CitizenSpeak E-Advocacy Service Received Webby Award Official Honoree Distinction

Free e-Advocacy service - described as MoveOn for the rest of us - distinguished by leading awards body for website design.

Providence, RI (PRWEB) April 17, 2006 -- The Webby Awards, the leading international honor for web sites, today recognized CitizenSpeak (http://www.citizenspeak.org) as an Official Honoree, a distinction awarded to sites for their excellence, vision and superior quality. Described as MoveOn.org for the rest of us, CitizenSpeak provides a free and easy-to-use email advocacy service for grassroots organizations.

Using CitizenSpeak, civic organizations and individual activists – which may be just a couple people organizing around a kitchen table - can launch powerful email advocacy campaigns to educate representatives and targeted decision-makers about their causes. Activists across the country have created accounts on CitizenSpeak raising awareness and building constituencies in their communities about issues such as education, discrimination, economic injustices and the environment.

Recent CitizenSpeak campaigns launched by local organizations include: "Say No To HR4437: Enforcement First means Immigrant Families Last," and "East Side Public Education Coalition" launched in response to the closing of a local middle school in Providence, RI. To learn about these and other CitizenSpeak campaigns, please visit http://citizenspeak.org/citizenspeak.

Called the “Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, the Webby is the leading international award honoring excellence in Web design, creativity, usability and functionality. “The Webby Awards honors the outstanding web sites that are setting the standards for the internet,” said Tiffany Shlain, founder and ambassador of The Webby Awards. “CitizenSpeak’s Official Honoree selection is a testament to the skill, ingenuity, and vision of its creators.”

“We’re thrilled to have been selected as an Official Honoree by The Webby Awards,” said Jo Lee, co-founder and director of CitizenSpeak. “At the heart of CitizenSpeak is a profound belief in democracy protected and maintained by a strong civil society. Our goal is to help grassroots activists get their voices heard by providing powerful online tools at the community level.”

CitizenSpeak was created by Jo Lee and Pablo Calamera, designed by Development Seed, built by George Hotelling and made possible by the support of the CivicSpace community.

The code that runs CitizenSpeak is available as a free and open source Drupal module at http://drupal.org/node/32189. The module has been used by domestic and international organizations including Planned Parenthood and Public Campaign to educate communities about important causes.

About CitizenSpeak (http://www.citizenspeak.org):

CitizenSpeak is a non-profit that provides grassroots organizations and local activists with an easy-to-use, powerful e-advocacy service. Since its inception, CitizenSpeak has supported organizations from all across the country, including formal organizations with long term goals, as well as individuals using CitizenSpeak for one-time issue-oriented actions. The code that runs CitizenSpeak is available as a free and open source Drupal module. CitizenSpeak is based in Providence, RI.

About The Webby Awards (http://www.webbyawards.com):

Called the “Oscars of the Internet” by the New York Times, the Webby is the leading international award honoring excellence in Web design, creativity, usability and functionality. Established in 1996, the 10th Annual Webby Awards received over 5,500 entries from all 50 states and over 40 countries worldwide.

###