Webby Awards 2009 winners have been announced. They bill themselves “best of the web” but for the most part it’s the best of the Web in the US. Regardless, it’s a nice collection of pretty cool webstuff.
Of course I was curious about the Government Website category. Of the five nominees, there was only one site that could be considered to be a “government website” in a strict sense, as in the corporate presence of a government department or agency — and that would be the awesome NASA site. (My kids love their site for children.) Hooray that they won the people’s choice award.
The other “Government” sites that were nominated were partnership thingies, such as the “official” award winner, BayBridge360, or stuff outside the “core” of government administration, such as the Mision Ecologica site, which looks like an educational outreach project (I can’t actually read Spanish, so I’m not 100% sure). And there was also a non-governmental site from the transparency movement — the totally cool GovernmentDocs.org. So I guess the category includes non-government sites that are about government.
I guess it shouldn’t be surprising that the more interesting stuff in terms of digital government is happening around the edges rather than at the centre. As you get further from the core, “the rules” tend to be less strictly adhered to, so innovation is easier. And at the boundaries, you can often combine the best from what’s on either side.
Although there are some interesting things happening these days at the centre of the US government — I wonder if whitehouse.gov or recovery.gov will make it on to the 2010 nominees list in the government category?
Here’s the winners and nominees in the government category:
GOVERNMENT
| Webby Award Winner | Agency/Credited Organization |
|---|---|
 http://baybridge360.org/ |
Words Pictures Ideas |
| People’s Voice Winner | |
 NASA Web Site
|
NASA |
| Nominees | |
 BayBridge360
|
Words Pictures Ideas |
 GovernmentDocs.org — Community Government Document Review System
|
New Signature |
 Mision Ecologica
|
IA Interactive |
 NASA Web Site
|
NASA |
 US Holocaust Memorial Museum
|
US Holocaust Memorial Museum |
via Webby Nominees.
What's a spaghetti test?
We looked at submitting our site for the Webbies, but backed down immediately when we learned that you have to pay to be considered. How can we justify an expense like this to our taxpayers? Expect government sites to be under-represented as long as it remains pay-to-play.
True that it costs to submit, but the price tag is minimal: $275 or something similar.
I would think it could be a very justifiable marketing expense.