6th Philippine Web Awards nominations on

The 6th Philippine Web Awards, the most awaited event in the local online community, has begun accepting nominations for the country’s best websites.

Nominations can be sent by logging on to the official site of the Philippine Web Awards, www.philippinewebawards.com, which was developed by Softrigger Interactive and is officially hosted by Bitstop Inc.

To be eligible for nomination, websites must meet three requirements:

• They should be developed and owned primarily by Filipinos;

• They should not contain illegal or offensive material, for example, pornography, violence, plagiarized or "hate" content; and

• They must be accessible to the general public.

The Web Awards was conceived and organized by Media G8way Corp. (formerly WS Computer Publishing Corp.), the exclusive Philippine licensee of the US-based International Data Group (IDG) and publisher of Computerworld Phils., PC World Phils. and Enterprise.

The nomination period ends on July 15, at exactly 11:59 p.m. Nominees will then be screened by a panel of judges composed of programmers, Web developers and designers who will also serve as judges for the semifinal phase of the competition.

Categories

The nominating public will have more categories to choose from this year as the Awards organizers either renamed, merged or divided some of the classifications to increase the number to 21 from last year’s 19. Two new special awards were also included in the list.

Restructured categories were Radio, Television and Educational and Resources, with Radio and Television being merged with Music and the Corporate group, respectively.

The Educational and Resources category was split into Schools (accommodating sites that only offer information about a certain campus, university or any other academic institution) and E-Learning for online campuses.

The "e" (for electronic) was also added to Commerce, Services, Travel and Government to emphasize that the sites that will be nominated in these categories must provide services online to allow the public to transact their businesses on the Web.

The News and Zines classification was also divided, with News catering specifically to print/broadcast media and online-only news sites, which are basically Internet editions of a newspaper, TV network, campus journal, corporate newspaper and the like.

Zines, on the other hand, was renamed Magazines and Zines to focus on literary sites and the online counterparts of print magazines. It will cover features, fiction, poetry, interviews and reviews.

A new category is SMEs, which will be open to sites of small and medium enterprises in all industries. Sites in this group may offer information about the company or its proprietor, its products and services, and other data. The category does not include sites that actually sell products or provide services online.

The other categories are Arts, Banking and Finance, Celebrities and Personalities, Community, Corporate, Home and Living, Organizations, Personal, Portal, Recreation and Weird and Humor.

New awards

Two new special awards will be given this year: Best Wireless Corporate Application or Service and Best Wireless Consumer Content, Application or Service.

The Best Wireless Corporate Application or Service award will be given to the year’s most outstanding wireless application or service targeted for enterprise or corporate use.

It seeks to recognize the application or service that best enables an organization to meet its objectives though the use of mobile and wireless technologies.

These objectives may include disseminating information, improving customer relations, enhancing employee productivity, or increasing sales, among others.

Eligible for the award are applications designed for specific business functions such as e-commerce, tracking services, managing inventory, messaging and collaboration.

Wireless applications include those designed for mobile phones, wireless personal digital assistants and other wireless devices.

The Best Wireless Consumer Content, Application or Service award will be given to the best wireless application or service targeted at consumers.

It seeks to recognize the content or application that is most useful or entertaining for the consumer market. These include news and information delivery, advertising and promotion campaigns, games and entertainment, messaging, e-commerce, and location-based services.

Wireless applications eligible include those designed for mobile phones, wireless personal digital assistants and other wireless devices.

The 6th Philippine Web Awards night, slated on Nov. 6 at Onstage Theater Greenbelt, is made possible by Enterprise and PC World magazines, Softrigger Interactive, Bitstop Inc., The Philippine STAR, Computerworld Phils. and ITNetcentral.