This week, on Wednesday, we'll announce the winners of the L.A. Weekly Web Awards, but we couldn't do so without first introducing you to our esteemed panel of judges. These exceedingly web-savvy folks worked tirelessly to help us cull the list of finalists, and, along with your votes, ensured we honored the most awesome people and things on the Internet.

So, without further ado, please put your hands together for…

Rico Gagliano co-created and co-hosts American Public Media's The Dinner Party Download, the public radio arts-and-culture show broadcast on stations around the country — and produced here in L.A. His reporting has aired on All Things Considered and for many years on Marketplace, for which he filed stories from Europe, Asia and across the good ol' USA. He also judged a quickfire challenge on Top Chef Masters and had the dubious honor of telling Mary Sue Milliken she used too much salt in her salad.

Will Melton is the social media manager for Ignition Creative, a part-time college instructor and digital strategy consultant for Transmedia LA.

Jen Yamato is the weekend editor/GA reporter at Deadline Hollywood. Prior to that she covered the entertainment industry for Movieline, Rotten Tomatoes, Movies.com, and many more online film publications.

Originally from the Deep South, Rebecca Haithcoat moved to Los Angeles four years ago and is never leaving. Currently, she's a staff writer for the brand-new raw and bangin' Myspace. She recently did shots with Lil Jon in Las Vegas for a story.

Richard Rushfield is a writer and editor on culture and entertainment as well as a native Angeleno. He blogs at RushfieldBabylon.com and is currently the features editor of Yahoo! Entertainment.

Stephanie Carrie is an actress, writer and comedian living in Los Angeles. She is originally from Christchurch, New Zealand, and therefore loves Vegemite and small flightless birds. In addition to her L.A. Weekly column, The Tangled Web We Watch, based on her blog of the same name, Stephanie writes plays, TV shows, web series of her own, and sketches for Dreamworks' YouTube channel, AwesomenessTV. Stephanie studied Russian at NYU and comedy at the Upright Citizens Brigade. She likes Breaking Bad, speaking Russian, Manhattans, and you.

Adam Popescu was born in Los Angeles and grew up under the heavy shadow of a family of successful writers. Now, he writes regularly for Mashable and L.A. Weekly, and hosts #muckedup: a Twitter chat for Muckrack that focuses on media. He has a BA from Pitzer College and a MA from Syracuse University.

Bobby Feingold, an Atlanta native, was bitten by the West Coast bug and hasn't looked back since moving to L.A. in 2012. Bobby studied journalism at Northeastern University in Boston before returning to work at his hometown's alt-weekly newspaper, Creative Loafing, where he wrote about news, arts and those crazy Housewives. He currently works as the digital content manager at the environmental non-profit Heal the Bay. His interests include UX, traveling and whiskey. He also has a beautiful royal blue Beta fish named Ari whom he tries to keep alive.

Alice Shin has been charged with brand development and online culture curation for Kogi BBQ since its inception and has gone on to assist in the development and curation of brand culture for Chego! and a handful of L.A.-based restaurants. She is currently a contributing editor of TheGralice.com.

Hailing from the Jersey Shore, Nick Walsh has been obsessed with pop culture and technology his entire life. Since moving to Los Angeles he has been able to successfully marry his two obsessions into one career: social media. The self-described “voice of his generation” prides himself on his excellent abbreviations and unmatched skill in Emoji communication.

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