The WebAwards, produced by the Web Marketing Association (WMA), has been conducted since 1997.

The award-winning Web site was designed by San Diego-based The EastLake Company, master developer of one of Southern California’s largest housing communities. The site serves two functions: 1) as an online resource for residents to post messages on the community bulletin board, communicate with EastLake schools and find out about upcoming events; and 2) as a source for potential homebuyers to learn more about the homes and amenities in EastLake.

“Our Web site is a tool that enables EastLake residents to feel connected to each other and the community,” said Bill Ostrem, The EastLake Company president and CEO. “It provides vital links between schools, businesses and residents – and among residents themselves.”

One judge commented on the on-site tour, which features a truck ride to key places throughout the community, “Excellent tour—very cute and perfect for the audience.”

“The Home Owner’s Association section is a ‘very good idea for residents’,” stated another judge. “This provides good services for members with little administrative overhead.”

WMA is an independent organization founded with the purpose to evaluate and recognize a standard of excellence on the World Wide Web for corporate Web sites. Industry professionals including members of the media, advertising executives, site designers, corporate marketing executives, content providers and webmasters, judged Web sites honored in this fourth-annual competition. Entries were judged based on design, innovation, content, interactivity, navigation, ease of use and use of technology.

EastLake, a 3,200-acre master-planned community in San Diego County, has been voted San Diego’s best new-home community by The San Diego Union-Tribune readers’ poll four years running. At completion, this diverse development will have 22,000 residents and encompass a wide range of housing options, office, commercial and high-technology uses, plus public and private parks, lakes, trails and new schools.

For more information about EastLake’s newest neighborhood, EastLake Trails, call the HomeFinding Center at (619) 421-3111 or log on to www.eastlake.net.