2011 Rose & Bay Awards Followup Report & Discussion

[ysabetwordsmith]

The 2011 Rose and Bay Awards for excellence in cyberfunded creativity have now concluded.  Winners have been announced for Art, Fiction, Poetry, Webcomic,  Other Project, and Patron.  We are currently working on the certificates for winners.  You can read more about this project on the 2011 Rose & Bay Awards landing page.

Special Thanks To...These

Comments

[eseme]

I also did not vote in categories where I knew or had some contact with more than one nominee, other than fiction, which had anonymous voting. It is very awkward having your vote visible to anyone and everyone, and visible as long as the poll exists, which can be years.

I think more communication among the staff members would be helpful. Had I known when the artwork would be made available, I would have held off on my first email to all 18 fiction nominees. As it was, I sent out a huge number of emails and LJ messages, and then literally four hours later learned that I was supposed to do it all again to tell them about the Rose and Bay artwork. Needless to say, I didn't repeat the emails for a week.

I really hope the awards can move to another site next year. That was the comment I heard the most - I had one person email me their vote who also included a vote in another category. I had to reply that other categories required votes on LJ. Another person private LJ messaged me that they had trouble figuring out LJ and polls.

I can help with cutting down the poll-post text, although that would also be simplified next year if the awards move off LJ. We could have a main page for the awards with their history, and info about how people can help. Then each poll can simply have the four rules at the top of it. I will note, however, that removing the Wall 'O Text is still not effective at getting people to read the rules - I made the runoff poll post very short, and two creators still voted for themselves, in spite of the rules saying not to do so.

I am also hopeful that a move to another site will allow longer polls - this way we could have all the fiction nominees in one poll. I also agree with AlexandraErin's suggestion that popular voting (as in, vote for all the projects you like, the ones with the most total votes wins) be used.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I also did not vote in categories where I knew or had some contact with more than one nominee, other than fiction, which had anonymous voting. <<

This topic is intended for a poll.

>>I think more communication among the staff members would be helpful. Had I known when the artwork would be made available, I would have held off on my first email to all 18 fiction nominees.<<

I agree that more communication would be helpful. I'm not sure how to achieve that, though. *I* didn't know when (or if) artwork was going to arrive -- it's strictly volunteer. (Hrm, we might consider crowdfunding that too.) I gave volunteers information as soon as I got it. *sigh* Not to mention the times I emailed all the managers, and then a few hours later had to do it all over because somebody found some other problem that needed to be fixed.

>> I really hope the awards can move to another site next year. <<

This is one of the leading requests, yes. We may be able to do it with crowdfunding.

>> I can help with cutting down the poll-post text, although that would also be simplified next year if the awards move off LJ. <<

Okay, this has potential.

>> I will note, however, that removing the Wall 'O Text is still not effective at getting people to read the rules <<

It's always hard to get people to read the rules, no matter what you do. Heh ... if we run the awards from a hub site, we might be able to code a rules page so it appears first, and you have to go through it and click a button that says "I have read the rules" before you can access the poll.

>>I am also hopeful that a move to another site will allow longer polls - this way we could have all the fiction nominees in one poll.<<

Agreed. LJ poll limits are maddening at times.

>>I also agree with AlexandraErin's suggestion that popular voting (as in, vote for all the projects you like, the ones with the most total votes wins) be used.<<

As a voter, I find that idea very appealing. As an award manager, I have to wonder if it might create a lot more ties requiring runoffs. I'm willing to consider this, but I think that further discussion of pros and cons might be prudent.