2009 Blotanical Award Nominations
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Intermission Break: For those who have been following and commenting on the previous post Your thoughts on Blotanical adverts please understand that I'm reading everything you're sharing and am still keen for more feedback. It has given me some food for thought - much appreciated - and the bulk of the comments are not supportive of the current points, Picks and Popular sections, it would seem.
While we must acknowledge that the commenters so far have mostly agreed, I'm keen to know whether they represent the majority view or are just a few minor voices. If, as I'm currently assuming, that these features require some major changes then I need to know whether this is the views and opinions of MOST Blotanists.
So, if you disagree with their views, please do not remain silent. Otherwise, these features may be altered in a way that you're no longer happy with.
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On to something a little more exciting....
The countdown has already begun until the start of the 2009 Blotanical Awards and I've been hurriedly trying to get the code ready for usage. I've changed one aspect of the nomination process after some feedback from last year and are now allowing you to nominate yourself for some of the blog characteric awards. (This is only available to blogging Blotanists).
Those who were here last year would remember that the drop-down lists for each category were stacked with every blog on Blotanical. With 1500+ blogs this year it's becoming a little harder to manage.
Therefore, if you go to your Plot and click on the myBlogs tab you will now see an Award Preferences button.
Click this to open a modal window with a list of Award Categories for this year.
You are permitted to choose up to three (3) Blog Award Categories per blog. You can choose different options for each blog that you have, if you have more than one listed with Blotanical. When nominations start within the next few days, your blog will be listed amongst others who have also selected the same category.
If you wish to suggest another category that isn't listed there then I would advise that you make that suggestion to me within the next 48 hours, otherwise we may not have enough time for members to opt into that category. Any category that doesn't get a minimum of five (5) blogs opting for nomination in it, will be discarded and members will be given another chance to choose.
This list of Blog Award Categories is not comprehensive and all the regular Regional Awards, Best Blog, Best Newcomer Blog, Best Blotanist, Blotanist of the Year and others will still be available once nominations get under way.
UPDATE: The Nomination Process
My apologies for not explaining this as well as I'd hoped. Here is the process;
- Each Blogger has the next 5 days to pick which award categories they would like to be nominated for. You can choose a maximum of three (3). This does not include Regional Awards and others as mentioned above
- The next stage allows all Blotanists three (3) weeks to nominate blogs for each of the award categories. At the end of this stage, each category is then limited to the (5) five blogs with the most nominations in each.
- The final stage is voting and this goes for (1) week, rounding out the month of September. Each Blotanist can then vote from the top five (5) in each category for the actual award.
Basically, the only change from last year is the first step as I am trying to limit the amount of blogs that we need to wade through in the nomination stage. The other benefit is that the awards should be more specific to the blog if the blogger has opted for their categories of choice. For example, it seems a little absurd for a balcony gardener to be picking up the Best Homestead Blog!!!
If I still haven't made the process clear enough, please feel free to ask questions below.
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Comments
What proportion of Blotanical members click on the notice-board items? Would it be worth doing a general email to everyone asking about the issues arising from the adverts question?
About the awards. I'm being thick about this. Are you saying only people who nominate themselves will be considered for awards?
Posted by: Lucy Corrander | August 26, 2009 4:06 PM
Hi Stuart,
I came here after pinging my latest post and curiously clicking on the Award Preferences button that had appeared.
The click off button at the top right of the pop up box doesn't appear to be working. I had to come right out of Blotanical and go back in again :(
I agree with Lucy - an email to everyone is probably needed on such a fundamental potential change to Blotanical. There's probably a lot of people who've got an opinion on this one who are a) uncomfortable about saying it in public or b) don't regularly go into the News section.
And I think I'm being thick about the awards as well...
Posted by: VP | August 26, 2009 8:25 PM
@VP - I'm not sure why the right Close button is not closing for you. I've tried this in both IE8 and Firefox 3 and it works in both. If others are having trouble with this also can you please advise which browser and version you're using.
I will explain the nomination process as an update to the post.
Posted by: Stuart | August 26, 2009 8:55 PM
Stuart - I'm viewing via AOL 9VR and still getting the problem; IE8 as you say is fine.
And it's funny how people have started using Twitter conventions in their responses ;)
Posted by: VP | August 26, 2009 11:37 PM
It would be nice to have an award category for "Educational Blog"
Posted by: Creative Gardener | August 27, 2009 8:29 AM
If it's not too late for suggestions, how about best urban gardening blog.
Posted by: Jill-O | August 27, 2009 12:31 PM
Two more awards? For promoting Blotanical, since you need to increase your income Stuart. And gardening for wildlife, since that is most of what I read on Blotanical.
Posted by: elephant's eye | August 27, 2009 7:32 PM
Great - one of your verification words is Platypus - an animal I had the pleasure of studying in Oz many years ago :)
How about an eclectic award as many blogs don't neatly fit into a single category?
I also seem to remember people had a problem with what Agrarian actually meant last year, which may have affected the result albeit in my favour!
Posted by: VP | August 27, 2009 8:36 PM
There you go - I've now added the four (4) following awards:
Best Urban Gardening Blog
Best Educational Garden Blog
Best Garden for Wildlife Blog, and
Best Eclectic Garden Blog.
NB. Each award must have a minimum of 5 blogs before it will be offered to the community as an option. Happy selecting.
Posted by: Stuart | August 27, 2009 9:09 PM
Now what? Where do we go to see the list of nominations and to vote for those nominated?
Posted by: Jill-O | September 2, 2009 4:45 AM
Hi Stuart, It took me a LONG time to figure out where the nomination page was, and how to do it...but what I loved about it, when I 'did' find it (!) was how you listed blogs from each state. I had no idea how many blogs were in each particular state until then! I think you should have a place like this on Blotanical as a REGULAR feature. This was really the most interesting thing I've seen lately. I'd be happy to lose the picks or at least the 'faves' page so that you could put each state with each blog. It was really helpful for me to see this!
In light of what I've just said, my blog is missing from the VA list! I don't expect any awards and that's fine, but, just wanted you to be aware that you may have inadvertantly left off some blogs:-) Jan
Posted by: Jan (ThanksFor2Day) | September 2, 2009 10:00 PM
I'm sorry, I've looked and looked for the nominations page and can't seem to find it. Would someone kindly point me in the right direction?
Posted by: Susan Tomlinson | September 2, 2009 11:01 PM
Susan (and anyone else) -- there's now a link under the countdown box that will take you to the nominations. :) I didn't see it either.
Posted by: Nancy Bond | September 3, 2009 12:57 AM
Stuart, it's very generous of you to have seperate U.S. State awards. How do you decide who the nominations are for those blogs? Is it just certain blogs or all from that state? If it is all from a certain state, you will need to add me to the Michigan category, since I've lived in Michigan my whole life. Thanks
Posted by: Jill-O | September 3, 2009 1:34 AM
Sorry, I had another question. It looks as though you have everyone on Blotanical listed as best commentator and Blog of the Year, though I am not listed in either place. Are you being selective or is everyone supposed to be listed?
Posted by: Jill-O | September 3, 2009 1:47 AM
Hi Jill -- I can't address the various state nominations because they're new, but I believe no one can see their own name in the two categories you sited so that no one can vote for themselves? Someone will correct me if I'm wrong, but I think that's the reason. :) - Nancy
Posted by: Nancy Bond | September 3, 2009 2:34 AM
Nancy--great thanks! I found it.
Posted by: Susan Tomlinson | September 3, 2009 3:52 AM
Hi Stuart! Love the new nominations categories, and yikes, what a lot of work on your part! Like others here, I couldn't find my own blog---Poor Richard's Almanac---on the list of Pennsylvania blogs. After reading Nancy's comment, I feel a bit dense and am wondering if it's there and I just can't see it. I hope so, anyway! Also, I had to wonder where some of the more wonderful blog names (Henbogle, Tilthy Rich, Dung Hoe) were in the best-named blog category. There are obviously too many good names to choose from, but I hate to miss a good pun!
Posted by: our friend Ben | September 3, 2009 4:56 AM
Thanks Stuart, I feel much better and no longer feeling "out of the loop".
Posted by: Jill-O | September 3, 2009 7:17 AM
Hi Stuart--Thanks for all your very hard work.
I'm wondering, too, if all the lists are complete. For example, when I checked the one for blog I'd most like to be invited to do a guest blog for, my choice wasn't on the list, though it was on other lists...
Posted by: Susan Tomlinson | September 3, 2009 10:02 AM
Never mind, Stuart! I found the blog I was looking for.
Posted by: Susan Tomlinson | September 3, 2009 11:01 AM
Crumbs Stuart you have been hard at work!
It looks like I can't vote for myself when the votes are for personal names (as expected) BUT it does look like I can merrily nominate Veg Plotting when voting for blogs. That is, Veep is greyed out thus confirming I'm there, but suggesting I can't vote, BUT Veg Plotting is in the same shade of black as everyone elese's blog names and it'll let me select it for voting.
I haven't saved Veg Plotting as my selections as I don't want to muck my voting for the blogs I actually want to nominate.
I'll hold off doing any further 'testing' for now - can you confirm that no-one can actually vote for their own blog please?
Posted by: Veep | September 4, 2009 4:09 AM
Oops, I seem to have put my previous comment against the wrong News item.
I'll cut and paste it and put it in its proper place.
My apologies
Posted by: Veep | September 4, 2009 4:11 AM
Like Jan, I'm finding the separate state lists very interesting. Even seeing how people who don't know each other but within a particular region approach naming their blogs - and which places have few or no bloggers at all.
This is one of the surprising things about Blotanical - how it opens ones eyes to things around the world - not just gardening ones either.
I don't want to sound too daft but blogging has genuinely changed my outlook on life and Blotanical has had a big part to play in it. I have learnt about places and peoples and attitudes and approaches I never would have done if I had relied solely on reading newspapers. I realise blogs of any kind offer a lopsided view because people who have computers and internet access and like writing / taking photographs etc. are a only a fragment of the world poplulation. None the less, Stuart, whether or not you ever make money out of Blotanical I do hope you realise you are doing something much bigger here than linking people who happen to like plants. I think (I really do) that you are contributing to international understanding and peace. I wish I could think of a less grandiose and less hackneyed way of putting it - but I think it is worth saying, none the less.
Lucy
Posted by: Lucy Corrander | September 4, 2009 9:37 PM
Lucy, that is a profound observation-one that I agree with wholeheartedly:-)
Yes Stuart, despite ups and downs, and different approaches and opinions about how things can/should/might be done--you are providing a terrific service and I am also, personally, very thankful for it.
Posted by: Jan (ThanksFor 2Day) | September 5, 2009 2:38 AM
Well I'm sorry I've been out for a bit because I have a few blogs I'd nominate! I'll try to weed through everything so I can catch up :)
Posted by: Tessa | September 5, 2009 11:01 AM
Hi Stuart, I have been looking under myblogs button but I haven't got any Award preferences button??
Am I doing something wrong here?
Tyra
Posted by: Tyra in Vaxholm | September 17, 2009 6:24 AM
Tyra, the Award Preferences button was only available for the 5 days leading up to September 1. It wasn't possible to allow this to remain otherwise bloggers could change their preferences throughout the nomination process and really throw the figures out.
Posted by: Stuart | September 18, 2009 2:07 AM
I was in Tyra's situation--no Awards Preference button. Some dates in the guidelines would have alerted me to this. And I'm frankly heartbroken that I missed the initial nominations process. Where are we in that process now?
--Kate
Posted by: themanicgardener | September 19, 2009 8:58 AM