Webby Awards founder has knack for predicting hi-tech trends

Her glitzy name belies her shrewd nature: in 1987, when she was a high school student and the internet was uncommon, Tiffany Shlain had made a wise prediction.

She said that, eventually, interlinked computers would bring individuals, communities and nations closer to each other. Her essay that presented this theory earned her a year's stint as a student ambassador to the former Soviet Union.

Ms Shlain, who was named after the 1960s Hollywood classic Breakfast at Tiffany's, has been attuned to the future ever since.

Now 35, Ms Shlain has become synonymous with the prize she founded - the Webby Awards - which has been dubbed 'the Oscars of the internet'. The list of public figures who have judged the awards is impressive - ranging from Richard Branson, David Bowie and Susan Sarandon, to former South China Morning Post columnist Esther Dyson and Chicago Bulls basketball star Dennis Rodman.

More than star power, it is the award ceremony's acceptance speeches - which must be limited to five words - that grab the maximum attention.

'It was the one part of award shows that I always found so painful to watch - acceptance speeches. However, if you give people a constraint, you would not believe how creative they can be,' Ms Shlain said.