Our first Webby!

This post was originally made on the Assanka blog. Assanka was acquired by the Financial Times in January 2012, and became what is now FT Labs. Learn more.

FT Alphaville, a financial blog from the Financial Times, today won the award most coveted by websites: a Webby. Alphaville is developed and run by Assanka for the FT, and the partnership has already produced two major international awards.

In fact Alphaville was named winner of two Webbys – the judges’ award and the ‘People’s Voice’, both in the Best Business Blog category.

Paul Murphy, editor, said:

It is a real thrill to win both Webby honours in our category and we’re grateful to all those who voted for FT Alphaville, and left such kind comments.

Those comments were publicly available prior to judging, and demonstrated the incredible strength of feeling in Alphaville’s devoted audience, a notoriously hard-nosed and hard-to-please demographic. Alphaville attracted more comments than all the other nominees combined.

I went to collect the award in New York with Paul and Alphaville’s editorial team:

FT Alphaville at the Webbies
From left to right: Helen Thomas, Sam Jones, Andrew Betts (Assanka), Neil Hume, Paul Murphy (editor)

Considered the “Oscars of the internet”, the Webbys are the leading awards honouring excellence online, across websites, interactive advertising, mobile and online film and video. The awards, established and decided by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, are now in their 12th year.

The latest awards received a record 9,500 entries from more than 60 countries and winners will be honoured at two ceremonies in June, held in New York.

Founded in 1996, the awards are also known for a five-word limit on acceptance speeches. Past headline-grabbing speechmakers include Al Gore (“Please don’t recount this vote”), Beastie Boys (“Can anyone fix my computer?”), and Prince (“Everything you think is true”). At the moment the Alphaville readers seem undecided on the best line for the team to deliver when they collect the gong but the suggestions are pouring in.

Despite having a London focus, Alphaville has become world renowned in the financial community for sharp analysis and insight, lightning fast reactions and breaking major stories first. Viewers have come to know that if it’s not covered on Alphaville, it’s just not worth knowing.

Never afraid of controversy, the blog has been the subject of a High Court injunction brought by Northern Rock, and has even faced legal challenges over the use of the word ‘portacabin’. Whether you like what you read or not, it’s undeniable that FT Alphaville is essential reading for anyone working in financial markets.

We’ve always had our sights set on a Webby for FT Alphaville so we’re absolutely thrilled that the site has won both awards. It’s a great endorsement of both the fantastic content and the live blogging platform we developed for it.