple reviewers with the top scorers passed on to IADAS members for consideration of a Webby Award.To enter, please use the code "INVITED" A processing fee does apply.
A processing fee? Interesting. Why are we starting to feel like we just got one of those "You have been chosen for some random Who's Who" letters? How much is the "processing fee"? Dude, it was $245.
We checked in with a friend of ours whose company won a Webby last year, and he confirmed our darkest fears. "They do this for an salary, not to celebrate the internet. They charge us the "processing fee" and also charged an entrance ticket fee (I think it was $250) to the awards ceremony."
Another prominent blogger told us that "Apparently this year, they've extended the 'nomination' period at least once, maybe more, because I guess they haven't made enough money. It's most definitely a 'who's who' type scam." In the words of one of our esteemed colleagues, "That's some racket the Webbys have going!"
Our Webby-winning friend told us the reason his company paid the fees were because "Making the investment made sense in terms of building visibility for our company" but admitted "The $ left a bad taste in my mouth."
After hearing all that, while we appreciated the (once prestigious) Webbies folks turning over our stone in order to get our $245 recognize the best of the web, we declined the opportunity to compete against other "Community" nominees like Xbox.com and "Blogs" nominees like Cute Overload.
That said, we'd like to congratulate the winners on being successful enough to have the dough to enter the competition. What can we say? We prefer recognition when it's not pay-for-play, and we'd way rather spend that $245 on beer.
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It's $245, but you get free shipping.
What utter sleaze. Miss Tiffany must be having a hard time buying that co-op on the Upper East Side.
I think what I like best over at Cute Overload is their Cats and Racks section. Only, why didn't the site author call this section Kitties and Titties instead? Hint, hint!
Seriously, sexualizing "cuteness" is just kind of icky to me. Like that whole plushy thing.
Shudder.
And if this is "webby" material? Give me a frickin' break!
k.
I don't actually begrudge anyone a couple hundred bucks in compensation for their expenses (whatever they are - server costs?) involved in putting together something like this. But you're close to something very uncomfortable yet interesting in terms of what these awards really mean.
Most of them are traffic drivers for the host sites, given to whoever can, well, drive the most traffic. Equating the ability to drive site traffic with 'excellence' is rather like equating Prom Queens with the Presidency. (Not alluding to any particular president, before you get started there.)
There's much that's seriously wrong with the way blogs are evaluated, and awards shows are partly to blame. Popularity does not necessarily equal excellence. If the awards shows acknowleged this, I'd have no problem with them. Nothing wrong with being popular. But consistently excellent blogs are hard to find, snowed under by 'popular' traffic.
My email address is mistersnitch@hotmail.com. I'd love to hear opinions on this.
We made the decision over at a large community art site not to bother with the Webbies once we were made aware of this farce.
Paying the entry fee is certainly no guarantee of winning, even though we hammered the competition in the reader's choice awards.
Man, I had no idea that it was a scam like that. For average readers like me it still has this air of honor to it.
Got this same email. So, it's a payola system. We didn't bother since it's not a real award.
Yes, we at www.BlogArizona.com received and ignored the same email. I'm glad we since it was just another rip off. Can't trust anyone anymore, especially in email! I'd rather let my kids piss away the $245, especially now that I know that they'll never get into those Who's Who directories! :)
LoL! I am glad I got a chance to read your thoughts on the Webby awards. For a minute, I thought I was the only one who thought it was scandalous.
It reminds of these pageants where you have to sell tickets... and the winner is..... the one who sold the most tickets. So yup, you can be the ugliest with no talent and win as long as you sell the most ticket. Pretty hideous, huh!
I'm quite fond of the "CuteOverload" site. I'm a sucker for cute things.
Thanks for the laugh!
Mz. Pink Diva