Virtual Worlds Innovation Awards were announced at the Virtual Worlds Expo on Wednesday, 5:00pm, September 3, 2008. Congratulations to all the incredibly deserving winners. It's our pleasure to recognize innovation, and we look forward to returning next year for another round.

2008 Winners

Innovation in Virtual Worlds for Consumers
winner: IMVU
winner: Weblin

Innovation in Virtual Worlds for the Enterprise
winner: IBM, represented specifically by the work of evangelist Ian Hughes
winner: Forterra

Innovation in Virtual Worlds for Youth
winner: BarbieGirls.com
winner: vMTV

Virtual Worlds Pioneer award
winner: Edward Castronova

Overall Innovation
winner: The OpenSim community, represented in person by Adam Frisby

The innovation in the virtual worlds industry over the last year or so represents growth by leaps and bounds, and we simply couldn't recognize every person, company, service, or product that sparked our interest - that's one big reason we'll be continuing the awards next year.

2008 Judges:

• Joey Seiler, Editor, Virtual Worlds News and awards chairman
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• Christian Renaud, CEO, Technology Intelligence Group
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• Erica Driver, Co-Founder and Principal, ThinkBalm
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• Nic Mitham, Managing Director, K Zero
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• Steve Prentice, VP and Fellow, Gartner
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• Robert Bloomfield, Founder and Host, Metanomics
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