And the Webby Goes to...

Now in its ninth year, The Webby Awards have become the Oscars of the World Wide Web. The Los Angeles Times proclaimed it is simply “the only award show for Internet sites that matters.”

The current titleholder of the juried Webby Award in the fashion category is France’s chic and whimsical Colette (www.colette.fr), a lifestyle experience subtitled “styledesignartfood.”

The current “people’s voice” winner, receiving the majority of 175,000 votes submitted through online public polling, is www.style.com, the online home of Vogue magazine.

In the juried commerce category, Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes Music Store (www.apple.com/itunes/store/shop.html) won last year, and eBay Inc. (www.ebay.com) won the popular vote.

For this year’s awards, there are more than 4,000 candidates to consider in 60 categories, almost twice as many as last year. Nominees will be announced this April, and details will be posted online at www.webbyawards.com.

But the Webbys are not just about accolades. Recently, Tiffany Shlain, Webby Award founder and one of Newsweek’s “Women Shaping the 21st Century,” gave a preview of 2005’s technology trends and how they will offer exciting new opportunities for those in such creative professions as fashion. To wit:

bull; “Americans already love sharing and comparing their opinions online; more than 25 percent of adult Internet users have rated a product or service at sites like Amazon, eBay and Moviefone,” Shlain said. “In 2005, look for use of online rating and reputation systems to skyrocket as more and more sites empower users by letting them give a thumbs up—or down—on everything from teachers to hotels to lawyers.”

bull; Powerful new search services continue to transform shopping—online and off. No longer just for chatting, the cell phone will become a bargain-hunting tool with the addition of bar-code scanners. Scan a garment, a book or CD at the mall or at a friend’s home, and your cell phone will tell you where you can find it cheaper online. For those in need of immediate gratification, a boom in local search engines will allow bargain hunters to find the best prices at nearby stores by simply plugging in a zip code and the name of the product being sought.

bull; “Blog” (short for “Web log”) was crowned Word of the Year by the Merriam-Webster dictionary and is about to make its debut in the 2005 edition. Now, get ready for this: mobile blogs, or “moblogs.” The next best thing to a live personal broadcast, the moblog is updated constantly throughout the day with photos, video and text directly from cell phones. Shlain said moblogs will explode in 2005 thanks to a boom in both camera-phone sales (more than 160 million camera phones were sold in 2004) and community sites—including Fotolog.net, TextAmerica (www.textamerica.com) and Flickr (www.flickr.com)—that make it easier for people around the world to publish and share photos and ideas instantly.

bull; Using the Web as its platform, a growing movement to moderate copyright laws will change how all of us share creative materials, from photographs to music to fashion designs and patents.

bull; And finally, who doesn’t think there are too many bleeps, bings, rings, catchy digital tunes and one-sided wireless conversations infecting public life these days? Shlain said that addiction to instant messaging, BlackBerry devices and Web-enabled cell phones is leading to CDD, or “Communications Deficit Disorder.” According to a recent study, one hour of time spent using the Internet reduces socializing with friends, co-workers and family by 23.5 minutes. In 2005, Shlain predicts that gadgets, new workplace policies and a little common sense will come to the rescue. Watch for low-cost key-chain devices that can turn off any TV anywhere and for theaters and restaurants to install cell phone jammers, which block cell phone service. At the office, expect to see more workplaces encourage face-to-face interaction by following the lead of a Chicago company that bans employees from sending e-mail on Fridays. Shlain said you will also see more and more people observe “days without technology”: self-imposed technology timeouts for those over-controlled by their gadgets.

Site Review: Junk In Our Trunk

Junk In Our Trunk, smartly rendered in shades of pink and maroon at www.junkinourtrunk.com, was started by three friends: Lizzie Eno, Stephanie Lesky and Gianna Paluso. The three new designers had been looking for a venue to sell their designs but realized how difficult it is to get products into boutiques. After starting the site, they found that other artists and designers were in the same boat. So, they quickly reinvented their idea to include other designers from their native Los Angeles. Now, designers have joined them from all over the United States. Junk In Our Trunk’s goal is to create a place where artists and designers can not only display their creations but also sell them.

Junk In Our Trunk actively seeks products in a wide range of categories—including knitwear, accessories, handbags, toys and artwork—to sell on consignment. The process is easy enough. Send the site an e-mail with some digital photos attached. After your items have been approved, it will ask you to ship them via the United States Postal Service with delivery confirmation. Fill out the Consignment Product Listing Sheet (attached to the Consignment Agreement), outlining the quantities, descriptions and retail prices of your items. Your merchandise will appear in the shop within two weeks.

Products remain on consignment for up to three months or until they sell out, whichever comes first. If your items remain unsold after the first month, the site will ask if you would like to extend your consignment for another month or if you would like the items to be shipped back to you. You can also request that your items go on sale and supply the sale prices. n