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Valleywag
I've vowed never to attend another Webby Awards for as long as I've been going to the show. After last night's 2007 gala, it's finally time to burn the bridges. The whole concept has always been slightly absurd: an Oscars-style show for an industry that has little glamor; with a nomination process that rewards organizations with good publicists, or faddish appeal, rather than outstanding achievement. But the revenue-hungry new owners of the Webbys, who took over from founder Tiffany Shlain, have sacrificed the awards' redeeming quality: the quirky charm she brought.
Last night's gala, in the gigantic hall once occupied by the New York Mercantile Exchange, had the air of a middle-management jamboree. The real internet stars, even those local to New York, seemed unaware the event was taking place. The honorees seemed bemused: in one of the more embarrassing acceptance speeches, one of the Beastie Boys, picking up Artist of the Year, joked, awkwardly, that they were only coming because they'd been paid.
Lesser-known nominees were less fortunate. Not only did they have to pay $220 for each category in which they entered, but award winners were charged the full whack of $400 simply to pick up their award at the gala. That's like one of those junk-mail prizes for which one has to pay to enter. No wonder few of the Silicon Valley winners bothered to fly across to New York. [Disclosure: I got a freebie pass; after this slam, I doubt I'll be invited back.]
About the only people who looked like they were having a good time: Chad Hurley and Steve Chen of Youtube., pictured above, in their booth at the after-party at Hiro nightclub. The cheery Chad and Chen show is a new staple of tech parties. Then again, if you'd sold a company to Google for $1.65bn, before the inevitable lawsuit, wouldn't you be happy?
