[4][5] The Official Red Carpet Pre-Show was hosted by Shira Lazar and the award show was co-hosted by Tubefilter, NewTeeVee and Tilzy.TV.

The New York Times Magazine columnist Virginia Heffernan called the show "a goofy and a powerful experience.

[1][11] Russo opined of the show that although "[in] the big scheme of things it all feels very fledgling", the existence of the awards felt "like a cool glimpse into the future".

[1] Heffernan, Tsotsis, and Jill Weinberger of Gigaom, singled out the speeches of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog writer Joss Whedon and The Guild star Felicia Day as particularly memorable with Whedon praising the online content creators in attendance and Day saying of her awards "this is for everyone who ever said no to me.

"[4][5][6] YouTuber and singer Tay Zonday was enthusiastic about the awards saying that they show "that people don't have to play the system to have their art acknowledged," and actor David Faustino said of the show "we're at a baby stage of something that's going to be amazingly giant and I'm excited to be on ground floor.