I love the internet, I really do. Not just the fact that it comes up with things like this & this but because it really is a way of meeting new people and finding things you never would have done otherwise. For instance last year I spoke at SMX London (where I’ll be again in a couple of weeks) and, luckily for me, a couple of people from Hostelworld saw me speak.
These lovely people were then kind enough to invite me to speak at their own Hostelworld conference which I did & thoroughly enjoyed. Not only was it a great show, but I got to meet some fascinating people including Colm Hanratty, the editor of the site. It was fantastic to meet Colm because not only is he a really nice guy, he’s also putting into practice many of the things that I talk about on a daily basis – involving users with the site (through Twitter amongst other things) and creating content that’s designed with social media in mind (as I’ve explained in the past).
Anyway, it’s because of all this that I’m so chuffed that Colm & Hostelworld have now won the internet’s equivalent of an Oscar: a Webby. And whilst Colm’s content is obviously created by a brand and isn’t truly UGC, the fact that he won a People’s Choice award goes to show that whilst big brands might be taking over the web, there’s still some room for the little guy.
Cheers Colm!
Award image by Dave Bullock (eecue)
30-something English web & music geek, currently in Sydney Google
Please update the photo credit to the following:
Photo: Dave Bullock (eecue)
Thanks!
My pleasure Dave – consider it updated