There’s no reason why the media should have a monopoly on awards, so I’ve decided to have my own technology PR blog awards. Counting the votes didn’t take long – in this case it’s just my opinion that matters (though I’m keen to hear your views) – and the prize fund is even smaller (i.e. non-existent).
So, without further ado, these are my Blog Awards for 2008.
2008 PR Blog of the Year: PRBlogger
One of the first bloggers to write about PR, Stephen Davies writes interesting, well balanced stuff; although I don’t think he quite expected the surge in popularity that came with his posts about journalists and PR people on Twitter. Drew Benvie and Andrew Bruce Smith also get honorable shouts.
2008 Technology Blog of the Year: Dot.life
Despite close competition from The Guardian’s Online , Rory Cellan-Jones’ technology blog, Dot.Life is still top of the tree when it comes to breaking online/tech news.
2008 SEO Blog of the Year: SEOMoz
A massive online resource for everything SEO, you can get quite lost in here with all the content and advice, but it’s well worth adding to your RSS feeds if you have any SEO responsibilities where you work.
2008 Company Blog of the Year: Inside123-reg
It might break some rules of convention for a company blog (i.e. it’s not really all that personal), but 123-reg’s blog is a hidden gem. Good content and advice for web hosting geeks and those who just use the web for their jobs.
2008 Online PR Guru of the Year: Chris Brogan
There are a few contenders for the title of online PR/marketing guru, but for my money Chris Brogan nips it. If you’re in doubt of his popularity, just look at how many comments his posts get.
2008 Nicest Online People to Work With: Cite
Apart from the fact they give me the odd helping hand, Cite are a great company to work with, whether you want a full website or a company blog, they’re responsive and easy to work with.
Hottest application: Twitter
One week I love it, the next I hate it. But you can’t deny that Twitter’s popularity and influence in bringing together PR and social media people. I still have some questions about it though – 23 of them, in fact.
Biggest let-down: Cuil
As damp squibs go, Cuil was pretty wet. Heralded as the Google killer, the launch of Cuil was mired by a flaky service and a distinctly unimpressed blogosphere. I haven’t been back since.
The most read story on my blog: Howlett Lets off a Howler
A post about what happened when journalist blogger Dennis Howlett said he would only deal with PRs through Twitter now. Was a bit of a sticky story on other people’s blogs too; he’s since set the record straight on his blog and others, although it raised some interesting questions along the way.
Thank you very much Philip!
All the best for 2009!