6th PWA People’s Choice Awards voting ongoing

Starting last Oct. 6, the fate of the semi-finalists in the sixth edition of the Philippine Web Awards (PWA) has been in the hands of Internet surfers as event organizer media G8Way Corp., publisher of Computerworld Philippines, Enterprise, Fast Forward, PC World Philippines and IT Resource, formally opened the voting for the People’s Choice Awards.

The People’s Choice Awards allows the public to vote either online or via text for this year’s best designed and best developed websites in 21 categories.

The websites with the most number of votes (text and online) at the end of the voting period – at exactly 6 p.m. on Nov. 5 – will be proclaimed winners in their respective categories and will be announced together with the final choices of this year’s PWA judges on Nov. 6 at the Onstage Theater, Greenbelt 1 in Makati City.

Online voters must first register at the 6th PWA official website (www.philippinewebawards.com) before making their selections. Once in, they can just follow the voting procedures listed in the website. Online voters can only vote once per category.

Text voters can get the list of category codes by keying in WEBBIES CAT to 2333 for Globe users or 332 for Smart subscribers. After acquiring the category codes, type WEBBIES <CAT>, i.e., WEBBIES ARTS to the same numbers to view the codes of the semi-finalists in each of the categories. Finally, text WEBBIES VOTE <CODE> to seal the choice. Texters can vote as many times as they want for their selected semi-finalists.

As a bonus for text voters, Media G8Way will hold a weekly raffle where lucky texters can win prizes such as a personal shredder, a 6th Philippine Web Awards T-shirt, a calculator and Internet cards. In the grand raffle draw on Nov. 5, a fax machine will be given away.

Implementing the PWA’s SMS solution is Softrigger Interactive Inc., which is also the official Web developer and designer of the Philippine Web Awards.

Softrigger is a technology consultancy and solutions company specializing in Web design and development, Flash animation, online marketing and branding, CD-ROM and kiosk production, 2-D and 3-D animation, and SMS solutions.

Carlos Cardenas Sevilla, chief operations officer of Softrigger, said the People’s Choice Awards will use one of the company’s developed programs (usually referred to in the market as a gateway which "creates a bridge" between the telecommunication companies, in this case Globe and Smart, and Softrigger) to record and sort out information sent by text voters.

"When voters send their text, the system we developed will do two things simultaneously: send back a confirmation message regarding his/her vote and store every data right away in a database," Sevilla said.

He said the gateway is designed to deploy a report anytime. "The system (can) sort out a texter’s information in real time. As soon as somebody texts in, it is recorded. Whoever wants to check it at any given time, can do so by just accessing the database," he said. Thus, text voters can get the ranking of their chosen sites anytime by typing WEBBIES STAT <CODE> to 2333 (Globe) and 332 (Smart).

Enterprise editor Heinz Bulos said Media G8way last year resorted to SMS in casting votes for the People’s Choice Awards because of texting’s popularity and widespread use among Filipinos. The decision was a sound one.

"SMS is very significant because it determines the outcome of the People’s Choice Awards (as it) allows more voters compared to online/Internet voting," Bulos said. "This means more people can participate in voting for their favorite sites. Also, it is more convenient."

The 6th Philippine Web Awards’ official Web host is Bitstop Network Services, and official Internet service provider is MosCom.

Other companies making the event possible include major sponsor GiveMeUnlimited; minor sponsors Argon Animations Inc., JITSE-Phil, National Sports Grill and The Topnotch Group Corp.; media sponsors 103.5 K-Lite, 99-5 RT, Computerworld Philippines, Enterprise Magazine, Fast Forward Magazine, ITnetcentral, Jam 88.3, Magic 89.9, PC World Philippines Magazine, Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pinoy Exchange.com, Wave 89.1 and The Philippine STAR.

For further inquiries, call 812-8401 local 157 or 155.