Winner, winner salmon dinner! The National Park Service won three awards in the 26th annual Webby Awards recognizing excellence in digital and online communications.
From crowning Alaska’s fattest bear to the launch of the NPS App and sharing insider trip-planning tips with visitors, the work of the NPS was recognized by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences as among of the best in the world. After more than 14,000 entries from over 70 countries and 2 million votes cast by 500,000 users in Webby People’s Voice, only 4% of work entered was named a Webby winner. Winners in each category will be honored in an awards ceremony held in New York on May 16.
NPS Winners
#FatBearWeek
In the Social/Events and Livestreams category, #FatBearWeek swept both the People’s Voice Award and the Jury Award, which is adjudicated by members of the academy. Fat Bear Week is an annual celebration of success and survival, highlighting the resilience, adaptability, and strength of Katmai National Park’s brown bears. Bears “compete" against each other in a bracket-style tournament and online visitors can vote in a series of matchups, ultimately resulting in the crowning of the Fat Bear Week Champion. Over the course of the week, virtual visitors learn more about the lives and histories of individual bears while also gaining a greater understanding of Katmai’s ecosystem through a series of live events hosted on explore.org.
NPS App
One app, every park at your fingertips! Nominated in the competitive Art, Culture and Events Apps category, the NPS App won the People’s Voice Award. With the NPS App, you can find interactive maps, tours of park places, on-the-ground accessibility information, and much more to plan your national park adventures before and during your trip.
NPS Honoree
#PlanLikeAParkRanger
The campaign was listed as an honoree in the Social/Education and Discovery category. Between pandemic variants in spring 2021, visitation to national parks was increasing and expected to grow through the summer. To ensure that the only surprises that visitors experienced were happy ones, the NPS unveiled a top-ten list of insider tips to encourage visitors to #PlanLikeAParkRanger.
The NPS uses the web and social media to reach new audiences, engage a vibrant community of park advocates, and to promote a deeper understanding of national parks and NPS community-based programs by providing accurate, engaging, and timely content, as well as sharing important news and events from more than 400 parks and dozens of programs. Follow, share, and be a part of the conversation - join us on nps.gov, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
Source: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service