I was at the webby awards in downtown new york city the other night with a few colleagues, as our site, WSJ.com, was awarded in the Financial Services category.

It was a pretty interesting night. My quick thoughts, and some coverage.

– Rob Cordrey was hillarious ! His humor is definitely an acquired taste for some — but I thought he did a great job.

– Any event with the Beastie Boys is a big plus !

– Award shows usually showcase the content – be it movies, shows, music, etc. Not in this case. Not a single web site, advertising campaign,or any interactive piece of content was shown on the large screens.

– Great to get everyone organized at an event — but lacked a theme or a cause. With all the talent and smarts in the large hall, it was a missed opportunity to tackle something big.

– Limiting the acceptance speeches to 5 words was brilliant. In that vain, the best acceptance speech was from Mike Hudak of blip.tv in the broadband category. He turned to Rob Cordrey and said: “you’re much funnier on the daily show “ ( 7 words, but nobody was really counting )
Other coverage:

Vallewyag: Obituary The Webbys

I’ve vowed never to attend another Webby Awards for as long as I’ve been going to the show. After last night’s 2007 gala, it’s finally time to burn the bridges. The whole concept has always been slightly absurd: an Oscars-style show for an industry that has little glamor; with a nomination process that rewards organizations with good publicists, or faddish appeal, rather than outstanding achievement. But the revenue-hungry new owners of the Webbys, who took over from founder Tiffany Shlain, have sacrificed the awards’ redeeming quality: the quirky charm she brought.

Jason Schaeffer has his thoughts on the night.

The evening had an Oscar-esque aire…with a red carpet, swirlling paparrazi, candle lit tables and a multi media extravaganze. The event was quite long…..4+ hours in total…but the mandatory five word speaches were amusing (and often risque) at times. It was not a crowd I anticipated attending….very corporate..alot of suits and a formal affair…but then again, NYC always seems to be stiff when I am visiting. Probably spent too much time in SF.

Jane Kratochvil, who is an unbelievably talented photographer, captured some photos from the event: