And the Winners Are…

Seattle Weekly's Best of the Web 2010 Awards.

By Zibby Wilder • June 2, 2010 12:00 am
And the Winners Are...

Back in April, we announced Seattle Weekly’s first annual Best of the Web Awards 2010 – a celebration of the best of Seattle’s web and social media scene.

You nominated your favorites and, from that pool, winners were chosen by a panel of luminaries from Seattle’s online community including:

So, with no further ado, your winners are:

Tweet of the Year@johnroderick

Seattle’s Most Shameless Self-PromoterBen HuhSeattle’s Sexiest BloggerMonica Guzman

Best Local Cell Phone AppUrbanSpoon

Seattle’s Best Use of a Blog to Make BankFAIL blog

Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Fine ArtsHenry Art Gallery

“First, I like that their web site takes some chances. It’s an art museum, not an e-commerce site, and I like that they are more adventurous with the design. Second, they are fighting out of their weight class on twitter with nearly as many followers as the SAM.” – Ethan Lowry Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Urban ArtsFremont Abbey“I’m easy: Tell me something. Make it look nice. Don’t make me work hard trying to find out what your site’s all about. Which is why this site wins. It’s visually palatable—a really nice mix of text and visuals on the home page — yet packed with information in an easy-to-navigate way. Which is another way of saying they don’t let design and visuals overpower the need to provide basic information, like including a decent About page. The site features an embedded Twitter feed, an importable Google calendar of classes; photo slideshows, a Facebook events page and a useful “history” page. I kept clicking and clicking and never came across a dull page. (OK. The “press” page links to nothing but that’s bound to change with this prestigious Seattle Weekly award, I think).”  – Florangela Davila Seattle’s Best Online Presence – NonprofitPAWS“Clean and easy–to-read design. Excellent use of social media, especially the incorporation of YouTube videos to showcases the organization’s mission. The Facebook “Like” button on the blog also was a nice touch.” – John Cook  Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Restaurant/BarEthan Stowell Restaurants “A brand-enhancing presence that easily lays out all the basic things a customer wants to know. A feast for the eyes.” – Ben Huh Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Music/BandKEXP “I chose KEXP for a number of reasons. Their website is fantastic – more complete than most music-centric destinations on the Web. The layout is clean and is dense with information for would-be listeners. They’re actively using Facebook, but I particularly like the way they chose to manage their Twitter presence. The station uses two separate Twitter accounts: one is for news, upcoming events, and the like; the station other is strictly to showcase the playlist. This keeps both data streams separate for convenience.” – Chris Pirillo Seattle’s Best Online Presence – ActivismPAWS “I chose this site because of its clear design, and streamlined layout. As a new viewer, it was easy to navigate and find a lot of information quickly.” – Rachel Ratner Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Music ClubThe Vera Project “Had a variety of ways of reaching out with ample information about all sorts of projects and events. Seemed the most active. Although the Crocodile had the most Facebook friends, The Vera Project had the biggest variety of information and things to interact with.” – Ryan Henry Ward Seattle’s Best Online Presence – FoodieChef Reinvented“A straightforward, well put together food enthusiast
blog that steers clear of noisy gadgets and
doo-dads. Becky Selengut’s voice and style put it over the top.” – Matt Harding Seattle’s Best Online Presence – PoliticsMy Northwest“My Northwest does a great job of synthesizing mainstream news with voices from the community, combining blog, Twitter and news feeds. Its layout is clear and easy to read.” – Rachel Ratner Seattle’s Best Online Presence – NewsSeattle Crime“It’s innovative and focused, and the iPhone app is cool.” –  Ethan Lowry
 Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Environment/GreenGrist.org“Full disclosure: I got paid by grist.org for a freelance story I wrote for the site more than a decade ago. But they’re not paying me now and I don’t remember the site looking anything like it does today: jam packed with information, a site that serves as both a source and a curator of news. I like the use of color and photos and the way they managed to weave in ads without detracting from the content. There’s some two-way reader-driven content here and it works: the Recent Comments and the Most Popular Posts widgets. They’ve got a Twitter feed that I wish was also embedded on the home page but I’m not going to complain much about that. Why? Because the site looks good, feels good and reads well and if I cared about this sort of stuff I’d bookmark it. Kidding.” – Florangela Davila
 Seattle’s Best Online Presence – NetworkingSeattle 2.0“Frequently updated, frequently relevant with a growing regular audience. Nothing makes networking easier than having something to talk about.” – Ben Huh Seattle’s Best Online Presence – SportsSonicsgate“Mind you, I’m not a sports fan – so I’m definitely NOT playing favorites! Even though this is a media destination, the operators make it easy to find where they might be discovered throughout the social Web. Maybe I have a soft spot for films that post their videos to YouTube (to be viewed from an iPad), but this nominee impressed me most. I suppose it doesn’t hurt that they continue to tackle the controversy on Twitter, either.” – Chris Pirillo Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Fashion/ClothingShut up, I love that shirt on you “Writing with a fun edge. Nice use of photo montages. A solid blend of text and audio/visual.” – John Cook Seattle’s Best Online Presence – OutdoorsCliff Mass Weather Blog“Cliff Mass doesn’t just report the weather,
 he reflects on it. This is in-depth analysis for those who want to
 know the why as well as the what.” – Matt Harding Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Record Store
Silver Platters“Silver Platters has the best online presence and use of basic online options. Easy to see how to interact in a variety of ways.” – Ryan Henry Ward Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Tourist TrapPike Place Market

“Why: The granddam of Seattle tourism has an attractive site, a large following on Facebook and an active voice on Twitter. Also I love food.” – Ethan Lowry Seattle’s Best Online Presence – HotelHotel Max“Hotel Max’s site provided information on their rates and hotels while showcasing artwork and spotlighting activities in the community (check out their Facebook page).” – Rachel Ratner Seattle’s Best Online Presence – BakeryTrophy Cupcakes“A sweet design which uses Facebook and Twitter to actively promote its offerings, including cupcake “happy hours” and parties. A fun site.” – John Cook Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Coffee ShopVictrola Coffee Roasters “I do love coffee! Sadly, I can’t ever recall visiting my selection for this category: Victrola Coffee Roasters. Even though their Web design is far from perfectly percolated, I was happy with their active engagement of customers on Facebook and Twitter. While I’m a bit dismayed that I couldn’t find any videos or location-based network incentives, it’s clear that Victrola Coffee is taking the conversation beyond a single domain”. – Chris Pirillo Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Traffic ReportingQ13 Fox“Large traffic map and camera views on one page of the routes people use the most”. -Ben Huh Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Salon/SpaVain“The spa/salon people could learn a thing or too from the green/enviro group in terms of using available tools to deliver the goods. Seriously. A photo gallery of hair styles (Gary Manuel) and a video tour of the place (Julep) were both good, useful and kind of no-brainers. But when it comes to look and feel – and to meshing with the style and place of the actual business – Vain wins. It’s hip and clean and it tells me what I need to know (prices). I can learn a thing or too about the stylists. I can easily map the location of the salon. And I’m even turned on to some community/art resources. Plus, it’s got a blog that rocks and that makes me want to rush in and shop”. -Florangela Davila Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Local EventsThree Imaginary Girls“Whenever you feel like there’s nothing worth doing around town, you can come here to be reminded how colossally wrong you are. Three Imaginary Girls fills you in on all the great shows you missed cause you couldn’t be bothered to roll off the couch and go put some pants on”. –Matt Harding Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Home DecorRe-Store“It’s incredible how much this company has going on for both the environment and the community. The web site is simple and extremely informative and the use of Facebook and Twitter to connect with the community is spot on with best practices”. -Zibby Wilder Seattle’s Best Online Presence – Pets/Pet ShopPAWS“Best for pets. most interactive for the customer to get involved. Good use of video, and a variety of reaching out forms”. -Ryan Henry Ward Seattle’s Best Neighborhood Blogger             Tracy Record (West Seattle Blog)“This is a tough one, since these bloggers are all doing amazing work, largely unpaid, to provide a valuable service for their communities. It’s a testament to how useful they are that West Seattle Blog, for instance, has over 6,000 followers on Twitter, which is over 10% of the neighborhood’s total population”. -Ethan Lowry Seattle’s Sexiest Web SiteWexley School for Girls “There’s nothing sexier than a good sense of humor. And the Wexley site provides plenty of quirky humor, if nothing else”. -Ben Huh Seattle’s Best Tweeter@Macklemore“ ‘You talk too much. Homeboy, you never shut up.’ But not @Macklemore. He can’t always spell but at least he’s got a voice and has something to say”. -Florangela Davila Seattle’s Best Neighborhood BlogWest Seattle Blog“Even though I live on the opposite side of the Seattle galaxy, my pick is: West Seattle Blog. This is pretty much the original Seattle-area neighborhood blog, and its balance of content and advertising is near perfect. I do happen to visit West Seattle often, and can always depend on their content being fresh. It’s likely due for a design overhaul, but at least you know the team is keeping residents informed, involved, and fueling their sense of belonging to a community. Their presence on Twitter is outstanding to boot. They make me wish I had friends helping me do something similar out here in Issaquah”. -Chris Pirillo Seattle’s Best Flickr PoolSeattle Street Art “I chose this Flickr pool because people really have to go out of their way to find, and find a way to frame, this kind of art. Photographing it is an art in itself. Not all people consider Street Art to be “art” since it doesn’t hang on a wall or isn’t the result of a commission of some sort. But I believe Seattle itself to be an organic, constantly fluxing work of art, and so should be the art of her veins and arteries. With a pool of 33,000+ images this is an impressive homage to our city and the talents that call her home”.  -Zibby Wilder