Women Geeks Honor Their Own

SAN FRANCISCO -- This year's Top 25 Women on the Web awards honored not just well publicized high-fliers like Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, but also directed attention toward women not usually covered by the media.

"We defined getting ahead as making a difference to the Internet community," lead organizer Mary Choy said during the San Francisco ceremony Monday night. "We looked for pioneers."

Monday's winners ranged from top-ranking business executives to such Web-based activists as Anita Brown, the founder of Black Geeks Online.

"We really tried to have as many women that have as many of these different characteristics," said Rebecca Eisenberg, one of the judges and a 1999 award winner.

In the three years since its inception, Choy says the organization has been pushed to broaden its criteria to allow for greater diversity in the kind of work that may be considered for recognition. "We were initially concerned that we would be getting the same names every year," she said. "Instead, we've received new names every year and from different sectors."

Last year's winners included Senator Barbara Boxer, who was chosen for her contribution to Internet legislation and Melinda Gates, chosen for her work at The Gates Library Foundation. This year, the judges were looking at women using the Internet from a broader perspective, using different types of technologies, said Anna Billstrom, organizer for SFWoW.

This year, the nomination process was automated via the Web and included over 200 nominees, with more worldwide submissions than in previous years, Billstrom said.

This year, there were far more educators and designers in the mix, Choy said.

"One of our judges was against choosing anyone who was a CIO," Choy said. "She felt we should not be recognizing people who already get plenty of attention."

But as with previous years, the list also includes corporate heavy-hitters like Autodesk CEO Carol Bartz and Charles Schwab CIO Dawn Lepore.

"Some people feel we are not expanding our criteria fast enough. They think we should be exclusively recognizing people who are not VPs," Choy said.