Blog Awards Are Hard!
January 7, 2006 – 12:13 pmBefore I post any of the finalists in any category, I wanted to take an opportunity to discuss the BoB Awards and how difficult it is to pull off an award like the BoBs. Of course, there are many blog award sites, and they seem to pop up more and more each year. We know of all of the other sites, and the reason we started the BoBs was BECAUSE of the other blog award sites. The real down in the trenches blogs were being passed over for the more popular blogs. The blogs like Dooce, Instapundit, Wil Wheaton, and all of the more popular kids were being nominated over and over for the same awards. There is a good reason they were winning, they were awesome blogs! But what about the little blog that gets 10 people show up each day to read some excellent content and great writing? They never get noticed.
I have had an opportunity to travel the blogosphere and have read literally thousands of posts about the BoB Awards and I have seen some praising posts and some posts that were not so nice. I embrace that diversity because we all know blogs are about the voice of the writer and we have to have that balance. I laughed at a few of the not so nice posts, and was concerned about others. Of course, we all know, you can’t please everyone. This is just an award that should not be taken too serious. Sure it would be nice to be recognized for your efforts, but seriously, a button on your site does not a good blogger make.
The jury panel at the BoB’s are all volunteers. What does that mean? Well it could mean they are stupid, or it could mean that they too know what it’s like being a blogger that would like to have more traffic. They could be wanting to get more exposure themselves, like any good blog whore, or they could just want to be a part of something fun. Regardless of their reason for being a volunteer, it is terribly hard work. It is virtually thankless, and as of the last time I checked, not very monetarily rewarding.
We will be announcing finalists in each category. Some of the people will agree with the finalists, and yet others will wonder what planet we were on when we were judging. That’s okay! We love to have feedback, but make it constructive. In fact, the more constructive and “telling us how it should be done” might even land you on the jury panel next year, and you, like some of the panelists will wonder what in the world you were thinking. These awards are hard! They take a lot of time away from what we would rather be doing, like maybe not watching people criticise or berate us for working so hard.
This post is becoming too long, so I will cut it short here as I could go on about how wonderful all of the panelists are and the appreciation I have for their sacrifice. Just keep in mind that these awards are subjective. The finalists are chosen not on some concrete numbers or a list that we to check off. We know that there are some wonderful blogs that won’t make the final 10, and for that we apologize. We want to include everyone, and we want to make sure everyone gets the exposure they deserve. It is hard to make the decisions faced by the panelists, and they are only human (except for Mango, the jury is still out on him).
Enjoy the process of voting for your favorites in each category. Voting will begin promptly on January 10, 2006. As I begin to reveal the finalists, I will also show the prizes, and the criteria will be revealed on how we reach the eventual winner in each category. We will have a winner and a runner-up for purposes of the awards, but remember, it’s just an award.
Thanks!
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6 Responses to “Blog Awards Are Hard!”
I vote for Mango
By tommy on Jan 7, 2006
I’m only a volunteer because Jim knows where I live.
Be afraid, be very afraid.
By Anne-Marie on Jan 7, 2006
Myself included, I saw a lot of blogs nominated who should have and did not make it to the finalist list and blogs not even nominated ON the finalist list.
I’m sorry, guess I walked into yet another little blog clique circle.
Bleh.
By WebKittyn on Jan 7, 2006
I’m not even sure why you do this. But my guess is that you’re good people who’d like to introduce other good people to other good people. But I’ve never been good at guessing.
By old horsetail snake on Jan 7, 2006
That was a very well written post! As a juror, I do this so that people who have great blogs but don’t get the million hits every day are seen by other people. And it’s not just about the finalists… it’s about all of the nominations! I could not believe how many new sites I was able to start reading from just checking out all of the nominations!
Even though everyone may not agree with the choices of finalists, as it is for something like Academy Awards, etc., I really think it is a great concept!
By Adelle on Jan 8, 2006
but, will you tell those of us who missed the cut why we did? Just wondering. No worries, just wondering.
By patty on Jan 10, 2006