Months before Jimmy Fallon succeeded Conan O’Brien as host of NBC’s “Late Night,” the former “Saturday Night Live” comic was perfecting his shtick on the web.
He did a series of online videos for NBC.com as well as a blog, with the online elements essentially acting as a soft launch for his “Late Night” gig.
The approach worked. Fallon has maintained 97 percent of O’Brien’s audience after some two months on the job, and yesterday his web work earned him the Webby Awards’ person of the year honor.
Awards were given in nearly 70 categories, with NPR leading with seven wins. Fallon helped boost NBC.com to six wins, tying The New York Times for second place overall.
Fallon was just one of the well-known names to be honored this year. The Webbys, now in their 13th year, used to be notable for their obscurity, honoring sites and people that only true online aficionados would recognize.
But as the web has grown in importance, so has the recognizability of Webby honorees. Several of this year’s individual special achievement winners have earned not just Webbys but Grammy and Emmy nominations in the past.
Lisa Kudrow (“Friends”) won for outstanding comedic performance for her role in Istudio.com’s “Web Therapy.” Sarah Silverman won best actress for “I’m F**king Matt Damon,” which picked up an Emmy last year.
“Family Guy’s” Seth MacFarlane was named person of the year, and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor was artist of the year after releasing his latest album, “The Slip,” for free download on his web site.
The Webby Awards will be presented June 8 in New York City, where winners will be held to six-word acceptance speeches.
The list of winners:
Activism
Protect An Acre, Atmosphere BBDO
http://www.atmospherebbdo.com/work/ci/protect/
Art
Keith Tyson Website, De-Construct
http://www.keithtyson.com/
Associations
Create an Effect, Alt Group
http://www.justaddnewzealanders.com
Automotive
The Truth About SMART, Agency Republic
http://agencyrepublic.net/awards/webby_smart/smart.php
Banking/Bill Paying
Xero, Xero
https://go.xero.com
Beauty and Cosmetics
AXE 100 Girls, BBH New York
http://www.bbhgraze.com/awards/webbys_09/axehair_website/
Best Copy/Writing
NYTimes.com, The New York Times
http://NYTimes.com
Best Home/Welcome Page
adidas.com homepage, Molecular / de-construct
http://www.adidas.com
Best Navigation/Structure
WHITEvoid online portfolio, WHITEvoid interactive art & design
http://www.whitevoid.com/application.html
Best Practices
NYTimes.com, The New York Times
http://NYTimes.com
Best Use of Animation or Motion Graphics
Coraline Website, Wieden+Kennedy
http://coraline.com
Best Use of Photography
The Big Picture. Boston Globe
http://www.boston.com/bigpicture
Best Use of Typography
Wordle, IBM Research
http://www.wordle.net/
Best Use of Video or Moving Image
TED.com, TED Conferences
http://www.TED.com
Best Visual Design – Aesthetic
The Turbo Gene Test, Lowe Brindfors
http://www.saab.com/turbogenetest
Best Visual Design – Function
NIKEiD, R/GA
http://www.rga.com/award/nikeid.html
Blog – Business
5 Blogs Before Lunch, 5 Meetings Before Lunch
http://www.5blogsbeforelunch.com
Blog – Culture/Personal
1000 Awesome Things, 1000 Awesome Things
http://www.1000awesomethings.com
Blog – Political
Democracy in America Blog, The Economist
http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/
Broadband
NBC.com Full Episode Player, NBC.com
http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/episodes/
Celebrity/Fan
Yahoo! omg!, Yahoo!
http://omg.yahoo.com
Charitable Organizations Nonprofit
The Nature Conservancy: Protecting Nature, Preserving Life, The Nature Conservancy
http://www.nature.org/
Community
Flickr, Yahoo! Inc.
http://www.flickr.com/
Consumer Electronics
Secret Services, Black Magic Marker
http://tomtomsecrets.com
Corporate Communications
Seymourpowell, Sennep
http://www.seymourpowell.com
Cultural Institutions
Guggenheim Museum, ID Society
http://www.guggenheim.org
Education
Smarthistory, Smarthistory
http://smarthistory.org
Employment
TheLadders, TheLadders
http://www.theladders.com
Events
YouTube LIVE, YouTube
http://youtube.com/live
Family/Parenting
Disney Family.com, Disney Interactive Media Group
http://www.family.com
Fashion
Red Issue, Hello Monday
http://www.red-issue.com
Financial Services
Mint.com, Mint.com
http://www.mint.com
Food and Beverage
Hotel 626, Goodby, Silverstein & Partners
http://www.awards.goodbysilverstein.com/2009/hotel626/
Games
Club Penguin, Disney Interactive Media Group
http://www.clubpenguin.com
Games – Related
The Escapist, Themis Group Inc.
http://www.escapistmagazine.com
Government
BayBridge360, Words Pictures Ideas
http://baybridge360.org
Guides/Ratings/Reviews
Very Short List, Very Short List
http://www.veryshortlist.com
Health
Take Care Down There, Leopold Ketel & Partners
http://www.TakeCareDownThere.org
Humor
The Onion, The Onion
http://www.theonion.com
Insurance
NWMutual "Let Your Worries Go," Firstborn / Downtown Partners
http://www.letyourworriesgo.com
IT Hardware/Software
HP - Creative Studio, Publicis Modem
http://www.hp.com/hho/hp_create
Law
WomensLaw.org, WomensLaw.org
http://www.womenslaw.org
Lifestyle
BBC Climate Change: Bloom, magneticNorth (mN)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bloom
Magazine
TheAtlantic.com, TheAtlantic.com
http://www.theatlantic.com
Movie and Film
Sundance Channel, Sundance Channel / TENDER
http://www.sundancechannel.com
Music
NPR Music, NPR
http://www.npr.org/awards/2008/webby3.html
Netart
Dreamgrove: webpage and interactive garden, Drifting City
http://www.dreamgrove.org
News
BBC's News website, BBC Worldwide
http://www.bbc.com/news
Newspaper
guardian.co.uk, guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/
Personal Web Site
My Star Wars Collection - Joshua Budich, JoshuaBudich.com
http://www.joshuabudich.com/SWCollection/
Pharmaceuticals
Leading Ladies, Digitas Health
http://www.arimidex.com/arimidex-wellness/learning-from-others.aspx
Podcasts
guardian.co.uk podcasts, guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/audio
Politics
The Huffington Post, The Huffington Post
http://huffingtonpost.com
Professional Services
cake-factory, Thoughtomatic
http://www.cake-factory.com
Radio
NPR.org, NPR
http://www.npr.org/awards/2008/webby1.html
Real Estate
Trulia, SutherlandGold
http://www.trulia.com
Religion and Spirituality
Comment is free: belief. guardian.co.uk
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief
Restaurant
Parish Food and Goods, BoyBurnsBarn
http://www.parishatl.com/home.php
Retail
NIKEiD, R/GA
http://www.rga.com/award/nikeid.html
School/University
Campus Daily Guides, mtvU
http://fsu.campusdailyguide.com
Science
Cassini Mission Website, Jet Propulsion Laboratory
http://saturn.jpl.nasa.gov
Self-Promotion/Portfolio
Thank You begins with a T., Grow Interactive
http://www.thisisgrow.com/awards/thankyou/
Services & Applications
Animoto, Animoto Productions
http://animoto.com
Social Networking
Digg, Digg
http://www.digg.com
Sports
ESPN.com ,ESPN
http://www.espn.com
Student
Mission Loc@l, Mission Local / UC Berkeley Journalism School
http://missionlocal.org
Telecommunications
Orange 'Balloonacy,' POKE
http://awards.playballoonacy.com
Television
Flight of the Conchords Lip Dub, Deep Focus
http://flightlipdub.com
Tourism
Tourisme Montreal, Sid Lee
http://www.tourisme-montreal.org
Travel
Kayak.com, Kayak.com
http://www.kayak.com
Weird
Jason Nelson's Digital Oddities, Secret Technology
http://www.secrettechnology.com
Youth
Tate Kids, Tate
http://kids.tate.org.uk
