telperion1
in
mefas
the 2012 MEFAs are coming - and we want your help
Hey guys,
Over the last few months I've been discussing with several MEFA volunteers how we can improve the awards for the upcoming year. And we've finally gotten through all that. I'll make another announcement later tonight about the changes, but the big thing to know is that the 2012 MEFAs are coming, and soon! Specifically, here’s the schedule for the 2012 awards:
--- (1) July 1-31: Nominations season
(After this, new pieces cannot be nominated for the awards.)
--- (2) August 7: Deadline for authors to finalize any nominations
(After this, any nominations that are not finalized will be withdrawn from the awards and will need to be renominated in future years.)
--- (3) August 23-31: Check ballot season
(After this, pieces usually aren’t moved to new categories or subcategories. The only exception is if the author finishes a WIP story.)
--- (4) September 1: First reviews are displayed at the mefawards.org website.
(After this, all final reviews will be displayed at the website and cannot be edited. Reviewers should use the “hidden” or “notes” [previously draft] status if they need to edit reviews.)
--- (5) October 1: Deadline to enter a reviewing goal.
--- (6) January 31 (2013): Last day of voting.
(After this, no new votes can be entered. Any reviews with the notes status will not be counted unless they are given a final or hidden status before this date.)
The most important thing is this: the MEFAs will start accepting nominations in just under two weeks. And that’s coming quickly.
*********************
So just what can you do to help out?
NOMINATORS: Now is the time to work out just what you want to nominate. Basically, you can edit anything that hasn’t competed in the past (or that was a WIP at the end of the awards in which it competed), provided it meets our eligibility requirement, is at a publicly-available link, and meets other eligibility requirements. You can find the pieces nominated in 2011 at http://www.mefawards.org/, and past years’ nominations are listed at http://archive.mefawards.org/ . You’ll need the title, author’s name, author’s email address, and link where the piece is available.
AUTHORS: You can help us out most by keeping an eye on whatever email address you use for fandom websites and listservs. If you’ve changed this in the last year, you should make sure your MEFA account is up to date at www.mefawards.org. (If you need help doing that you can email me at mefasupportATgmailDOTcom.) Also, if you decide you don’t want to compete this year, you should email me and let me know so I can put you on our don’t-nominate list.
Then there are more formal volunteers, the members who help me doing specific work behind the scenes. Specifically:
LIAISIONS: We need volunteers to help guide authors through the process of getting their stories ready to compete. This involves contacting authors and answering any questions they have about the MEFAs (you can ask me if you don’t know the answer), and making sure forms describing the stories are filled out correctly. You need to be around regularly (ideally, at least once a day) between July 1 and August 7. It also helps to have participated in the awards for at least a year, and to have a generally positive and helpful attitude.
PROMOTERS: Want to help spread the word about the MEFAs? Promoters post announcements at other Tolkien-centric websites, forums, and listservs. You also need to keep an eye on those forums for MEFA questions and relay them back to me if any seem to need an official answer. The main thing is you need to know a place that would welcome our announcements, where you can promote the MEFAs. You also need to check your email regularly, between now and January 31. (Even if someone promoted there last time, please feel free to volunteer; there’s always a chance that person might not volunteer again.)
BANNER-MAKERS: Have an interest in graphic design? We’re always looking for people to make banners and icons to recognize nominated stories, people who meet their reviewing goals, and of course the eventual winners. This can take as much or as little time as you are willing to give to it, but obviously
RATINGS PANEL: Often authors aren’t sure what rating to give a story, or readers will question whether the rating listed is appropriate. When that happens I rely on the ratings panel, a group of MEFA members who read the stories involved and tell me what rating they think the story should have. I’ll give them official guidelines for what each rating should cover. They will then read the stories and decide which rating is more appropriate. You need to be able to read stories fairly quickly and see where they fit in our guidelines. Most of the work is July 1-August 15, but occasionally I also need your help later in the awards as well.)
(Actually, the use of “rating” is inappropriate. The MEFAs is moving to something called content advisories - which is basically one rating for sex, another for violence, and a third for other mature themes. I’ll say more about this when I post the PM results later tonight, but the goal is to give more information to readers who might have no problem with any kind of sexual content but prefer to avoid violence - or vice versa. In any event the ratings panel will be looking at whether those content advisories are appropriate.)
So: if any of those sound like your cup of Earl Grey, please send me an email at mefasupportATgmailDOTcom. Even if you’re not sure you can handle it, drop me a line and I’ll be glad to tell you more about what we need.
*****************
One other way to help is with your wallet. The MEFA website relies on having a website, and the company that provides it does like to be paid occasionally. This costs around $10 a month and is our only expense; the rest of the awards run on our volunteer’s talents and elbow grease. I realize that money can be tight these days, and you are certainly free to participate without contributing $$$ toward that particular bill, but we certainly appreciate every donation - if only because every contribution means it’s that much longer before I have to be here again with my hand out. :-)
You can donate here:
I also accept checks and cash if you can’t use PayPal for some reason; email me at mefasupportATgmailDOTcom and I’ll email you my postal address.
Looking forward to working (and playing) with you all in the 2012 MEFAs.
Marta
(MEFA Admin.)
Over the last few months I've been discussing with several MEFA volunteers how we can improve the awards for the upcoming year. And we've finally gotten through all that. I'll make another announcement later tonight about the changes, but the big thing to know is that the 2012 MEFAs are coming, and soon! Specifically, here’s the schedule for the 2012 awards:
--- (1) July 1-31: Nominations season
(After this, new pieces cannot be nominated for the awards.)
--- (2) August 7: Deadline for authors to finalize any nominations
(After this, any nominations that are not finalized will be withdrawn from the awards and will need to be renominated in future years.)
--- (3) August 23-31: Check ballot season
(After this, pieces usually aren’t moved to new categories or subcategories. The only exception is if the author finishes a WIP story.)
--- (4) September 1: First reviews are displayed at the mefawards.org website.
(After this, all final reviews will be displayed at the website and cannot be edited. Reviewers should use the “hidden” or “notes” [previously draft] status if they need to edit reviews.)
--- (5) October 1: Deadline to enter a reviewing goal.
--- (6) January 31 (2013): Last day of voting.
(After this, no new votes can be entered. Any reviews with the notes status will not be counted unless they are given a final or hidden status before this date.)
The most important thing is this: the MEFAs will start accepting nominations in just under two weeks. And that’s coming quickly.
*********************
So just what can you do to help out?
NOMINATORS: Now is the time to work out just what you want to nominate. Basically, you can edit anything that hasn’t competed in the past (or that was a WIP at the end of the awards in which it competed), provided it meets our eligibility requirement, is at a publicly-available link, and meets other eligibility requirements. You can find the pieces nominated in 2011 at http://www.mefawards.org/, and past years’ nominations are listed at http://archive.mefawards.org/ . You’ll need the title, author’s name, author’s email address, and link where the piece is available.
AUTHORS: You can help us out most by keeping an eye on whatever email address you use for fandom websites and listservs. If you’ve changed this in the last year, you should make sure your MEFA account is up to date at www.mefawards.org. (If you need help doing that you can email me at mefasupportATgmailDOTcom.) Also, if you decide you don’t want to compete this year, you should email me and let me know so I can put you on our don’t-nominate list.
Then there are more formal volunteers, the members who help me doing specific work behind the scenes. Specifically:
LIAISIONS: We need volunteers to help guide authors through the process of getting their stories ready to compete. This involves contacting authors and answering any questions they have about the MEFAs (you can ask me if you don’t know the answer), and making sure forms describing the stories are filled out correctly. You need to be around regularly (ideally, at least once a day) between July 1 and August 7. It also helps to have participated in the awards for at least a year, and to have a generally positive and helpful attitude.
PROMOTERS: Want to help spread the word about the MEFAs? Promoters post announcements at other Tolkien-centric websites, forums, and listservs. You also need to keep an eye on those forums for MEFA questions and relay them back to me if any seem to need an official answer. The main thing is you need to know a place that would welcome our announcements, where you can promote the MEFAs. You also need to check your email regularly, between now and January 31. (Even if someone promoted there last time, please feel free to volunteer; there’s always a chance that person might not volunteer again.)
BANNER-MAKERS: Have an interest in graphic design? We’re always looking for people to make banners and icons to recognize nominated stories, people who meet their reviewing goals, and of course the eventual winners. This can take as much or as little time as you are willing to give to it, but obviously
RATINGS PANEL: Often authors aren’t sure what rating to give a story, or readers will question whether the rating listed is appropriate. When that happens I rely on the ratings panel, a group of MEFA members who read the stories involved and tell me what rating they think the story should have. I’ll give them official guidelines for what each rating should cover. They will then read the stories and decide which rating is more appropriate. You need to be able to read stories fairly quickly and see where they fit in our guidelines. Most of the work is July 1-August 15, but occasionally I also need your help later in the awards as well.)
(Actually, the use of “rating” is inappropriate. The MEFAs is moving to something called content advisories - which is basically one rating for sex, another for violence, and a third for other mature themes. I’ll say more about this when I post the PM results later tonight, but the goal is to give more information to readers who might have no problem with any kind of sexual content but prefer to avoid violence - or vice versa. In any event the ratings panel will be looking at whether those content advisories are appropriate.)
So: if any of those sound like your cup of Earl Grey, please send me an email at mefasupportATgmailDOTcom. Even if you’re not sure you can handle it, drop me a line and I’ll be glad to tell you more about what we need.
*****************
One other way to help is with your wallet. The MEFA website relies on having a website, and the company that provides it does like to be paid occasionally. This costs around $10 a month and is our only expense; the rest of the awards run on our volunteer’s talents and elbow grease. I realize that money can be tight these days, and you are certainly free to participate without contributing $$$ toward that particular bill, but we certainly appreciate every donation - if only because every contribution means it’s that much longer before I have to be here again with my hand out. :-)
You can donate here:
I also accept checks and cash if you can’t use PayPal for some reason; email me at mefasupportATgmailDOTcom and I’ll email you my postal address.
Looking forward to working (and playing) with you all in the 2012 MEFAs.
Marta
(MEFA Admin.)