Remember that time when all of the theater bloggers got in a room at Planet Hollywood to blab about blogging?

Well, we did more than chat and eat chicken crunch that day.  In fact, that was the very first meeting of the ITBA, or Independent Theater Bloggers Association, a group of the most passionate theater bloggers on the web.

The bloggers in that room knew that the online media world was changing with every keystroke, especially since every day we seem to lose another theatrical writer from the traditional media world.  Therefore, we felt it was important to gather together formally in order to provide some organization to the ever-evolving theatrical blogoshpere.

We also wanted to recognize excellence in the three distinct areas of the theater that we write about:  Broadway, Off-Broadway and Off-Off Broadway.

So, the ITBA was formed and today, it announced the winners of the 2008-2009 ITBA Awards for Excellence in seven categories.

Visit the website today to see the winners, but make sure you check back in a few weeks.  In true new media style, we’re not having an actual awards ceremony . . . we’re going to have a virtual one.  We’ll be posting video acceptance speeches shortly.

Congrats to the winners!

To learn more about the ITBA, visit www.TheaterBloggers.com.