May 12, 2000

CAFE UTNE WINS WEBBY

Utne Magazine Honored with International Online Community's Top Accolade

MINNEAPOLIS, MN. – Cafe Utne won the Webby Award for Best Online Community at a ceremony held May 11 in San Francisco.

Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet," Webby Awards have been bestowed yearly since 1997 by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences to honor sites that best represent the Internet’s innovation, creativity and originality. About 3,000 digerati attended this year’s event, which honored 27 winners chosen from 40 million websites worldwide.

"Thanks. Come talk to us," said Kai Hagen, Cafe Utne Manager, in his acceptance speech. Cafe Utne, which boasts 60,000 community members, is an online version of a coffee house that hosts discussions on hundreds of topics ranging from art and culture to parenting, politics, spirituality and sports. "Our connection with Utne Magazine has attracted thoughtful, intelligent people who seed the conversation and define the community," Hagen said.

Founded in 1995 by Utne Magazine Online, Cafe Utne is one of the nation's oldest and most active online discussion communities. Utne Magazine Online offers magazine archives as well as current book, magazine, music, web site and product reviews. Utne Magazine magazine is the nation's leading digest of the alternative media. With a paid circulation of 225,000, the bimonthly magazine has been nominated three times for the National Magazine Award for General Excellence.