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Local Voices

Long Island Exchange.com Sponsors First Annual Long Island Web Awards

(Long Island, NY) Long Island Web Awards, created to recognize local groups that use the web to collaborate with our communities or help support our economy, joins forces with Long Island Exchange in an exclusive partnership. For over ten years LongIslandExchange.com, owned and operated by Searchen Networks, has been one of the top online destinations for Long Islanders.

Founded by Gina Kearney and Robert A. Kenney, owners of online marketing company Concept 5, the Long Island Web Awards was created as a way to celebrate how the internet has positively impacted the Long Island community.

“We live and work on Long Island and use the web everyday to find local businesses, news and events. There are a lot of great Long Island websites and some that are not so great,” she said. “So, we wanted to recognize Long Island businesses and individuals that are using the web – a website or their social media presence – to communicate and collaborate in our local community and foster our local economy.”

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Kearney outlined the details of the contest, including the categories and voting, which are open to any and all Long Islanders.

“Anyone can nominate a website for the 2014 Long Island Web Awards...there are 12 categories ranging from Arts and Entertainment, Food and Drink, Made on Long Island, Non-Profits, Shopping, and more,” she said. “Once a site is nominated, people can come back every day and vote for as many different Long Island nominees as they like. It’s a simple process... just go to the nominee’s page and click a button to vote.”

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Kearney also noted that there are safeguards in place to ensure that the voting is on the up-and-up; the process records a user’s Internet Protocol (IP) Address, allowing them to only vote once per day per nominee.

John Colascione, the Publisher and Founder of LongIslandExchange.com, the site that touts itself as “The Guide to Everything that is Long Island” for the past ten years; said that he was delighted to be involved and sponsoring the Long Island Web Awards.

“I’ve always wanted to get involved in something like this – a website that highlights the best of Long Island — on the web — and how these resources serve the Island’s diverse and extraordinary community and this was the perfect opportunity to do so,” he said. “When I came across the awards, I immediately submitted our site, eventually connecting with Gina Kearney. It was a perfect match, and one that hopefully will breed a successful contest now and going forward into the future. The web is an amazing space, and there is so much more we can do together.”

Kearney echoed Colascione’s sentiments, stating that the LI Web Awards collaboration with Long Island Exchange should ensure a huge boost to the inaugural year of the contest.

“We actually reached out to each other simultaneously,” she said. “We met and discussed the vision and mission for both the Long Island Web Awards and Long Island Exchange, and quickly realized that together we could promote the site and find the very best websites on Long Island. 

The voting is open through September 1; one winner in each category will be selected and announced on September 15, at which time winners will have the opportunity to express their pride by placing a badge on their site or printing out banners extolling their triumphant status in the first-ever Long Island Web Awards.

“What I like most about these awards is that a nominee doesn’t necessarily have to have their own website,“ Kearney stated. All they need is an active online presence — even a Facebook or Twitter page can be entered. If they are using the web and are effectively communicating with Long Islanders online  - that’s enough to win. It’s a level playing field, and anyone with creative energy can win,” added Colascione.

 “There isn’t an actual physical award that you receive; it’s about being recognized among your peers and allowing people who interact among your local business or website to vote for you,” Kearney said. “We plan on hosting the awards every year and we hope Long Islanders will join us in nominating and voting for Long Island websites that they enjoy and use frequently in their daily life on Long Island.”

 

Long Island Web Awards

Here to recognize and help reward the best Long Island websites and social media pages, this year’s voting will be closed at 11:59 AM EST on September 1, 2014. The winners of each category will be announced on or about September 15, 2014. For more information please visit: www.longislandwebawards.com

 

Long Island Exchange

Long Island Exchange is the leading local guide to the south eastern region of New York. Find Long Island news, business information, check local weather, real estate, classifieds, automotive listings, and find out what’s happening on Long Island. For more information please visit: www.longislandexchange.com

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