Point & Clique: The 2011 RFT St. Louis Web Awards

Here's to the geeks.

Jennifer Silverberg

Angela Ortmann a.k.a. The STL Wine Girl, winner of Best Use of Facebook to Promote a Personal Brand.

Jennifer Silverberg

Josh Bacott and Matt Sebek of Joe Sports Fan, the judges' selection for Best Sports Blog.

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More About

• St. Louis Cardinals
• NL Central
• National League (MLB)
• Science and Technology
• Internet

Here's to the guys who spend hours blogging about their obsessions. The gals who tweet their every thought in 140 hilarious characters or less. The citizen photojournalists who share their Flickr'd images with the world.

The RFT Web Awards are for you!

The Internet is no longer the province of the lonely, if it ever was. These days, we're more likely to make friends online than on a neighboring bar stool – and increasingly, the coolest kid in the room may be the biggest geek.

That's why the RFT is honoring the best of the Web for the first time ever this year. St. Louis' bloggers and vloggers aren't just making the Internet a more interesting place; by sharing their thoughts, their photos and (yes) even their status updates, they're building a real community – and St. Louis is better for it.

We received hundreds of nominations for this year's awards, and our able team of citizen judges spent hours combing through them, developing a list of worthy finalists and finally picking winners in 25 categories.

We encourage you to check out their websites, visit their YouTube pages and become a fan on Facebook. All 100-plus finalists have done amazing, interesting work. And isn't it high time you joined the cool kids' clique?

Best Neighborhood Blog

NOCO St. Louis
http://nocostl.com

The Judges Say: What's true of all the nominees other than north county? They're all hip places to live. North county is not — but thanks to nocostl.com, it does have a hip blog. We enjoyed the vast array of posts: This website has everything from architectural reviews to a contest pitting ma-and-pa pizza joints against each other. And it's not just nicely written; it's laid out nicely, too.

Click here to read more on NOCO St. Louis.

Finalists
Cherokee Street News – http://cherokeestreetnews.org
Visit the Loop – http://visittheloop.com
Tower Grove East – http://towergroveeast.org
Downtown St. Louis – http://www.downtownstl.org

Best Music Blog

I Went to a Show
http://iwenttoashow.com

The Judges Say: We like the clean design — it's easy to read and isn't fatiguing on the eyes when looking at a long post. It's easy to find what you're looking for, too. It's great to see the local-centric content, and it's nice that even though there are five distinct points of view here, there's also a unity to the site. It's a fun read.

Click here to read more on I Went to a Show.

Finalists
Speakers in Code – http://www.speakersincode.com
5 Score Pachyderm – http://www.5scorepachyderm.com
KDHX Blog – http://kdhx.org/blog
Music of the Hour – http://musicofthehour.com

Best Sports Blog

JoeSportsFan
http://www.joesportsfan.com

The Judges Say: Joshua Bacott and Matt Sebek are the best one-two sports combo in St. Louis since Jack Buck and Harry Caray. They provide entertaining and humorous commentary on all St. Louis sports — sort of like a Deadspin for the local audience. We especially love the new video segments.

Click here to read more on JoeSportsFan.

Finalists
Viva El Birdos – http://www.vivaelbirdos.com
Frozen Notes – http://frozennotes.com
Inside STL – http://www.insidestl.com/insideSTLcom/STLSports/SportsBlog

Best Personal Blog

Patrick Powers
http://patrickpowers.net

The Judges Say: There's lots of fresh content here; Powers seems to post at least four times each month. And it's great to see him relate social media to an actual topic (higher education) — not just social media for its own sake — and promote organizations and professionals other than himself. This site feels like a St. Louis-based Mashable.

Finalists
A Small Town Girl's Guide – http://www.smalltowngirlsguide.com
The Cubicle Chick – http://www.thecubiclechick.com
Cupcake Project – http://www.cupcakeproject.com
South City Confidential – http://southcityconfidential.com

Best Arts Blog

2 Buildings 1 Blog
http://www.2buildings1blog.org

The Judges Say: This is clearly the best of the blogs that cover arts happenings in town. And the site ups the ante by covering not only events that relate to its sponsoring institutions (the Pulitzer Foundation for the Arts and the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis), but other arts events in town, too, particularly in the midtown neighborhood. It's laid out well, updated frequently and easy to read — and you can't beat the fact that it's basically two blogs for the price of one.

Finalists
Saint Louis Art Map – http://www.saintlouisartmap.org
St. Louis Artists' Guild Blogs – http://www.stlouisartistsguild.org/new/blogs-various
Look/Listen – http://www.stlmag.com/Blogs/Look-Listen

Best Food Blog

Iron Stef
http://chairmanstef.blogspot.com

The Judges Say: There's something about the out-of-this-world recipes featured on Stephanie Tolle's blog that make our mouths start salivating. Whether she's combining bacon and bread pudding or putting Tater Tots on pizza, Iron Stef always keeps things interesting. The ingredients, step-by-step instructions and appetizing photos ensure that even novice cooks can achieve a delicious outcome.

Click here to read more on Iron Stef.

Finalists
Andrew Mark Veety – http://www.andrewmarkveety.com
Sounding My Barbaric Gulp! – http://www.barbaricgulp.com
STL Hops – http://stlhops.com
Off the Eaten Path – http://offtheeatenpathstl.com