ReadWriteWeb is proud to be a partner of the first annual Crunchies, a competition and award ceremony for the best startups of the year. It is being run by TechCrunch, Read/WriteWeb, GigaOm and VentureBeat. As the name indicates, TechCrunch is the driving force behind the awards and event - but it is a collaborative effort between the 4 of us. I'm a personal fan of the 3 other blogs, so it's great that we're working together on this event.

How will we be involved? Read/WriteWeb will be sponsoring some of the award categories that most align with our brand, and we will be involved in category selection and the ceremony. Nominations and voting will start soon at the Crunchies site. There will be a real-world award ceremony and party to announce the awards - date and venue tbc (it'll be in San Francisco though).

Most of all, the awards and ceremony is about celebrating Web startups - all the hard work they put in and innovation they create. So we at Read/WriteWeb are thrilled to be working with TechCrunch, GigaOm and VentureBeat to bring you the Crunchies! Stay tuned for more details over the coming weeks.