What do actress Susan Sarandon, pro skateboarder Andy Macdonald and Ben & Jerrys co-founder Jerry Greenfield have in common? Probably not much other than the fact that all three have enough interest in the Internet to volunteer their time as judges for the 2001 Webby Awards.
They join celebrities such as film director Francis Ford Coppola and music stars Beck, Bjvrk and David Bowie on the list of more than 350 Web professionals, entertainers, designers and others contributing their expertise in various fields to the Webby selection process.
The Webbys three-tier nominating system divides the awards 30 categories between judges with knowledge in those specific areas. Using proprietary software by PriceWaterhouseCoopers (aka the guys who guard the Oscar envelopes), nominating judges surf through sites spotlighted by a separate team of reviewers. The judges then deliberate online to determine the five nominees for each category.
The diverse group of judges participating in the 2001 nomination process includes Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams, Talk Media Chairwoman Tina Brown, The Simpsons creator Matt Groening and syndicated political columnist Arianna Huffington.
Other judges range from journalists (Los Angeles Times technology writer P.J. Huffstutter, San Francisco Chronicle Executive Editor Phil Bronstein) to businesspeople (Virgin Atlantic Airways chairman and founder Richard Branson, Hollywood producer Peter Guber)
Our judging body is made up of a diverse group of people who represent both traditional expertise and Internet expertise -- and ideally crossover expertise, says Academy Director Maya Draisin. David Bowie, for example, obviously has such great expertise in music, and then has just jumped on the bandwagon with technology and is incredibly knowledgeable there as well, and so thats an obvious fit.
Once the five nominees in all 30 categories have been established, all 350-plus members of the Academy vote to determine the 30 winners.
