One of the websites overseen by Anglican Youthworks, Fervr, has been honoured in the 16th annual Webby Awards as the winner of the Religion and Spirituality section, beating out sites run by companies such as CNN and PBS.
Youthworks CEO Zac Veron (left) and Fervr web designer, Jordan Gillman (right) attended the awards ceremony held in New York on May 21.
Tradition dictates that all winners are allowed only a five-word acceptance speech. Youthworks took to their websites as well as Facebook and Twitter, asking for suggestions, with the winner being the Rev Sandy Grant’s ‘Jesus nailed it for us’.
“We chose those five words because not only did they have a cool teen vibe but they mentioned Jesus and were a humble acknowledgement of God as our victor,” said Marshall Ballantine-Jones, executive director of Youthworks Media.
According to Zac Veron, the speech was met with polite applause as well as some cheering.
“The international recognition that Fervr has received means we are moving closer to achieving Youthworks’ vision of being global leaders in children's, youth and family ministries for the glory of God,” Mr Veron said. “We already have a lot of teenagers from outside Australia visiting Fervr and we now expect that percentage to increase as Fervr strives to become the number one Christian youth website around the world.”
The Webby Awards are organised by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences and recognise the best of the web. More than 10,000 award entrants are judged on criteria such as content, visual design, functionality, creativity, concept and writing, integration and overall experience.
“I think what sets us apart from other religious sites is that we embody what the Webbys are about,” said Kitty Fung, digital producer at fervr.net. “Religious news sites subscribe to the old school of media but we offer a much richer user experience.”
Other winners at the 2012 awards include websites from NASA, The New Yorker, Facebook and Dropbox.
