The 10th Annual Webby awards was an absolute blast. Lemme tell you about it. More photos to come when all suitcases are unpacked!
First of all, it’s in New Yark City, which is the most fun place to visit, just ask Chief Sister Officer. The Webby’s suggested the SoHo Grand hotel, where we stayed. Their hotel motto is: "A goldfish in every room" and the hotel is like, pet friendly, ifyoucanbelievethat.
After arriving into town Saturday night, we went out in Tribeca for dinner, with hot-rodders Judy and Monty. No Bobby D. sightings, but whatevs.
Sunday it was brunch at Vesulka’s Ukrainian with Kora and Scott, which was good coffee, good borsct (for breakfast!) and even better company. Then it was shopping on W. Broadway for a new frock, and then REDONKULOUS on the roof of the SoHo Grand, where Arianna Huffington of the Huffington Post AND Frank Warren of PostSecret, both of whom are kicking C.O.’s ass in the technorati Most Popular Blog’s list and I sipped cocktails. I had the pleasure of meeting a feller named Lars who came into town to accept a Webby for a service you might have heard of called "Google Maps"! Next, it was out-of-this-world eats at Raoul’s where Mischa Barton and Cisco Adler sat next to us (no joke, Peoples!) Yes, I texted everyone I knew at that point.
Then came Monday, the day of the awards—first, it was lunch at Jean Georges Nougatine which left everyone delighted, satisified and ready to sit in Central Park and do nothing. Then…
THE BIG AWARDS! It all started at the Cipriani on Wall Street. Many clean, perfectly-perfumed nerds lined up for the red-carpet entrance. I was informed by the PR team that I should head over to the ‘PRESS’ area (OMG!) for some interviews. CNN, BBC and MSNBC all interviewed moi here—it was too much fun. Here is a snippet that made it onto BBC just now. Don’t LAUGH!!!
Inside the joint, the place was DECKED out. Huge screens showed the event, so you could see up close and PERSONAL the hilarious emcee Rob Corrdry. (I have not yet washed my hand having shaken his…) Awesome warm red lighting everywhere, booming music, and tray after tray of Champagne/salty snacks.
Corrdry killed with the emcee job. Our table was howling at him. During the show, he ‘accepted an AIM message’ from Jon Stewart, advising him on how to be a great host. Jon’s "AIM name" was ‘2006OscarHostMan’ or something. It was hard to see thru my Chardonnay haze. To Rob’s annoyance, Jon kept ‘writing’ "Kewl!"
There are 69 award categories total, and big groups are called up to give their 5-word acceptance speech. I thought a long time what my 5-words would be—"niche scratched’ or "i love you, Rob Corrdry" or "Number one choice of hamsters"—it took a while, but we finally made a choice.
Here’s our five word acceptance speech, and some of my other favorites were:
Cute Overload.com: "Not bad for posting kittens"
Snopes.com: "Rumor has it.. we won"
Accuradio.com: "Assuming hyphenateds are allowed.. Woo-hoo!"
TripAdvisor.com "Because some hotels really suck…"
Epicurious.com: "We are eating this up"
Huffington Post: "Dahlingks, Make blogs, not war."
Here are all winner speeches.
The night was peppered with Special Acheivement awards, most notably Thomas Friedman and Prince. Friedman, who wrote "The World is Flat" encouraged Web developers to take advantage of all the cheap tools available to people today, and take the Web to next level, before someone else shows you your own idea. Again, Chardonnay caveat.
Then, Prince got a Special award for releasing his 1997 album exclusively on the Internet. Prince sang "Don’t Play Me" on an acoustic gee-tar and everyone was standin’ and clappin’ (what’s the sound of hundreds of geeks clapping?) at the end of his song, everyone screamed with delight, then his holiness tossed the guitar over his head and shoulders, where it landing with a thud, and he was gone—trotting out of the building, with the spotlight on him, like a total rock star with handlers. It was waaay sweet.
Big ole thanks to the all of you [sweeping hand gesture to readers of this site], The "Cute Overload Board" for all their ‘Yes Men" decisions despite being fired and reinstated multiple times, big props to Webby founder Tiffany Shlain and let’s also thank this puppy. The end.
/// UPDATE!!! ///
This guy over at Flickr took great shots of everyone! Here is the scene of the events, the Cipriani:
THE HOST avec the most, Mr. Rob Corddry 
Moi! Saying my five word acceptance speech: "Not bad for posting kittens"
Sparky and I enjoying our BIG DAY OUT
Prince!
{ 116 comments }
Welcome back!
We missed ya
i’ve never read anything from Friedman that would suggest that he thought. ever.
whatevs.
YOWZA, Meg-Moo!!!
But the BBC link does NOT work…
LOL, Peter!
E to teh C, I think I got the link right this time… Just listen for the announcer to say ‘quirky’
-Meg
Not the place to talk about Friedman, not without a lot of ranting and raving on my part. However it seems that CO was down the last 24hrs, at least I could not get my fix on Cuteness. I guess this place is that popular! Keep up the good work, and aaaahhhh
MORE KITTEHS!!!!
Nah, it’s “weird” – *you* said “quirky.”
Some of us want to see good pics of the dress, chica!
XO,
e.
congrats Meg… well deserved
from one of your newest CO Converts
Wow, congrats, on both the award and being on the BBC. you looked faboo!
Oh WOW! It sounds really dumb and intarwebby, but I feel like I “know” someone who won a really amazingly cool CUTE award!
My acceptance speech: “I hope my hamster lives-through-the-night*” (Assuming, of course, hyphenates are accepted).
Congratulations, Meg! Amazing achievement for an amazing Web site!
*I fed him something that has maybe made him really sick… and really not happy about it!
congrats. and great acceptance speech
WOW! What an awesome time… congrats!
Oh Maureen – here’s good thoughts for your hammie. Best of luck -
Meg – sounds like a super time, but no more than you deserve for Spreading the Cute. Thanks for all your hard work!
OMG I love Veselka’s!!!! Their vegetarian borscht is FANTASTIC
oh meg you looked wonderful!
and congrats!
but really, i’m just glad that puppy got some props…
Congradulations Meg! It is nice to finally hear the voice behind the comments. I am glad you had a good time. I was never one to like the Big Apple. I am just a country guy at heart. I have been through there once or twice. I do not like cities in general, not even San Antonio Texas. Now get back to work. Just joking.-Woods Walker
meg, you tewtally rock! the geek oscars sounded just awesome. thanks for the report from the webbys. next time you come to NY, the drinks are on me. i’ve been a total CO addict for months now (you should have seen me with the DT’s when the site was down for hours and hours tonight — must. find. the. will. to. live. if loving a blog this much is wrong, i don’t wanna be right), but your arrival in the big apple finally got me to delurk. there was serious talk of hanging out at the soho grand and yelling “SQUEEE!” (a great idea, TJ)! long live cute overload!
Someone may have already said it, but you are ridiculously adorable yourself. The embodiment of prosh, people!
yay!
wow, MEG! you’re positively gorgeous.
Dude you were on the telly! Excellent!
(I wish i could meet Rob Cordry. Soooo envious!)
Hi guys, been lurking here for awhile now, felt compelled to post for my first time. Awesome site Meg. The webby’s looked like a lot of fun. You looked great on tv. Congrats. I love this site. I check it out everyday. Keep the great pics coming.
Good morning and CONGRATS!!!! to you Meg! I saw you on the morning news–a Jeannie Mooz (spl?) segment–It was wonderful to see the face behind all of the mad/cuteness.
And NO! THANK YOU, for the closing puppy!!!! Love and MANY, MANY Blessings, HeartSong
you were fabs.
congrats again and omg i LOOOOVE rob corrdry! stick a kitten in his pocket and let’s get a photo up on C.O.!
Just saw the clip on CNN’s front page. Well done!
This award is well deserved, Megs…. You make us laugh every day… You make us squeeee every day…You make our bosses and co-workers wonder what in the WORLD we’re doing!!
I know this site is probably alot of work, but take it from a CO diehard, I am SO glad you’re here, and I’m glad all these anerable pics are here too!!!
Big hugs!!!
I just went and peeked at the CNN clip too…You look AWESOME, Meg!!!! Great job!!!
Gosh, now we have a beautiful face to go with the name and humorous headlines!! Can it GET any better?!?!
YAY MEG!!!!!!!!! We’re so proud and happy for you! Bestest site on the internets, Without A Doubt
tee hee!! Cats ‘n’ Racks made it into the CNN vid… reminding me why I read the BBC News
oh meg! congrats!!!
(i actually had to kick a co-worker off her pc, as the bbc link wouldn’t work on my mac)
we definately need more pics of that dress, you looked fab (and you’re cute like a button, so it just goes with the website)!
Congrats on your well-deserved win! Yes, five words!
D’oh.
Congratulations!!! Being in the internet business myself, I can only imagine how great it feels. WTG on all your hard work. Your site is a “must check-out daily” for me.
WOW, Meg congrats on, exciting times. Your gorgeous and Tango bunny says Bwavo, Bwavo.:-)
WOW, Meg congrats on, exciting times. Your gorgeous and Tango bunny says Bwavo, Bwavo.:-)
This website deserves every award possible not only for cuteness, but for spreading love, peace and curing ills!
I am addicted! Thanks SO much for everything, including my little hammie-eating-a-corn that is now my wallpaper.
WOW! I had no idea what the awards were, really, and that they were so YUGE.
[Dusts self off after climbing out from under rock.]
Many hammie-riffic snaps for winning and you just looked FABULOUS, dahlink.
Congrats on the Webby! I only recently found cute overload, but i’m so schmooped on it already! As a Brooklynite with an animal-alergic roommate, CO helps me keep my cravings for furry things under control.
Paws up!
Way to go Meg! Fab interview! Great “speech!” And as always, excellent review of the awards – it was close to being there (without having to dress up and stand in lines).
Thanks for all you do! CO is a must-see at least three times a day (never know how many new anerable pics you’ll find – btw, still waiting for a ferret category).
Congrats!!!
yaaaaaaaaaay!
meg i already knew you were a cutie, due to some low-grade web stalking. great work, congrats, and you make my day!
WOw! How totally fun! Love your acceptance speech -trei perfect!
You rule!
Great job!!
HOOOOOOORAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!
You totally deserve it. :]
congrats!!
hooray for the cuteness power!
What the hell is this crap? Since when is Cute Overload a travel blog? I come here for a little yawp yawp blah blah blah hurrrrrrgh ptui
YAY MEG AND CUTE OVERLOAD AND HOTEL GOLDFISH!!!
Do Geeks Rule Or What?!
…and yep, saw the Cats-N-Racks blip on the CNN vid. Dunno if it’s still the “most loved and hated” category, tho, after the chewy baby post. Hard to beat that. (Like, forever.)
I feel so deprived. The video links didn’t work for me. TT_TT I wanted to see pretty-pretty Meg-san but I can’t, so I shall go cry in the corner. Excuse me.
* wails *
Teho, you nailed *exactly* what I was thinking (about the travel blog, that is).
Theo, LOL—Dewds, I just saw the CNN report! hee!!!
Go to cnn.com and look for ‘Latest News’ then, down to the videos and “Most Popular” tab, and it’s currently #3. w00t!
THANKS for the sweet coverage, Jeanne Moos! I love that she mentioned Cats n’ Racks.
-Meg
kantama, you can see her for a moment at cnn.com, in the 5-word speeches story.
Sorry, the BBC link doesn’t appear to be working this AM… perhaps they moved it to archive. I’ll see if I can finda nother one!
BBC link is working A-OK for me. Here’s a TinyURL version of it…
http://tinyurl.com/nfyfb
(I do note that it seems to be strictly a Windows Media Player video clip, though.)
Congrats and thanks for all the entertainment! Nice speech, too.
(By the way, I’m fairly certain the Leaky’s speech would have been “nitwit, blubber, oddment, tweak, Rowling”.)
oh my gods you’re amazing. yaaaaaaaaaay! don’t forget us when it’s all caviar and champagne. wait, it’s already caviar and champagne, isn’t it? whoohoo!
Congrats!!
Glad you enjoyed our fair city. And Veselka is an awesome place to eat. Next time get the perogies! It sounds like you hit some of the most fun spots.
Kudos to Meg and CO!!
Yay, I’m glad you had a fab time in NYC! You deserve tonzolas of awards for all the giggles and awwws you bring into our lives.
Did they recommend the pet-friendly hotel for everyone, or was that especially for you? Either way, it all sounds *fabulous*. Congratulations (and thanks!).
Wow, you should just post pictures of yourself, Meg. I guess you’re worried about a stalker kidnapping and forcing you to play with his kittens or something, though.
MeggieMoo,
congrats, congrats, congrats!
very happy for you, it was a most deserved award. and both videos play fine for me. you look rokkin’, I don’t think we’ll be seeing you the http://www.gofugyourself.com coverage of the Webbys.
(all in unison): SSSSQQQQUUUUEEEEEEEEE!
To say something is well desrved in this case, is an understatement. (warning mushyness) They say if you touch but one soul in your lifetime, your presence in the world has made all the diffence. If that is the case and I believe it is… Meg you have made the world exponetially better by what you do. Thank you….
[covering ears]
As if millions of voices suddenly cried out in a pitch normally heard only by dogs…
You know that painfully irritating sound that’s supposed to be audible only to loitering teenagers? I hear it. I can hear it through goddamn *walls* in fact.
“You know that painfully irritating sound that’s supposed to be audible only to loitering teenagers?”
what sound are you referring to? is it SSSSQQQQUUUUEEEEEEEEE! ?
Congrats, Mistress of Cute! And many thanks for adding to the Total Joy in the Universe. Yay CO!
Mariser — background here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wiltshire/content/articles/2006/04/04/mosquito_sound_wave_feature.shtml
You are beaufitul Meg and your site rocks! Thank you and keep up the good work!
Congrats, Meg! Thanks for this site that brings much happiness.
T.,
I don’t understand [cires, pouts] are you hearing a ‘Mosquito’ sonic deterrent soundwave right now at work? is your workplace using this?
or is it b/c you are in MN, “land of one thousand lakes and ten trillion mosquitos”?
hope you feel better soon. I hear vodka is good for quieting the voices in your head.
cires=cries
Mariser — I was just playing off your “all in unison” squee… but I really can hear that pitch. And it ain’t good.
me too. and it is irritating.
YAY MEG!!! I feel like I’m attending vicariously! siiigh [faints]
Yes; let us not forget the puppies.
Breakfast Borscht? Wallow in the decadance, my girl, you deserve every minute – congratulations!
…can’t be beet.
oh, lordie, theo
Hey, *Aubrey* (Queen Mum of Pun) set me up. No way could I give that a miss.
And, my friend, you shouldn’t. But I did think you were russian into it.
congrats meg – you deserve everything and more for making so many people happy.
“russian into it.”
*thud*
that’s it! I’ve been punsoined!
yay congrats!!!!!!!
Holy Cow Meg, how could you stand being in the same room as that idiot Huffington???
Ha ha ha…what was her reward?? Most Anti American blog???
Anyways, kudos to you!!
AGH! Aubrey!! *groan* You should meet my dad. You’d get alone wooon-der-fully.
WTG Meg. Just adding my voice to the chorus of congratulations and well wishes.
Meg & Arianna – two of my fav ladies on the internets!!! Congrats!!
Yay Meg! Glad you got to eat at Veselka- the cheese blintzes there rock! Glad you got to meet Ms Huffington too, as women can be both politically progress AND love cute animals!
Kudos Meg!
Meg, you looked like a movie star in the BBC clip. You go, girl!
Just saw the site (and you) on CNN!! It showed you saying “Who ever thought you’d get this with pictures of kitties?” and then made mention of the “Cats ‘n Racks” section of the site.
I was like, hey! I was just there! Congrats, Meg!
Gosh, no wonder Meg won a Webby, she’s the anerable queen of cute! Congratulations!
ZOMG MEG HOTT
Yay, Meg!!!
Yippee!
And in a lame segue: Speaking of Meg’s CNN video, anyone got any hints for me about CNN video? It’s never worked at the office, but it’s only stopped working here at home since I upgraded my Norton services this year (one of a few things that have gone screwy since that upgrade). Won’t work in IE or Firefox.
Arbed — Sounds like one of these might help:
1) You need to set your browser to allow popups from CNN.com
2) You need to configure your firewall (most likely the Norton one) not to block stuff from CNN.com
Thanks Theo, I’ll give those a try although, grrr, this upgrade really is giving me headaches so I hope it resolves itself.
I don’t like Norton *anything* anymore (although I have occasionally found Symantec Ghost to be useful). It’s kinda like protecting yourself from all the evils of the world by pouring a new foundation in your house, locking your windows and doors, and wading knee-deep into the fresh concrete. Then, you wait.
(I’m referring here to Norton’s package of anti-virus + firewall + misc. internet tools.)
lol Theo. It’s MacAfee that I’ve never been fond of, so Norton has been the lesser of two evils for me. Ah well, some day soon I’ll devote to the computer the amount of time I normally devote to CO – should allow me to do all sorts of fun things that need to be done to it!
I don’t disagree re:McAfee.
Below are my fave utilities from the ol’ bag of tricks…
Good, free firewall:
http://www.zonelabs.com/store/content/catalog/products/sku_list_za.jsp?dc=12bms&ctry=US&lang=en&lid=nav_za
Good, free anti-virus:
http://free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5
Good, free anti-spyware (I use both regularly):
http://www.lavasoft.com/software/adaware/
http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.html
Good, free anti-hijacking system monitor:
http://www.winpatrol.com/download.html
sanks – I do use adaware on a regular basis and have heard of the others. I definitely need to do some work on this machine.
Gosh… WAAAY off on a tangent here.
Sounds like it was a good time. NYC is one of the world’s best foodie meccas. I’d've wanted to smack my purple-clad local boy’s bean with that guitar he tossed, though.
I sawwy – my fault. I should have suggested email.
I’ve never been to NYC but I know I’ve heard tons of good stories and reviews from my sis and a few friends. Some day I’ll make it there…. anywhere…
The WinPatrol scottie dog logo is quite c-u-t-e, though.
That’s nuthin’ E.C. — Scotty actually “wuffs” to alert you when he detects something unauthorized happening in your operating system.
WTG!!! Meg, congrats!
whoohoo! great job! congrats!
that’s what happens when you’re a rich rock star, teho.
Cool, Theo, though I normally keep the “mute” function ON. Don’t like all the computer noises.
Great writeup, and well-deserved award! I live in NYC, and now I have a few more places on my list to check out — thanks!
Howl:
~To cry or wail loudly, as in pain, sorrow, or anger.
~To laugh heartily.
K, so did Corrdry suck or was it that good?
Just curious, cause I like the guy. He’s a good Joe. He goes strait from the ‘gut’
Meg !
You never showed us how CUTE YOU were !!
Hope you had a blast !
Big Daily show fans here
Cheers !
Anybody else think Meg looks like Felicity Huffman’s baby sister?? Two gorgeous ladies indeed…
I was thinking Meg had a little more Liz Phair going on. Different musical genre, though.
wow. meg is cute, funny, and a techie. what bars where do you go out to in SF? =)
Nice one Meg!! You truly deserve that award. This site helps so many of us through our dull daily lives. You go girl!! w00t !
Oh…and looove the hair and dress
Congratulations, Mooey, and thanks for all the pleasure and delight you give to us! Well deserved cheers and recognition to you.
yay i just got back from vacation so im a little late on the posting… so cool u were on cnn
ur very pretty btw
you ARE pretty! AND YOU WERE ON CNN!!
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