We've just returned from the Crunchies awards, a celebration of startups and the blogs that cover them. (Or, at least, the tech blogs GigaOm, Venture Beat, Read Write Web, and TechCrunch, who combined forces to put on the show.) A full party report and photo gallery are forthcoming, but, to tide you over, check out a few snapshots below. Need to know who won big? The full list of winners is at the end of the article. (Here's a hint: Facebook)
One quick tidbit: The highlight of the evening was the acceptance speech for the Best new gadget/device, the Apple iPhone. Apple CEO Steve Jobs skipped the event, so organizers convinced Forbes writer Dan Lyons, better known as Fake Steve Jobs, to channel the Apple CEO and accept the award via video. The result? Hilarious.
TechCrunch founder Mike Arrington, whose influential tech blog provided the branding behind the "Crunchies" receives a greeting from Valleywag very special correspondent Paul Boutin.
Digg poster boy Kevin Rose shows off his award for "Best User-Generated Content Site"
Google VP Marissa Mayer enjoys the show.
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg picks up one of his two awards, for "Best Overall" and "Best Startup Founder"
Wordpress founder Matt Mullenweg and Automattic CEO Toni Schneider each brought home a statuette.
Angel investor Ron Conway at the afterparty
All photos by Lane Hartwell.
And the winners of the Crunchies:
Best Overall: Facebook
Best technology innovation / achievement: Earthmine
Best Clean Tech Startup: Tesla Motors
Best video startup: Hulu
Best user-generated content site: Digg
Best mobile start-up: Twitter
Best International startup: Netvibes
Best consumer startup: Meebo
Best enterprise startup: Zoho
Best design: SmugMug
Best new gadget/ device: Apple iPhone.
Best business model: Zazzle
Best bootstrapped startup: Techmeme.
Best Startup Founder: Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook)
Best Startup CEO: Toni Schneider (Automattic)
Best new startup: iMedix
Most likely to succeed: Automattic (WordPress)
Best use of viral marketing: StumbleUpon
Best time sink site: Kongregate
Most likely to make the world a better place: DonorsChose