First Annual Vloggies a Smash

Over the weekend, The Daily Reel ventured up the I-5 to beautiful San Francisco for the first annual Vloggies, the only award show devoted solely to excellence in online video.

The whole weekend -- produced and hosted by the good folks at PodTech -- was incredible. Things kicked off Friday night with a party (sponsored by BlipTV and Dabble) at the House of Shields, a lively local dive bar, where vloggers mixed with locals mixed with alcohol in a nice meet-and-greet atmosphere. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more enthusiastic crowd than this one; the giddy, collaborative vibe reminds us of the 1990s indie film scene, when production costs were low and the sky was the limit.

Saturday's awards ceremony was a veritable "who's who" of online video. Everyone from Rocketboom's Andrew Baron to Ask a Ninja's Kent Nichols and Douglas Sarine to Robert Scoble to Jerry Zucker (whose hilarious address brought down the house) gathered to celebrate the best of the vlogosphere. The ceremony was hosted with wit and spark by Irina Slutsky and David McVicar and featured brief clips from each of the winning vlogs.

Unsurprisingly, the vlogging community has already unleashed an avalanche of coverage -- pictures, stories, and videos -- of The Vloggies. Check out Beet.TV, Laughing Squid, and Silicon Valley Watcher.

As with any award show, only a handful of nominees actually take home the gold:

Here's the full list of People's Choice winners:
Best Vlog - Ask a Ninja
Male Vlogger - Josh Wolf
Female Vlogger - Nontourage
Group - Alive in Baghdad
Corporate / Organisation - NetSquared
Comedy - Ask a Ninja
Community - Minnesota Stories
Instructional / Educational - Wine Library TV
Entertainment (Fiction) - Galacticast
Entertainment (Non-Fiction) - Beach Walks with Rox
Experimental - 90 Seconds with Dave
Inspirational, Religious, Spiritual - Beach Walks with Rox
Kids & Teens - Phil Hamilton Hits the Big Time
Cooking - Wine Library TV
Green - Freshtopia
News - Goodnight Burbank
Personal Diary - Josh Leo's Vlog
Political - Ze Frank
Tech - Diggnation
Travel - Amanda Across America
Viral - Invisible Engine and The Singing Woodchuck
Funniest - Ask a Ninja
Collaboration - Node 666 Project
Documentary - Freetime
Experimental Video - 90 Seconds with Dave
Interview - Geek Entertainment TV
Most Controversial - Alive in Baghdad
Original Music - Nontourage
Special Effects - Galacticast
Vlog Editing - Freshtopia
Vlogging Books - Secrets of Vlogging
Video Hosting Provider - blip.tv
Online Video Production Tool - videos Playing in Places
Vlog Directory - MeFeedia
Vlog Website Design - Galacticast

Vloggies Favorite Award Winners
Best Vlog - Alive in Baghdad
Male Vlogger - Ze Frank
Female Vlogger - Ryanne Hodson
Group - Alive in Baghdad
Corporate / Organisation - NetSquared
Comedy - Ask a Ninja
Community - Minnesota Stories
Instructional / Educational - Freevlog
Entertainment (Fiction) - Chasing Windmills
Entertainment (Non-Fiction) - LoFi St Louis
Experimental - pouringdown TV
Inspirational, Religious, Spiritual - Beach Walks with Rox
Kids & Teens - Jet Set Show
Cooking - Freshtopia
Green - Treehugger TV
News - Rocketboom
Personal Diary - Josh Leo
Political - Alive in Baghdad
Tech - Bleeding Edge TV
Travel - Travelvlog
Viral - Singing WoodChuck
Funniest - Ask a Ninja: Pirates of the Carribean
Collaboration - Bottom Union
Documentary - American King
Experimental Video - pouringdown TV
Interview - Alive in Baghdad
Most Controversial - Josh Wolf
Original Music - Valdezatron
Special Effects - Galacticast
Vlog Editing - StutterFrames by Jay Dedman
Vlogging Books - Secrets of Vlogging
Video Hosting Provider - blip.tv
Online Video Production Tool - videos Playing in Places
Vlog Directory - MeFeedia
Vlog Website Design - It's JerryTime