I really can’t explain it better other then to tell you to go check it out yourself.

Finally, after a year of getting honoree (top 15% of entrants) for different sites at the USTA, 2008 USOpen.org was selected as a Webby Nominee. Last year we overhauled the site completely from top to bottom.  Tons of personalization features and we had an all time high of traffic, visits, time on site, and 200+ million pageviews. I am super excited as this is one of my first awards working at the USTA.

The first year I was at the USTA the 2007 project timeline only allowed for minor tweaks to the previous years site. Last year I was able to work with IBM’s team and work from concept to completion on creating a new design from scratch.

The Webby’s is basically the Oscar’s for the Internet. It is a 13 year old show that brings out the best and brightest of the industry. Hollywood even gets in on the mix as last year saw Stephen Colbert and Will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) make an appearance at the show. We are currently up for an award in the Event category against Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show Online Series, YouTube LIVE, Sony CES 2009, and Yahoo! Upcoming. So how we are going to beat the most trafficked site on the Internet AND models in lingerie is up to God in heaven. However, being selected as even top 5 nominee is an extreme honor and I already feel like we won.  A lot of hours and hard work goes into the US Open each year by hundreds of people. All of us should be proud of this accomplishment.  I always wanted to win a slinky for an award.

Here is the official email from the Webby Awards –

Dear Ken:

It is our pleasure to inform you that The Official Website of the 2008 US Open has been nominated for The 13th Annual Webby Awards in the Events category.

As one of only five nominees in its category, your work and the team behind it are eligible for the Internet industry’s two most sought-after awards: The Webby Award and The Webby People’s Voice Award.

David-Michel Davies
Executive Director

The Webby Awards | Int’l Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences
http://www.webbyawards.com | http://www.iadas.net

So the voting has already started – Please vote for USOpen.org for the People’s Voice Awards.

This is the song that Apple should dedicate to Microsoft.

Batman through the years. I personally like the older ones before the 80s.

This is probably in my top 20 best ever designed tshirts. I honestly don’t think I need to explain this just click over to Threadless to check out the larger view.

This is awesome use of stop motion. From concept to execution I just absolutely loved this video.  It also helps a lot when the song is kick-ass. These are the kinds of videos I will be featuring on my new site which I am working on.

For fun Facts about the video visit -
http://www.myspace.com/orenlavie

Oren Lavie music on iTunes-
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZ…

Her Morning Elegance
Directed by: Oren Lavie, Yuval & Merav Nathan
Featuring: Shir Shomron
Photography: Eyal Landesman
Color: Todd Iorio at Resolution
© 2009 A Quarter Past Wonderful

“Her Morning Elegance” written and produced by Oren Lavie, from the Oren Lavie album The Opposite Side of the Sea
© 2009 A Quarter Past Wonderful/Adrenaline under license from Tuition

Rules: Once you’ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with
25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose
25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I
tagged you, it’s because I want to know more about you!

(To do this, go to “notes” under tabs on your profile page (if it’s not
there, use the “+” to get to it), paste these instructions in the body
of the note, type your 25 random things, tag 25 people (in the upper
right corner of the app) then click publish).

1) I went tandem skydiving and have the video tape to prove it
2) I love the color black but secretly like red more
3) I love venti skim no water chai lattes from starbucks
4) I am addicted to entourage and wish I was Eric but most of my
friends consider me turtle. Thanks to my friend Ari (you know who you
are)
5) I commute over 100 miles a day to work
6) During my commute I sometimes listen to classical music such as Mozart or Bach to calm me down
7) I sometimes on occasion drive over 2 hours to stand in line for 20
minutes to eat for approximately 5-10 minutes a philly cheesesteak in
philly.
Why I do this when my commute is over 500+ miles in a typical week beats the hell out of me
9) My first drink of the day is a hot cup of lipton tea with 2 spoons of sugar
10) Even though no one would believe me, during a span of 77 games I maintained a bowling average of 212.
11) I used to play pool (billiards) about 7-8 hours a night.
12) I went horseback riding once and IMHO I thought I was fairly good at it
13) I watch cooking shows all the time but I only have made something I have watched once.
14) I took cooking for 3 years during high school
15) My grandmother taught me how to cook
16) I spend more time in church each year then the average person probably does in an entire lifetime
17) I own a snowboarding company but I dont know how to snowboard very well
18) I can almost with 98% accuracy recite the movie hunt for red october line by line while watching it.
19) My best birthday was when I turned 22 (or 23) when I sat in the
park almost the entire night with my best friend talking about life and
drinking dunkin donuts coffee.
20) the first time I left the country (to canada) I was asked to state my country of origin, which I replied “brooklyn”
21) I believe Brooklyn should be a country.
22) My grandmother wouldn’t teach me how to cook until I was tall
enough to reach her chest (the height of the stove) – after many
years.. she now reaches the height of my chest.
23) I used to drink 4 red bulls a day
24) One of my favorite quotes is “A good plan violently executed today
is far better than a perfect next week” I am still trying to live by
this one.
25) I am really good at first person shooter games.
bonus ones just for my own memories
26) My favorite pizza in the entire world is Lenny and Johns. Although
I have never tasted pizza any where in the world but the U.S.
27) My second favorite birthday was 2007 when I was working at the US
Open (yes I am nuts for being happy about working on my birthday but it
is a funny story)

If you were a fan… then you were a fan… and if you knew about Christian Okoye then you were really a fan.