NEW YORK — After more than 30,000 public nominations on Twitter, the Shorty Awards reopen today for a final round of voting for 2008’s best producers of short content. Thanks to support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Shorty Awards’ 26 winners will be offered $1,000 grants to travel to New York and attend the awards ceremony. The ceremony will take place on Feb. 11.

“Many users excel at writing in 140 characters or less on Twitter, but until now it’s been hard to find them,” said Gregory Galant, the CEO of Sawhorse Media, which created the Shorty Awards. “The Shorty Awards are quickly becoming the leading guide to who’s making a big impact using short messages on Twitter.”

“The Twitter nominees are the kinds of innovators Knight Foundation seeks as it looks for new ways to support experimentation in news and information,” said Gary Kebbel, Knight’s journalism program director.

Since the launch of the Shorty Awards in December, tens of thousands of Twitter users have nominated their favorite Twitterers in 26 official categories (such as news, humor and politics) and in more than 1,500 user-generated categories. The five most-nominated users in each of the 26 awards categories are now Shorty Awards finalists. The final round of voting begins today and ends Jan. 23. The ceremony, at Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn’s Dumbo neighborhood, will be the first gathering to bring top Twitter users together from all over the world.

This event is being made possible thanks to Knight Foundation’s support.

The finalists are:

Advertising
@peggyolson – Peggy Olson
@madmain – Dave Saunders
@tedmurphy – Ted Murphy
@girlinyourshirt – Jenaé
@rdeal1 – Ryan Deal

Apps
@hahlo – Hahlo.com
@BrightKit – BrightKit
@splitweet – Splitweet
@twitbacks – Twitbacks
@Tweetworks – Tweetworks

Brand
@marthavan – Martha Van Inwegen
@assistu – Stacy Brice, Founder
@Marvel – Marvel Entertainment
@surpass – Surpass Web Hosting
@SavvyAuntie – Melanie Notkin

Business
@barefoot_exec – Carrie Wilkerson
@pawluxury – Adam Wendy & Lola
@alex_jeffreys – Alex Jeffreys
@mariaandros – Maria Andros
@guykawasaki – Guy Kawasaki

Design
@yiyinglu – Yiying Lu
@firstdogonmoon – Mr Onthemoon
@zeldman – Jeffrey Zeldman
@hughbriss – Hugh Briss
@andyjacobson – Andy Jacobson

Education
@FeliciaSlattery – Felicia Slattery
@waltribeiro – Walt Ribeiro
@assistu – Stacy Brice, Founder
@garystager – Gary Stager
@rubylearning – Ruby Learning

Entertainment
@bettydraper – Betty Draper
@PhillyD – Philip DeFranco
@betty_draper – Betty Draper
@FLWBooks – Flashlight Worthy
@StephenFry – Stephen Fry

Finance
@stocktwits – Stocktwits
@zecco – Zecco
@Geezeo – Geezeo
@TraderAlamo – TraderAlamo
@mintdotcom – Mint.com

Food
@caltort – Caltort
@eatconsciously – Ed Coffin
@vegansaurus – vegansaurus
@BlogWellDone – Chris Perrin
@Foodimentary – Foodimentary

Green
@dcarli – Dcarli
@alexismadrigal – Alexis Madrigal
@DrGreene – Alan Greene
@doneganland – Donegan Land
@greenmoms – Green Moms Carnival

Health
@ADHDParenting – Debra Sale Wendler
@bydls – Christine bydls.com
@doctoranonymous – Doctor Anonymous
@isagenixintl – Isagenix International
@chronicbabe – Jenni Prokopy

Humor
@sockington – Sockamillion
@DarthVader – Darth Vader
@joeschmitt – Joe Schmitt
@charlestrippy – Charles Trippy
@FakeSarahPalin – Fake Sarah Palin

Music
@TranquilMammoth – Hunter Burgan
@cyberpr – Ariel Publicity
@cardinology – Cardinals
@adbert – Adrián Bertolini
@megaphonemusic – Megaphone

News
@breakingnewson – BNO News
@ColonelTribune – Colonel Tribune
@jafurtado – Jose Afonso Furtado
@themediaisdying – The Media is Dying
@Jason_WCMH – Jason_WCMH

Nonprofits
@wildlifesos – Wildlife SOS India
@athletes4acure – Scott Zagarino
@kanter – Beth Kanter
@livestrongceo – Doug Ulman
@thenonprofitorg – TheNonProfitOrg

Personal
@alohaarleen – Arleen Anderson
@mcawilliams – John Williams
@JiMpiSh – Chris
@sugarjones – Sugar Jones
@BadEvan – BadEvan

Photography
@TWIPPhoto – TWiPphoto
@wmmarc – Wm. Marc Salsberry
@photojojo – Photojojo
@kk – kris krug
@viss – Viss

Politics
@anamariecox – Ana Marie Cox
@mikegermano – Mike Germano
@justin_hart – Justin Hart
@digitalsista – Shireen
@TheFix – The Fix

Science
@MarsPhoenix – Mars Phoenix
@spacevidcast – Space Vidcast
@mlaine – Michael J. Laine
@sciencebase – David Bradley
@drkiki – Dr. Kiki Sanford

Socialmedia
@MariSmith – Mari Smith
@dhollings – Dan Hollings
@rdeal1 – Ryan Deal
@danzarrella – Dan Zarrella
@chrisbrogan – Chris Brogan

Sports
@sportytweets – SportyTweets.com
@girlwithnoname – Jackie
@lancearmstrong – Lance Armstrong
@underthebar – EliteFTS.com (Dave)
@statsheet – StatSheet

Startups
@luckystartups – Lucky Startups
@1datarecovery – Assist Data Recovery
@mikeprasad – Mike Prasad
@pitchengine – Jason Kintzler
@hanniversary – Hanniversary
@orgsync – Eric Fortenberry

Tech
@namecheap – NameCheap.com
@Twitter_Tips – Tips, Tools, Status
@aschek – Alexander Schek
@TheDudeDean – The Dude Dean
@bbgeeks – BB Geeks

Travel
@juliemarg – Julie Gallaher
@MaineWindjammer – Maine Windjammer
@CruiseSource – Cruise Source
@wildearth – WildEarth
@soultravelers3 – soultravelers3

Videogames
@Justinmcelroy – Justin McElroy
@alexandramokh – Alexandra Mokh
@nikolez – Nikole
@GarnettLee – Garnett Lee
@yahoogames – Yahoo! Games

Weird
@martinsargent – Martin Sargent
@matman – Matman
@warrenellis – Warren Ellis
@benmarvin – Ben Marvin
@weirdnews – Weird News


About Sawhorse Media
Sawhorse Media is a privately-held company in New York City with the mission of facilitating the creation of valuable short-form content. It runs a number of ventures including the Shorty Awards and Musebin, a one line music review website.

About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation promotes excellence in journalism worldwide and invests in the vitality of the U.S. communities where the Knight brothers owned newspapers. Knight Foundation focuses on projects with the potential to create transformational change. For more, visit www.knightfoundation.org.