The Cool Site of the Year Awards

When an industry starts to hype itself, it loses a little bit of its innocence. In the case of the Web, that happened about four years ago, when the first Cool Site of the Year awards were given out. But not to worry: As the assembled masses of Silicon Alley proved last night at New York's shabby-chic Webster Hall, where this year’s Cool Site of the Year awards ceremony was held, the people who make the Web happen aren't too jaded to act up in a thoroughly scruffy and unrespectable fashion.

The Cool Site of the Year awards are an offshoot of the Cool Site of the Day, which began rewarding excellence on the Web in 1994, making it one of the earliest arbiters of good taste on the Internet. The awards are given out in 15 categories, ranging from best bookstore to best zine. The nominees are chosen by a nominating committee, and the actual awards are chosen by popular vote. "It’s completely about the people’s choice," said Mike Corso, president of C Notes Interactive, which owns the awards. "We respect immensely the people who visit the site." He estimated that about 100,000 votes had been cast. "I voted four times myself," he added. "Just to see if the script worked." MORE>>