The Webby Awards, often called the Oscars® of the online and mobile world, just declared MapQuest.com an official honoree in the web services category.  As most of you know, we’ve made some big changes over the past year, so we are honored that such great minds appreciate what we’re doing.  If you’re not familiar with the Webbys, it’s an award honoring excellence in websites, interactive advertising, online film and video, and mobile.

According to The Webby Awards official site, the honorees are selected by ‘an executive 750-member body of leading web experts, business figures, luminaries, visionaries and creative celebrities, and Associate Members who are former Webby Award Winners and Nominees, and other Internet professionals.’  While that sounds somewhat exciting, it’s even better when you hear who is included in that list: musicians Beck and David Bowie, creator of “The Simpsons” Matt Groening, Virgin Atlantic Chairman and Founder Richard Branson, founding partner of Crispin, Porter + Bogusky Alex Bogusky, and many other folks with whom I wouldn’t hate to be stuck in a room. The members also include writers and editors from publications such as The New York Times, Wired, Details, Fast Company, Elle, The Los Angeles Times, Vibe and WallPaper.

We’re also featured in Web by You, a concept from The Webby Awards and AOL, that highlights some great people in the industry and also encourages people like you to vote in the People’s Choice segment of The Webby Awards.

Thanks for the honor, Webbys.  We hope to continue to impress you over the next year!

For so many of us, it’s nearly impossible to understand the devastation that occurred in Japan following the 8.9 magnitude earthquake and resulting tsunami — images from the disaster may be the closest many of us may come to comprehending the scale of destruction.  MapQuest recently obtained aerial images from our partners i-cubed and GeoEye, and we wanted to share these with you. Below are two sets of before-and-after images, as well as additional links to images of other areas and ways to support the relief and recovery efforts.  To see larger versions or to zoom in, click on the image.

MapQuest recently launched, crowd-sourced map service in Japan through a country-dedicated site, open.mapquest.jp.  Read more here on how image provided to OpenStreetMap by the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency is available to the mapping community to help accurately portray damage caused by the tsunami and recovery efforts that are currently underway.

AOL News and Huffington Post both have up-to-date information on relief efforts, as well as ways to support the recovery process.  Our hearts go out to the millions of people affected by this tragedy.

It’s true!  We’re giving away cruiser bikes everyday during SXSW Interactive.  So, if you’re headed to Austin this weekend, here’s what you need to know to participate.

It’s Easy
Cruiser bikes are all about the laid-back lifestyle, so we made the giveaway easy-going as well.  Just find one of our street team members, show them that you’ve downloaded our FREE MapQuest mobile app (yes, the one with voice-guided directions), and you’ll have the chance to enter to win.

Find the Street Team
Dressed in bright green shirts and gray hats, we’ll be hard to miss.  Many of us will also be riding around on some amazing MapQuest-branded bikes so keep your eyes peeled.  If you still can’t find us, just check @MapQuestTech as we’ll be tweeting real-time as to where we are.

When to Play
As you can see in the poster (pictured right), we’ll be taking entry forms Saturday (3/12) thru Tuesday (3/15) and announcing the winner everyday at 4:30pm CST.  If a free bike doesn’t appeal to you, we’re also hosting happy hours from 4-5pm in the MapQuest booth both Monday and Tuesday.

Why Cruiser Bikes?
Besides the fact that they’re awesome, we are actually celebrating two recent bike announcements: bike routing on our MapQuest Open sites and bike APIs based on OpenStreetMap data.  We love the idea of getting more people where they need to go – this time on bikes!


With this and everything else we’ve got going on at SXSW, we are looking forward to a fun, jam-packed week in Austin. Hope to see you there!

If you’re headed to SXSW®, we hope you’ll take a trip with MapQuest as we hold our 2nd annual BBQuest to the renowned Salt Lick Barbecue. If you somehow haven’t heard about this place, check out their accolades.  This year’s event will be even bigger, and will offer FREE, all-you-can-eat BBQ and drinks. This year, we’re also bringing a band: Shinobi Ninja.

Here are the details…

When:
Sunday, March 13th 5:30-8:30 pm

Where:
Bus Pick-up at the Hilton Austin.  MapQuest will load the bus at the Hilton Austin around 5:30pm, then transport the first 250 people to this free (and delicious) event.

Who:
Attendees will include tech influencers and press, VCs, and entrepreneurs from your favorite and soon to be favorite start-ups.

Participants will need a SXSW Interactive, Gold, or Platinum badge, and an ID to prove you’re 21 or older. Remember, you must be on the bus in order to take part. It’s first-come, first-served, so get there early!

People are still talking about last year’s trip with MapQuest. Make sure you don’t miss out this year.

Add the event to your SXSW event calendars:

SXSW Schedule
Facebook
Plancast
Upcoming
Sched

For more info on what we have planned for SXSW, check out our earlier post.

We’re headed back to South by Southwest® this year and it looks like we’re gonna be pretty busy again.  For those of you unfamiliar with SXSW®, it’s an amazing conference and festival that covers interactive, film, and music.  If you’re passionate about any or all of these, it’s a can’t miss event.

As we count down the days until we head to Austin, we wanted to share with you what we have planned in hopes that you’ll join us.  Here’s a quick overview; some might say we’ll be busy, but we wouldn’t have it any other way!

MapQuest Road Trip (3.13 @ 5:30) – Take a road trip with MapQuest to get free, all-you-can-eat BBQ and drinks, gorgeous scenery, and quality conversation with some great minds in the biz.

Booth during Interactive + Film (3.14 – 3.17) – Happy hours, giveaways, and great developer chat.  We’ll be right near the 4th St. entrance so stop by.

Giveaway (3.12 – 3.15) – We can’t give all these details away yet, but let’s just say you’ll want what we’ve got.  Stay tuned to our blog for more info.

Das IronGeek (3.15 @ 3:00) – MapQuest will host one of 5 challenges in Das IronGeek, an event that puts a set of 6 press and bloggers attending SXSW through a series of fun, technology related challenges, all intended to test their “geekiness”.

Panel (3.15 @ 3:30) – Josh Babetski, our Product Evangelist, will be taking part in a panel about Interoperable Location.

Core Conversation (3.15 @ 5:00) – Christian Dwyer, our GM, and Maureen Sullivan, AOL’s CMO, will hold a core conversation about re-branding.

Official Mapping Sponsor of SXSW - Download SXSW’s official mobile app, SXSW GO, to build your schedule, see a map of what’s going on where, and more.

Stay tuned to our blog and @MapQuestTech over the next few weeks for more details.  Hope to see you in Austin!

Whether you’re looking forward to Valentine’s Day or dreading it, MapQuest has a fun new way to help out.

Through February 15, you’ll find two love-related icons in the map toolbar (which lets you search for nearby businesses with one click). Click on the heart icon to find the most romantic restaurants in town. Or click on the broken heart icon to find the perfect break-up spots.

Either way, it’s the perfect way to let your Valentine know exactly where your heart stands.

These “love ‘em or leave ‘em” locations were selected by the savvy editors of AOL City’s Best, serving the nation’s top cities: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas / Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, the Twin Cities and Washington D.C.

We hope you’ll get a kick out of our temporary Valentine’s Day-inspired logo. And if you have any suggestions for what you’d like to see added to the toolbar in the future, let us know. We’d love to hear your ideas.

MapQuest opens its football playbook this year with ‘Play-by-Play’ directions to your Big Game celebrations.  Whether you’re bellying up at your favorite sports bar or waist-deep in wings in your best buddy’s mancave, drop these directions into the invitation to make sure your team shows up on time.

To turn on Play-by-Play directions, click on the flag drop-down menu in the upper-right-hand corner and select the football with a green background.  Then, get your directions like you normally would — on the far left underneath the MapQuest logo. Don’t forget to show your true colors, just like Questi, seen here rocking some serious spirit with a home team (MapQuest, that is) football helmet.

Finally, type in your kickoff (start) and (end) zone locations, and let Play-by-Play bring you straight to the posts.

For those who don’t yet have plans, MapQuest’s “My Maps” feature City’s Best recommendations in the nation’s top cities including: Atlanta, Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Charlotte, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas / Fort Worth, Denver, Detroit, Houston, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami, New York City, Orlando, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, St. Louis, Tampa, the Twin Cities and Washington D.C. .  Find everything from Big Game beer selection to athletic-sized appetizers.