Rock the Vote Nominated for Webby Award for Activism
Rock the Vote is thrilled to be among the nominees for the Webby Award for “Activism”. Hailed as the “Internet’s highest honor” by the New York Times, The Webby Awards is the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet.
“For the last 20 years, Rock the Vote has been successful by reaching out to young voters on their terms,” said Heather Smith, executive director of Rock the Vote. “We’re on TV and the radio, hip hop and indie rock show stages, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter and now mobile phones. With a small staff and a non-profit budget, we reached millions online in a way that would not have been possible ten years ago.”
Last year, Rock the Vote ran the largest nonpartisan youth voter registration and engagement campaign in history. Using a combination of online, mobile and grassroots outreach, Rock the Vote generated more than 2.6 million voter registration applications and educated and turned out millions more. Rock the Vote integrated with Facebook applications, Myspace, Youtube’s election center, Microsoft Xbox and even digital jukeboxes in bars and restaurants to reach young people where they were and get them engaged in the elections. Working with Nico Networks, Rock the Vote built the first Facebook application for virtual, peer-to-peer registration and get-out-the-vote phone banking.
Specifically on the Rock the Vote website, Rock the Vote’s online Election Center provided information for young voters including a polling locator, information for absentee and overseas voters, resources for college students voting away from home and a state by state guide to where to go and what to bring to the polls. Through the Rock the Trail program, Rock the Vote brought youth voices to the forefront of their website by arming five young journalists with the tools necessary to cover the election from their perspective. Rock the Vote artists such as Christina Aguilera, Adrian Grenier, Sheryl Crow, Maroon 5, Beastie Boys and Ashanti helped bring drive traffic to Rock the Vote’s website through viral campaigns like public service announcements and free music downloads as well as traditional outreach like bus tours and concerts.
Rock the Vote was chosen from nearly 10,000 entries to the Webby Awards this year. As a nominee, Rock the Vote is also eligible to win a Webby People’s Voice Award, which is voted online by the global Web community. From now until April 30th, Rock the Vote fans can cast their votes in The Webby People’s Voice Awards at http://pv.webbyawards.com
“If there’s one thing we’re certain our members and supporters know how to do, it’s vote,” said Smith. “Please go online and cast your ballot for Rock the Vote and help us continue our work keeping young people involved in deciding their representatives and their future.”
Rock the Vote would like to thank J Walter Thompson (www.jwt.com) for their vision and creative design of the website.
Winners will be announced on May 5th, 2009 and honored at a star-studded ceremony in New York City on June 8th hosted by Seth Meyers.
About Rock the Vote: Rock the Vote’s mission is to engage and build the political power of young people in order to achieve progressive change in our country. Rock the Vote uses music, popular culture and new technologies to engage and incite young people to register and vote in every election. And we give young people the tools to identify, learn about, and take action on the issues that affect their lives, and leverage their power in the political process. Rock the Vote is creative, effective, and controlled by nobody’s agenda but our own – we tell it like it is and pride ourselves on being a trusted source for information on politics. We empower the 45 million young people in America who want to step up, claim their voice in the political process, and change the way politics is done. www.rockthevote.org