webby's

Thanks to .ORG, the Public Interest Registry, I attended the Webby's June 9 and 10. They were a sponsor of this year's Webby's and I am an Advisory Council Member for .ORG. It was, of course, very inspiring to see all the amazing videos and websites. The hosts were fabulous (Judah Friedlander and Seth Meyes). The June 9 After Party was interactive. It included Rhoda Grossman drawing digitally (yep, that's my digital caricature on the left) and Adobe's Digital PhotoBooth (pic on the right). I got to get all dressed up two days in a row and hang out with people I like and admire. Not a bad gig.

There was a definite feel to the event of young, hip, creative, nontraditional. I wouldn't go so far as to say anti-corporate because some of the winners were coprorations. It was more a vibe of "we do things our way". No shortage of creativity as evidenced by the pix that came out of the Digital PhotoBooth. What struck me as a bit disturbing was the apparant need to be "elite". On one hand the attendees want to show that anyone with a computer, creativity and some luck can make a huge splash online. At the same time, there appeared to be a 'cool kids only hang out with cool kids' kind of syndrome being developed.