Who has the Best Marketing Web site? That’s what will be determined when the winners of the 2004 WebAward Competition are announced. The Web Marketing Association’s 8th annual WebAward Competition is the Internet’s premier award competition for Web site development in 80 industry categories. The Web Marketing Association today announced the call for entries for its 8th annual WebAward Competition (http://www.webaward.org), the Internet’s premier award competition that judges website development against an ever increasing Internet standard of excellence and against peer sites within an industry. The WebAward Competition recognizes the individual and team achievement of web professionals who create and maintain outstanding corporate web sites. The deadline for entry is June 30, 2004.

Some of the past WebAward winners in marketing related categories include:

Advertising 2003 Google Adwords 2002 JCDecaux Airport US 2001 Cole & Weber / Red Cell Corporate Site

Marketing 2003 Playstaton - The Getaway 2002 Disc Marketing Corporate Website

Public Relations 2003 Disc Marketing Corporate Website 2002 Santa University of Houston - Division of University Advancement 2001 Wealth Management News Service

A complete list of past winners and the entry for companies who wish to compete for 2004 honors can be found at http://www.webaward.org

The 2004 WebAwards are sponsored by Microsoft LiveMeeting, BURST! Media, Burrelle’s/Luce, O’Dwyer’s PR Daily, VentureDirect Worldwide, NewsUSA, Small Army Marketing Services, Perseus Software, Line56 Media and Google.

The 2004 WebAward Competition for website development is open to all organizations and individuals involved in the process of developing corporate web sites worldwide, including interactive agencies, website owners, and corporate marketing and e-commerce departments. To be eligible for the 2004 WebAward Competition, Web sites must have been or will be in general use for at least part of calendar year 2004.

Web sites will be judged on design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, navigation and ease of use. Each WebAward entry is judged against other entries in the category and then against an overall standard of excellence. Best of Industry WebAward, a handsome plaque with the image of the winning site embossed, will be given in each of the more than 80 industry categories, including financial services, small business, travel, advertising, transportation, and healthcare.. The competition’s highest honor, the 2004 WebAward Best of Show, will be given to the one site that the judges believe represents outstanding achievement in Web development. Last year’s Best of Show winner was Disney Interactive Group for their work on Hot Shot Business (http://www.disney.go.com/hotshot/), a web site developed to teach kids Entrepreneurship.

The Web Marketing Association will also recognize the interactive agency winning the most awards in the competition with the Top Interactive Agency WebAward. For the second year in a row, the 2003 Top Agency was Fry, Inc. (http://www.frymulti.com) which took home 17 WebAwards.

"Now more than ever, marketing on the Internet is a competitive environment, and corporate marketing and Internet professionals constantly need to provide senior management with independent feedback as to the quality of their work,” said William Rice, President of the Web Marketing Association. “That is the goal of the WebAward Competition - to provide a forum to recognize the people and organizations responsible for developing some of the most effective websites on the Net today. Winning a WebAward shows the world - and your boss - your commitment to outstanding web development."

Judging for the WebAwards will take place in July and August, and winners will be announced in September, 2004. Judges will consist of a select group of Internet professionals who have direct experience designing and managing corporate web sites –including members of the media, advertising executives, site designers, content providers and webmasters – with an in-depth understanding of the current state-of-the-art in Web site design and technology. Past Web Marketing Association WebAward competition judges have included top executives from leading corporations, institutions and media organizations such as Ogilvy Interactive, Saatchi & Saatchi, Blattner Brunner, Comedy Central, Sun Microsystems, Refinery, Euro RSCG, EPB Interactive, New York Post Interactive, The Cincinnati Enquirer, J. Walter Thompson, Xerox, Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Modem Media, Answerthink, and Zentropy Partners.

About the Web Marketing Association The Web Marketing Association (http://www.webmarketingassociation.org) is an organization working to create a high standard of excellence for Web site development and marketing on the Internet. Staffed by volunteers, it is made up of Internet marketing, advertising, PR and design professionals who share an interest in improving the quality of advertising, marketing and promotion used to attract visitors to Web sites. Since 1997, the Web Marketing Association’s annual WebAward Competition has been helping interactive professionals promote themselves, their companies, and their best work to the outside world. Now in its seventh year, the WebAward Competition has become the premier award event for Web developers and marketers worldwide.