Streamy Do Over: Celebrate the Web

"Let's make lemonade out of lemons," explained Kim Evey as she addressed the crowd of the local L.A. web tv community to explain how she and Jenni Powell were motivated to organize Celebrate the Web. Jenni revealed that the order of speakers would be determined by random draw. Sandeep Parikh took the stage to open the festivities. More subdued than we've seen him on his blog earlier this week, he set the tone by trumpeting what draws him to creating on the web. The whole show was streamed live and is available to view but there were, in my eyes, some stand out moments.
As fate would have it Sandeep selected Dan Strange (Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis) as the first speaker. After the debacle of the past weekend not only did the audience leave with a bad impression of the fledgling industry but those who work in it were cast in a shadow of shame for working in it. Dan talked passionately about having pride in doing what you love to do and was met with emphatic (and empathic) applause, in effect helping to lift that very shadow.
A unique part of the event was that the winners that could not be in attendance were afforded the opportunity to provide a video. Jeremy Redleaf (Odd Jobs) worked the show names of Streamy winners into an uplifting speech. It quickly had become apparent that these videos themselves were compelling representations of what we are trying to achieve in the industry. These videos are a better showcase for the industry than any celebrity presenter could ever hope to be. The videos will be uploaded and available to view.
As fate would once again have it, Daniel O'Brien and Michael Swaim (Agents of Cracked) closed the show on a high note expressing heartfelt gratitude for the audience which earned them their award. Specifically stating that they built that audience one at a time which was received with empathic (and emphatic) applause.
The elephant was still in the room all night. A few looked at it and pointed it out but it wasn't going anywhere. The big question on my mind was whether anyone associated with the Streamys would make a statement, either live or via video. Sad to say no such statement was made. Too soon? Hard to say. I think a message would have been politely received but I guess we'll never know. Streamy host Paul Sheer however, was in attendance. Love or hate what he did this past weekend, you have to admire the guy's fortitude.
All week the blogs have been alive for calls of a smaller ceremony that was unique to the medium and captured the independent spirit of the people who work in it. I have a feeling many people are going to refer to this as that kind of ceremony. As important as it is to heal the collective creative spirit of all working to build the web tv industry, we must not forget the image to the outside world has been tarnished. Business partners we currently work with or potentially would work with. Loyal viewers who champion the cause and those who have kept a curious but cautious distance. The challenge now is to take this renewed collective creative spirit and make them believers once again.