The Web Awards for SXSW just wrapped up this week. For the uninitiated, the interactive portion of SXSW began in 1994 and has a reputation for being a breeding ground of new ideas and creative technologies – for example, Twitter was launched at SXSW in 2007.
Simple googling will reveal thousands of reviews of the talks, conferences and new technologies that were shared at this year’s SXSW, but here’s a list of what I think were the best of the Web Awards, taking an in-depth look at innovations in digital story telling, tweeting political figures, crowdsourcing for new words, and corporate websites using 3-D gaming technology. You won’t regret checking out these Web Award winners from this SXSW 2009.
Digital Story-Telling (Winner: Experimental category, Best in Show)
“We Tell Stories” is a collaborative project between an alternative reality gaming company Six to Start and the well-known publishing company Penguin UK. The project involves six authors who write six interactive stories each over a period of six weeks, with the stories primarily related to “immediacy and connectivity of the Internet today.”
I’ve included one of their six stories here, which uses Google Maps (and a story arc that is highly mobile) to take the reader through the streets and sights of London and beyond. Check out at least the first few screens of the first chapter and you may find that you can’t put your mouse down.
Tweet your Congress(wo)man (Winner: Activism category)
This website allows people to search by location and find out if their Congressman or Senator is on Twitter, and if they’re not, it allows people to sign a petition asking them to join Twitter. The ultimate goal is to aid in transparency and communication between elected officials and simple folks who voted them in like us. They already count 110 members of Congress tweeting, have offshoots in the UK (Tweetminster), Sweden and Switzerland, and are looking to launch in other countries as well.
A quick search on our local senators here in Dallas? John Cornyn is on (2,601 followers and 133 updates) but non-tweeters that you can sign a petition for include Kay Baily Hutchison and Eddie Bernice Johnson. And we know they have a Blackberry and/or iPhone.
Wordoodling (Winner: Amusement category)
Wordplay website addictionary lets people invent their own words for social phenomena. Of course, people get to rank and reply to ones they favorite – recent highlights:
Matrimoney: people who marry for money
Boredation: the starving feeling when you’re really really bored
You can also create challenges, that let you fill in the blank: “there oughta be a word for _____.” So far, for “a person who loudly gabs on the phone in public”, “cellevangelist” in a close race with “mobile dick.”
3-D Gaming Environment…in a Corporate Website (Winner: Business category)
One of the first corporate websites to use complete 3-D technology, you’ll get the sense of being part of the visual space with elements of the website rotating around you, helping bring this architecture/design firm’s portfolio to life. Visit the website (you may want to click on the “how to use this site” link), and just play around. Use your mouse, your up-down-left-right keys and explore the world of Jasmax.
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