Help Wellington Win A Webby

Want to be nominated for one of the world’s most prestigious internet awards? You would in Wellington.

The day WellingtonNZ launched a new visitor campaign with the tagline You Would in Wellington, the region’s economic development agency was notified its website has been nominated for a Webby Award and the Webby People’s Voice Award – the latter of which is voted for by the public.

The Webby Awards, established in 1996 and presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, have been hailed as the “internet’s highest honour” by The New York Times.

WellingtonNZ’s website is one of five finalists in the Travel and Lifestyle section – an achievement the Webby Awards organisation says is major and puts the organisation among the top 12 per cent of 13,000 projects entered. And the competition is ridiculously stiff with the likes of space travel company Virgin Galactic and Travel + Leisure - a top global travel media brand – also in the running.

But WellingtonNZ chief executive John Allen says what fellow nominees don’t have in this globally significant race is a fiercely proud constituency prepared to get behind them.

“We do though and we are now appealing to Wellingtonians – and anyone else – to please, please vote for us. We know you want to.”

WellingtonNZ launched its new website in July last year with the aim of consolidating all of what the organisation does into a single user-friendly site. It has had 1.4 million users since then – something Mr Allen says he is especially proud of.

“The website brings together bold design, colour and quality imagery to reflect Wellington as we see it – in both the look and the storytelling. It’s a window into our wonderful region and all it has to offer and the work of our Digital& Content team in achieving this is second to none.

“I can’t stress this enough – please vote for us.”

Josh Burt, general manager of digital-based consultancy DNA which partnered with WellingtonNZ on the design and development of the new website says: “We’re thrilled to have earned a Webby nomination with WellingtonNZ and their amazing Digital and Content team.

“This site represents an important gateway for domestic and international audiences to get a sense of all that Wellington has to offer – so to gain such recognition on a global stage is a strong validation of the quality of work that has been achieved together.”

The Webby Award winners are announced on April 23 with the awards in New York on May 13 at a star-studded event celebrating the “internet’s biggest night”. Apparently, no one from WellingtonNZ will be there but the organisation will issue a media release if it wins.

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