Cool Site of the Day
Encyclopedia
Cool Site of the Day is an early website created in August 1994 and originally maintained by Glenn Davis
. Linking to one single recommended site off its homepage each day, it soon became an arbiter of taste on the Internet.
Within a few months of its launch, Cool Site of the Day attracted "around 10,000 visitors" each day; within a year of its launch, more than 20,000 people were visiting each day, and the award became a coveted prize among Silicon Alley
start-ups.
The site's founder, Glenn Davis
, became a celebrity, giving interviews to magazines and radio networks such as NPR
while fending off gifts from site maintainers who sought his recommendation of their sites. Newsweek
celebrated Davis as one of the fifty most influential people on the Internet, dubbing him the "King of Cool."
In time for the first anniversary of Cool Site of the Day Davis inaugurated the Cool Site Of The Year award, also known as the Webby
, which was first presented in Hollywood, California
, in August 1995. As part of the proceedings, Davis held an email poll on a shortlist of five websites that had previously been distinguished as a cool site. The award was won by The Spot
. On October 3, 1996, the second Cool Site of the Year awards ceremony was held at Webster Hall
, a nightclub in the East Village, Manhattan
.
Davis left the site in November 1995, but it continued to thrive. By the end of 1997, Cool Site of the Day had spawned thousands of imitators, grown into an "eight-person mini-e-publishing empire," and attracted millions of page-views a month. Davis' former employer decided to sell the site at this point.
Glenn Davis (web design)
Glenn Davis was one of the first web designers. He is best known for his websites Cool Site of the Day and Project Cool.Davis created Cool Site of the Day in August 1994...
. Linking to one single recommended site off its homepage each day, it soon became an arbiter of taste on the Internet.
Within a few months of its launch, Cool Site of the Day attracted "around 10,000 visitors" each day; within a year of its launch, more than 20,000 people were visiting each day, and the award became a coveted prize among Silicon Alley
Silicon Alley
Silicon Alley is a nickname for an area with a concentration of Internet and new media companies in Manhattan, New York City. Originally, the term referred to the cluster of such companies extending from the Flatiron District down to SoHo and TriBeCa along the Broadway corridor, but as the location...
start-ups.
The site's founder, Glenn Davis
Glenn Davis (web design)
Glenn Davis was one of the first web designers. He is best known for his websites Cool Site of the Day and Project Cool.Davis created Cool Site of the Day in August 1994...
, became a celebrity, giving interviews to magazines and radio networks such as NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
while fending off gifts from site maintainers who sought his recommendation of their sites. Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
celebrated Davis as one of the fifty most influential people on the Internet, dubbing him the "King of Cool."
In time for the first anniversary of Cool Site of the Day Davis inaugurated the Cool Site Of The Year award, also known as the Webby
Webby Awards
A Webby Award is an international award presented annually by The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences for excellence on the Internet with categories in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile....
, which was first presented in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, in August 1995. As part of the proceedings, Davis held an email poll on a shortlist of five websites that had previously been distinguished as a cool site. The award was won by The Spot
The Spot
The Spot, or thespot.com, was the second episodic online story , after an earlier experiment by AOL's QuantumLink Serial, and pioneered the underwriting of bandwidth and production costs by offering paid advertising banners on the web pages and product placement within the journal entries...
. On October 3, 1996, the second Cool Site of the Year awards ceremony was held at Webster Hall
Webster Hall
Webster Hall is a nightclub located at 125 East 11th Street, between Third and Fourth Avenues, near Astor Place, in Manhattan, New York City. Built in 1886, its current incarnation was opened by the Ballinger Brothers in 1992...
, a nightclub in the East Village, Manhattan
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
.
Davis left the site in November 1995, but it continued to thrive. By the end of 1997, Cool Site of the Day had spawned thousands of imitators, grown into an "eight-person mini-e-publishing empire," and attracted millions of page-views a month. Davis' former employer decided to sell the site at this point.