Can YOU help RubyLearning win this award?

Hollywood has the Oscars. Broadway has the Tonys. Now Twitter has the Shorty Awards. The awards, announced by the Brooklyn Internet company Sawhorse Media, aim to honor the best Twitterers of 2008 in categories like education, humor, news and food…[Reference: The New York Times.]

Yes YOU can. How?

RubyLearning offers free online Ruby programming courses and since 2005, over 6500 participants spread across 140+ countries have learned Ruby programming. Your vote at the Shorty Awards will help RubyLearning to continue provide this service to all the corners of the earth, helping people learn and have fun with Ruby.

How do you Vote?

• You need to have an existing Twitter account.
• To vote for RubyLearning in the finals, send a tweet similar to this: @shortyawards I vote for @RubyLearning in category #education because… (be sure to type a reason after because…, or your vote won’t count! – the total tweet should not exceed 140 characters).\ OR\ Use the form on this site (click on Vote! next to RubyLearning). The form will ask you for your Twitter username / password / email id registered with Twitter. It’s safe to enter your password.
• The text of the tweet is completely up to you. As long as it contains @shortyawards @RubyLearning #education reason you can be as creative with the rest as you like.

Remember:

• You actually have to write something. Just submitting the default tweet, or a tweet with no reason, doesn’t count.
• Your votes won’t be counted if your Twitter account is private. Your votes must appear publicly.
• To vote, you have to have been an active Twitter user prior to the start of the competition. Votes originating from newly created Twitter accounts made specifically for Shorty Awards voting may be removed at the judges’ discretion.
• Voting closes on Friday, January 23 at midnight (Pacific time).

About the Awards Ceremony?

• The ceremony will be held in New York City, on February 11, 2009. Full details are now available and you can request an invitation if you’d like to attend.
• The winners of the official categories will get to deliver 140-character acceptance speeches (either in person, or via video).

Update: Thanks to all who voted, RubyLearning won the first prize in the Education category at the Shorty Awards.

Note: Finalists are welcome to campaign, and to encourage their friends to vote for them. After all, it’s not like Barack Obama didn’t do any campaigning to win the presidency!