A Genuine Response
February 3, 2006 – 7:29 amYour whole “Awards” has been a fiasco anyway. Why bother?
A good question and one that deserves an answer. I agree with that statement, at every turn. Anything that could have gone wrong did, and any remedy tried was futile. We understand the frustration and agree with it as well. We have been just as frustrated. Why bother? Why not?
How many times can you apologize? This whole contest is a joke.
We will continue to apologize at every turn where a mistake is made. I think that for the most part people would rather know that we are acknowledging the mistake and apologizing than feigning ignorance and adding disrespect.
The contest actually is not a joke, but it is also not intended to be the authority in the blogosphere. We have said from the beginning that we should be taken lightly and that this is an exercise in exposing blogs that might not be able to be discovered otherwise. If you are giving too much weight to these awards, I suggest you go to a higher authority than the BoB Awards and visit some of the other awards sites. There you will get to see the same 10-15 blogs that win every award and your exposure will be limited.
It sure takes a lot of courage to have a “contest” where there are at least a dozen mistakes and people are just supposed to accept it and appreciate them because they’ve done so much “work.” That’s pretty ridiculous.
No it doesn’t take much courage in my mind as does it take many hours of work, lots of efforts and a thick skin. I don’t expect anyone to accept or appreciate these awards as the highest of honors in the world of blogging. None of the judges are being paid for this, and the little money charged for advertising is to offset the costs associated with the site, like hosting and other expenses. I assure you, we have lost money producing these awards and that is what might be considered “ridiculous”. If anyone would like to donate your time, effort and hard earned money, I’m certain you won’t be turned away, although the return on that investment may result in ridicule. Why do we do it? I’ll let you be the judge.
In any event, we intend to go forward with our mission which is to expose the little guy to more traffic, have people discover each other and to possibly make a few friends along the way. For anyone that feels that this is not being accomplished through these awards, I apologize for missing the mark, and I would welcome any constructive feedback.
29 Responses to “A Genuine Response”
I think people need to realise that you can only learn from your mistakes, and that this is, ultimately, just a bit of fun.
I can speak from personal experience – my own blog received stacks of nominations, and didn’t make the list of finalists as it was assumed I had lots of traffic (whereas in fact most of the blogs who DID make the finalists in that category have at least twice as much traffic as I do). I talked through my minor gripes with Jim privately, via email, in a relaxed way. He was very nice to me, we both walked away happy, and I’m confident that next year he’ll find a way to stop that happening again (a quick check to nominated blogs to ask them their average readership would do it, and then just go for the best of the smallest ones). I feel I have a chance again next year, Jim has now realised a potential flaw in the nominations system, everyone is happy and no histrionics required.
To resort to some of the name calling and hysterical responses that I’ve seen in some of the comments is rather astonishing, when all Jim is trying to do here is spread a little love around to the smaller blogs who otherwise don’t usually get a mention…
A little perspective required, I think…
By roger (Dirtyboy) on Feb 3, 2006
Jim and Co. – you’re right; the contest is not a joke, but holy schnikeys, quite a few of the contestants certainly are. The badmouthing of other sites, the pleading for votes, and the “winning-this-award-will-make-up-for-losing-the-student-body-president-election-those-many-years-ago” drama is nothing short of pathetic. Get a grip, folks.
By Jason on Feb 3, 2006
I’m so sorry you feel you’ve had to make this statement. Aside from being fun, I’ve quite enjoyed the organic nature of this whole thing.
Personally it’s been an honour, a great ride and a real rush to be a part of this. I’ve discovered some superb blogs and I’ve gained some delightful new readers. I think the spirit in which these awards are conducted is the most important aspect of all and to that end, I think Jim and everyone who’s invested time in this should be congratulated.
I agree with roger, perspective is all, and I too have been disappointed by certain comments here. They’ve betrayed their immaturity and marked themselves out as throughly unpleasant individuals. In a reverse turn of Jim’s intentions, I am reminded that there some people who possess such small hearts and minds, they are unable to share in the happiness of others. Such mean-spiritedness deals a blow to the generosity generally shown here but changes nothing. I am sure most people have enjoyed the experience and appreciate all your hard work.
To all the judges, I express my unconditional thanks. For my money, your suceeded with your intention.
By Magdelena on Feb 3, 2006
Yes, thank you, all of you. I may not have won, but I discovered SO much of value here, and hopefully was discovered by others as well. Maybe now I’ll be inspired to learn a little something about design!
As far as how “big” or “small” a blog is, one blog awards earlier this year (they did their voting at the end of last year; I think it was the “Webbies?”) had one set of categories based on TTLB’s “ecosystem.” I thought that was pretty cool, and it definitely placed like competitors among like competitors. They also had some kind of nifty software that knew, to the second, when you had last voted, and allowed you to vote every 24 hours.
Anyway, I’m still happy to have been a part of this, and glad I’m not eating the sour grapes that seem to be in abundance. Heck, I’d display a BoB “LOSER” button proudly!
By belinda on Feb 3, 2006
I’m pleased to read the balanced perspectives of the follow-up comments. The spirit of the project is what’s important, the good blogs will continue to be good blogs with or without the awards, and the bugs will be worked out, over time, through trial and error. Some new projects have more error than others; it’s the nature of the beast. The “it’s not fair” posts come from the glass-half-empties who fear their so-called status in the blogosphere has been compromised in some way. I’ve even read the “it’s not fair” comments from those who were eventually clear winners. Jim and group: thanks and well done.
By andrea on Feb 3, 2006
And in the category of “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished…”
Thanks for all the work you did with this. I had fun being nominated… and I had fun checking out all the other blogs that were too.
Don’t let the naysayers get you down.
By Chris Lehmann on Feb 3, 2006
Your a good man Jim, and keep trying thats how we get better.
By katkat on Feb 3, 2006
As far as I’m concerned this whole thing has been anything but a fiasco. I’ve discovered new blogs, I’ve gained new readers, and whether I win or not I am delighted to have been part of this thing. I really appreciate all the hard work that you guys put into this. Thank you!
By Julie on Feb 3, 2006
Thank you (again) for your efforts on this project. Since “exposure” was your (primary) goal, I’d also like to add that M-mv enjoyed an uptick in visitors since being nominated and named a finalist. Best regards.
By MFS on Feb 3, 2006
Yeah—what Julie said! This was a great experience and it was an honor to be included. Thanks!
By Susan on Feb 3, 2006
jim,
you do what you need to do. take the time you need to take. in the end, i don’t think it’s the winners who take all, rather, we all help one another. there are a lot of folks with a lot of good things to say. props to you and the panel of judges for taking the task to heart. it would have been easy to just run up a list regardless of results.
madeline
By Madeline on Feb 3, 2006
First off, I’m posting this here because the last time I sent an e-mail directly to Jim, asking a question about illegitimate voting practices, he responded by saying something along the lines of, “We’d have better luck picking the winner out of a hat.”
Personally, I think that would be just as legitimate as what we have now.
I would like to thank The Best of Blog Awards for helping me discover some great blogs. I would like to thank them for the exposure my blog has received.
However, by making this a competition, one would assume the scoring would be equal for everyone.
In the humor category alone, half of the competitors managed to place the actual poll on their sites. There was no mention of this beforehand and The Best of Blog Awards refused to do anything about it during or afterward.
On that point alone, the voting portion of this contest should have been disregarded.
On top of that, one would hope that all of the technical difficulties would have nullified the vote.
Of course, that did not happen either.
If the competition was based solely on the decision of a group of volunteer judges, I doubt anyone would complain.
However, when a contest is not equal for everyone involved, the competition loses all credibility.
I truly appreciate everyone who volunteered his or her time and thank you for everything you have done.
Sadly, your hard work will be mired by poor planning and sheer incompetence. Calling this competition a fiasco is more than warranted.
By Used Hack on Feb 3, 2006
The competition was almost based solely on the decision of a group of volunteer judges, so I fail to see how the competition loses ALL credibility for something that wound up only counting for 10% of the total score. In my category, my blog ran away with the popular vote, and did not win. The blog with the second-most popular votes did not win, either. Yes, it kind of changed mid-stream, but your assertion that it had no credibility, I find…um, lacking in credibility.
Did ANY blog that won the most popular votes win its category? I don’t notice any right off the bat, but I wasn’t keeping up with all of them. If all the top-voted blogs had won their categories, I might see your point, but they didn’t. Far from it.
Even if the vote had been totally untainted, all it meant was that the big vote-getter had the most readers and/or persuaded (harangued) the most people to go to the trouble of casting a vote. That wouldn’t have proved anything about the quality of the blogs, really, and I respect the opinions of the volunteer judges. Heck—I’d love to get feedback from them, personally!!
By belinda on Feb 3, 2006
And then, there were all those “hanging chads”.
By annie on Feb 3, 2006
The people criticizng this process really need findsomething else to do with themselves. It is the same as little league coaches/parents yelling at the Ump. It is all volunteer. Used Hack and everyone else who probably had an increase in readership are just sore losers and are the glass is half empty type of people.
I appreciate the effort, exposure and the other blogs I have found from this.
Was Used Hack and other expectin to get rich from this?
By William on Feb 3, 2006
If you missed the mark, it was lost on me. Awards are like hemmroids. Sooner or later every – nevermind. Anyway, I found some great new blogs to read here and I’m happy.
By Antique Mommy on Feb 3, 2006
Belinda, “almost” is not good enough when you are talking about a contest. How many mistakes have to p
I also believe your percentages are incorrect. Originally, the voting was supposed to be worth 20 of the 50 points. It was dropped to 10-of-50. That’s 20%, not 10%.
Even if that is incorrect, it’s 10% too much. It was not what the contest was intended to be.
William, I am not a sore loser. I am very happy with the added attention my blog has received. I have already thanked The Best of Blogs for that.
I knew I had no chance at winning once I checked out all of the judges’ blogs. Most of them are mommy and daddy bloggers, and I’m sure they don’t care much for irreverent, often vulgar, humor.
That’s fine. I have no problem with that.
However, I do have a problem with a contest that does not have, then follow, a strict set of rules.
This contest will always be inferior as long as it is run in an inferior manner.
By Used Hack on Feb 4, 2006
Mistake, 1st paragraph:
How many mistakes have to be made before you consider this contest invalid? Pick a number because I’m sure they reached it.
By Used Hack on Feb 4, 2006
Used Hack, how can I take your criticism seriously when you keep making all of these mistakes?
By Jim Turner on Feb 4, 2006
Used Hack, don’t worry, be happy!
Ok, you are not happy, but most people here are. The BOB Awards was made to introduce new unknown blogs, increase readership, but to mostly have fun.
Have you ever made mistakes before, Used Hack? Or are you perfect like Bigfoot? Because he’s great at playing hide and seek!
I hope you have a nice weekend, Used Hack, and you feel better soon. Tell Dave I said hi!
By Rockchild on Feb 5, 2006
Thank you all for all of the hard work that may or may not by be appreciated by all, was in fact appreciated by most. There will always be a naysayer in a barrel, or in this case, blogosphere. I for one appreciated all the hard work you put into this. Thank you all, and I mean all that put time and effort into making this happen.
My blog did receive some traffic and that was the original intent, was it not?
My only conundrum here is: What happened to the Best of Sex Blog category? I would love to congratulate the winner. I know it wasn’t me, as I had the lowest vote score… and as such had no chance at the best of.
I enjoyed this… and hope that at some point you can find some relaxing moments, knowing that this year is finished
By Fantasy on Feb 5, 2006
I have to echo Fantasy (above). I can’t imagine all the work that went into being a judge for this. I do believe my traffic has increased from this ‘contest’. Although I write mainly for me, it’s nice to see others enjoy it. I hope through the judging process each of you found some new nuggets of excellent writing. I’m still visiting sites that won or were nominated across multiple categories, so regardless of whether someone won or lost, I have to call this a success. I’ll keep checking in as I’d like to congratulate the winner of Best Sex Blog along with the other nominees. Thank you for your labors.
By The Seeker on Feb 5, 2006
Still no real answers, just jokes.
Par for the course.
By Used Hack on Feb 5, 2006
Seeker, I came by your blog to say hello but I’m not a blogger person so I couldn’t leave you a comment.
Used Hack, get over yourself. You have yet to make a point.
As for me, I’m having a blast going around visiting blogs and making new blog buddies.
By WebKittyn on Feb 5, 2006
Used Hack, as one of the jurors in the Most Humorous category, I’d be happy to discuss why I rated you poorly in your category.
I would have done it in private, but you don’t seem to care about discussing the shortcomings of others in public.
There were two judges per category, I don’t know who your other judge was.
Here goes:
Each blog received a maximum of 50 points.
For the popular vote, the winner received 20 points, the second place winner 19, etc, etc down to the 10th place person receiving 10 points.
You received 74 votes, good for 5th place.
The other 30 points (per rules) were divided as follows:
Each blog can be awarded a maximum of 10 points for presentation.
Each blog can be awarded a maximum of 10 points for readability.
Each blog can be awarded a maximum of 10 points for content.
Both the 1st place AND second place winners finished higher than you in the voting. For you to have passed them you would have needed higher average scores in the three categories listed above.
Let’s be honest.
You have a default blogger template and are a one trick pony as far as content goes.
“I fucking hate…. [fill in the blank]”
All three blogs that finished higher than you had better designs, better layouts and more diverse content.
In the case of the 1st and second place winners, also had higher voting totals.
Humor is subjective. Deal with it.
I didn’t have the cartoon raked in MY top three, but I had it ranked ahead of yours.
By Mangopod on Feb 5, 2006
Mongopod, I don’t have a problem with the subjective scores by the jurors.
My only complaint—if you had bothered to actually read it—had to do with the BoBs using invalid votes from readers.
Some people managed to cheat during part of this contest, and the BoB Awards did nothing to stop them.
You can all say that cheating played a minimal role—and you can apologize all you want—but that still doesn’t make it right.
I have never complained about my personal standing in this contest.
By Used Hack on Feb 5, 2006
Used Hack said, “I knew I had no chance at winning once I checked out all of the judges’ blogs. Most of them are mommy and daddy bloggers, and I’m sure they don’t care much for irreverent, often vulgar, humor.”
Just for the record—as one of the judges and a mommyblogger—Okay, I may not have sex as often as non-parenting-type bloggers…but, I certainly did NOT lose my sense of humor.
(I was NOT one of the best mommyblogger judges, btw)
Don’t assume, just because I wouldn’t necessarily want my kids exposed to such humor, that I’ve forgotten how to let my hair down.
Short and thinning as it may be.
All bloggers have a right to be heard!
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