11th Annual Shorty Awards
Celebrating its 11th anniversary, the Shorty Awards continue to honor the best influencers, celebrities, brands, and agencies on social media, across Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and other platforms. The show returned to PlayStation Theater in the heart of Times Square in New York City for the ceremony.
Over 800 influencers, brands, agencies, and guests packed the theater for the ceremony, which featured a hot pink carpet, cocktail reception, seated dinner, and an afterparty at the W Times Square hotel. The staged event livestreamed on YouTube and Twitter to over 211,000 (and counting!) viewers internationally, as fans all over the globe tuned in to watch their favorite social media stars.
Comedian and actress Kathy Griffin hosted the show and kept the audience entertained with her trademark comedy from both the stage and the audience during a crowd interaction bit.
Helping keep the show lively throughout, well-known presenters included Jay Shetty, Shangela, Mamrie Hart, Denzel Dion, Eva Gutowski, and Sean Evans.
This was the most competitive show to date, as over 7 million votes poured in from fans all over the world, a record for participation. Winners of the signature Whale-Tail Trophy included Shantell Martin, March for Our Lives, Ryland Adams, Shane Dawson, and Shorty’s very own host, Kathy Griffin.
Recognized this year for their contributions to the world, Phenom Award recipients included Kevin Love (Athlete), Marsai Martin (Entertainment), March for our Lives (Changemakers), and Terry Crews (Activism).
New Orleans-based band and 2017 NPR Tiny Desk Contest winners, Tank and the Bangas, brought down the house performing four hits from their new album Green Balloon, including "Nice Things" and "Ants" to finish out the night.
Empire is proud to partner with The Shorty Awards for our fifth year and we congratulate all the 2019 winners, as well as an even larger congratulations to eleven successful years of the Shorty Awards!
Guests received their first taste of technological innovation at registration, where they were welcomed by name on a reactive LED screen installation covering the full width of the entry wall. A large lunch café was created with a décor scheme that incorporated custom-built, ceiling-high steel LED frames draped with foliage to create smaller, intimate restaurant-style spaces that displayed both technology and nature.
A series of breakout sessions presented content targeted to attendees’ varied interests, while imagery displayed throughout the venue showcased real-life applications of how products designed to empower developers help to unleash the power of data and reimagine possibilities that will improve our world.
Every element of Microsoft Connect(); from registration, breakfast and keynote, to lunch and evening cocktails, were custom-designed to communicate exacting brand messaging and to deliver a high-touch guest experience to this important audience. The keynote and breakout sessions were livestreamed through an onsite studio built for this purpose and content was watched online by millions around the world.
Empire is proud to collaborate with Microsoft on this annual, top-tier business communication event.
To view excerpts of Connect(); 2017, please visit https://www.microsoft.com/connectevent
