The Crunchies are to technology what the Oscars are to Hollywood.  The awards celebrate the best tech accomplishments of 2009. Join GigaOm, VentureBeat and TechCrunch as co-hosts and masters in ceremonies on Friday January 8, 2010 at 7:30 pm the Herbst Theater in San Francisco.

Starting today, nominate your favorite companies, products and people for consideration in 18 different award categories. Our focus is start-ups, but big companies and products can be considered as well. Self nominations are welcome. Grab a badge here and get your community to support you for finalist consideration. Nominations are open through midnight pst December 4, 2009 .

The Crunchies Committee will choose five finalists per award category based on the submitted nominations and the company accomplishments made during 2009. Popular voting will open on Monday, December 21 and run through midnight pst, Wednesday January 6, 2010.  The full rules are here.

True, we’re not a highly produced Oscars ceremony. But that doesn’t mean we don’t have just as much fun.  We promise a memorable evening with the community to celebrate our accomplishments of 2009 and look forward to a bright 2010.

Who were some of our winners from 2008?

Facebook won the Crunchie for Best StartUp of 2008.

Friendfeed won the Crunchie for Best New StartUp of 2008.

Evan Williams, Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone from Twitter won the Crunchie for Best Founder(s).

The full list from 2008 is here. 2007 is here.

Expect another great after-party to follow in City Hall’s grand Rotunda through midnight with lots more fun and games.

As always, sponsors make our events possible, and we have packages in all shapes and sizes available. Please contact Jeanne Logozzo or Heather Harde if you want to participate in the awards ceremony or after-party festivities.

Make someone’s year. Nominate a company for a Crunchie today.

Photo credits: Marc Salsberry