History
The Webby Awards began in 1995, sponsored by the Academy of Web Design and Cool Site of the Day. That first year, they were called "Webbie" Awards. The first "Site of the Year" winner was the pioneer webisodic serial The Spot.
Today's Webby's were founded by Tiffany Shlain when she was hired by the The Web Magazine (an IDG Publication) to establish the awards. The event was held in San Francisco from 1996 to 2004 and quickly became known for their "5 word Acceptance Speeches". After the first year the awards became more successful than the magazine and IDG closed the publication. Shlain continued to run The Webby Awards with the help of Maya Draisin until 2004.
The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, which selects the winners of The Webby Awards, was established in 1998 by co-founders Tiffany Shlain, Spencer Ante and Maya Draisin. Members of the Academy include David Bowie, Martha Stewart, Harvey Weinstein, Arianna Huffington, Matt Groening, Biz Stone, Internet inventor Vint Cerf, Virgin Group Chairman Richard Branson, and R/GA Chairman and CEO Bob Greenberg.
Since 2005, The Webby Awards has been operated and owned by Recognition Media, which also operates the Telly Awards and other awards programs. In 2006, The Webby Awards launched new categories honoring interactive advertising and original film and video that premiered on the Internet.
In 2007, The Webby Awards launched new categories honoring mobile Websites.
In 2009, the thirteenth Annual Webby Awards received nearly 10,000 entries from all 50 states and over 60 countries. That same year, more than 500,000 votes were cast in The Webby People's Voice Awards.
In 2012, the sixteenth Annual Webby awards received 1.5 million votes from more than 200 countries for the People's Voice awards.
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