We’re getting down to the wire … only four days to go until we reveal the 2010 Crunchies Award winners! Will you be there to see your favorite startups and founders take home the triumphant monkey? This year’s ceremony promises to be a night to remember, which is why we encourage you to take advantage of our final round of ticket sales, beginning right now. Please visit Eventbrite to snag your pair.
There is also still time to vote for your favorites until midnight PT tonight. So far about 650,000 votes are in, but anything is still possible. Some of this year’s finalists include Groupon, Foursquare, Instagram, Quora, Flipboard, Angry Birds, and Twitter.
We are also proud to announce that our friends at Animoto will be hosting a Crunchies pre-party from 5 to 7:30pm in their brand new offices in downtown San Francisco. Shuttles will be available from Animoto’s offices to the Palace of Fine Arts. Details and tickets can be found here.
As a reminder, doors for general seating will open at 6:45pm and the show will begin at 7:30pm sharp! We have a lot of show to get through together with our co-hosts GigaOm and VentureBeat and you won’t want to miss a single second. The ceremony will be chock full of entertainment, featuring the RockJazz of uber-Pianist ELEW, who will also play a special set at our after-party. Red Bull talent DJ Platurn, Pro-BMX Flatlander Terry Adams, and internet dance sensation, the Oakland TURF Dancers, are set to round out the evening’s lineup and keep the energy pumping.
A word about parking—there is free parking at the Palace of Fine Arts Complex as well as a few overflow lots near the Marina, but, remember, parking is very limited. Please read these driving directions so you can plan your visit. We encourage you to get there early and carpool with friends.
We’ve also received numerous questions about the Crunchies’ hardware—our inimitable monkey trophies. In answer to those “what’s the deal with the monkeys?” inquiries, we will direct you to a post written by TechCrunch’s own Mike Arrington announcing the first Crunchies Awards, in which he explains that the monkeys are a nod to Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey.” Thanks to the presence of a mysterious extraterrestrial monolith, Kubrick’s great apes learn to make use of tools and weapons, marking the beginning of a technological evolution that continues today—and is celebrated by our annual Crunchies Awards. Heady stuff, to be sure. You can see the clip that became our inspiration here.
Lastly, we also encourage both TechCrunch fans and Crunchies attendees to employ our #crunchies hashtag when discussing the event (and when making those last minute award predictions) on Twitter.
And remember: Finalist voting ends tonight, January 19, at midnight, so be sure to support your favorites among the 100+ finalists for the Best of 2010. You can do so here.
Who is going to take home those monkeys? Is the suspense killing you? It’s killing me. We can’t wait to see you there!