"Rose and Bay Award" Landing Page
Welcome to the official landing page for the Rose and Bay Award, which honors excellence in creative crowdfunding. This page gathers together important information about the award, its functions, and its participants.
What Is the Rose and Bay Award?
The Rose and Bay Award was launched by ysabetwordsmith (Elizabeth Barrette) in January 2009, and quickly gained additional volunteers. This award focuses on a growing business model known as "crowdfunding" or "cyberfunded creativity," which directly connects creative people and patrons of the arts online. This award recognizes exemplary projects and enthusiastic patrons. It currently features five categories: Art, Fiction, Poetry, Other Project, and Patron. (Other Project includes any cyberfunded creativity that isn't art, fiction, or poetry -- or that spans more than one category.)
The award period for eligible activities spans January 1-December 31, 2009.
The nomination period spans January 1-January 31, 2010.
The voting period spans February 1-February 28, 2010.
Images for promoting the award are here. These include LJ icons, Nominee badges, buttons, and banners.
Award Rules
1) In order for a project to be nominated in the Art, Fiction, Poetry, or Other Project categories:
2) In order for a person to be nominated in the Patron category,
4) For the 2009 round, nominations will be made in comments to each category's nomination post. (Links to the nomination posts appear above.) A nomination consists of the project title, creator name, award category, a link to the project page, and a sentence or few summarizing the project and its crowdfunding approach. Example:
Project Title: "Awesome Content"
Creator Name: A.J. Muse
Link: http://awe.some.content.com
Category: Other Project.
Summary: "Awesome Content" is a story about A.J. Muse's three ferrets, told in a combination of music and fiction, illustrated by photos; it is funded by a combination of donations and photo sales."
5) You may nominate a maximum of three projects per category. You are not required to make that many nominations or to cover all the categories. You may not nominate your own project, nor yourself as patron; that's tacky.
6) Nominations for each category will be collected by the handler of that category. (See list of handlers above.)
7) Voters are strongly encouraged to browse the nominees before making a final decision; that's what the links are for, and the purpose of this award is to promote the splendor of crowdfunded projects.
8) Voting will take place via LiveJournal polling in the crowdfunding community, open to all. You may cast one vote per category. (There may need to be more than one poll question per category, and runoffs, if the number of nominees is high. LJ has a limit to how many options there can be per question in a poll.) You may not vote for your own project, nor yourself as a patron; that's tacky.
9) Winners will be announced after the polling is completed. The winner of each category will receive a "Rose and Bay Award" certificate in recognition of their achievement.
2010 Rose and Bay Awards
The categories appear below with their 2010 handlers, links to the earlier nomination and voting pages, and winners:
Art: handled by ysabetwordsmith -- Voting Page, Nomination Page.
Best Art Project 2010: " Tod's Icon Days" by djinni (Tod)
"For months now, Tod has been offering free social-networking icons to people; he draws as many as he has time for, but if donations reach a certain cap he does all the requests. While other artists do icon days, Tod's was the first I ever saw; his Icon Days are frequent, he does hundreds of icons and he finishes them all in a timely fashion... and then turns around and does it again! His art is warm and bright and engaging and deserves more attention."
Fiction: handled by ysabetwordsmith -- Voting Page, Nomination Page.
Best Fiction Project 2010: "Daron's Guitar Chronicles" by ceciliatan (Cecilia Tan)
"Daron’s Guitar Chronicles tells the story of a young musician who arrives at music school in the mid-1980s, desperate to leave behind a dysfunctional family in New Jersey’s suburbs and discover himself. It was the advent of MTV, AIDS, and punk versus metal, all of which would affect him on his journey searching for fame, artistic expression, and the courage to seek out the sex and love he needs."
Poetry: handled by xjenavivex -- Voting Page, Nomination Page.
Best Poetry Project 2010: " Poetry Fishbowl Project" by ysabetwordsmith (Elizabeth Barrette)
"The Poetry Fishbowl begins with a theme; audience members give prompts and the poet writes poems based on those ideas. Patrons may sponsor a whole poem for publication, or donate to the general fund which goes toward whatever poetry the audience selects in a poll."
Other Project: handled by ysabetwordsmith -- Voting Page, Nomination Page.
Best Other Project 2010: "Little Tales" little_tales by gen (Genesis Eve Whitmore)
"Little Tales" is a furry webcomic. Updates are posted three days a week with slice-of-life strips on Monday and Friday and a retelling of the classic G.K. Chesterton story, The Man Who Was Thursday, on Wednesdays. (Ah, the irony! ;) The first year of strips has been collected into a printed volume and is available for purchase from the artist."
Patron: handled by xjenavivex-- Voting Page, Nomination Page.
Best Patron 2010: haikujaguar M.C.A. Hogarth for her support of the " Poetry Fishbowl Project"
"(She) cosponsored several poems during 2009. My main reason for nominating her is that she really launched the idea of crowdfunding individual poems by rounding up a total of 11 cosponsors for "Where Have All the Heroes Gone?" / "Different Gifts" ... thus demonstrating that a patron's influence isn't always limited by the size of their own budget."
Special Thanks To ...
The following people have volunteered their ideas, time, services, goods, and other resources to make the Rose and Bay Award successful. Please give them a round of applause.
jenny_evergreen for proposing the Patron category and the hardcopy certificates
siege for proposing the name "Rose and Bay"
haikujaguar for offering the black-and-white "Rose and Bay" logo
xjenavivex for handling the Poetry and Patron categories
valdary for offering several different versions of a full-color LJ icon
zyngasvryka for connecting with Dave Kirby of Ace Awards, and other promotional ideas
karen_wehrstein for connecting with Dave Kirby of Ace Awards, and colorizing the black-and-white logo
Dave Kirby of Ace Awards for offering to create and donate plaques for the category winners ... ooo, shiny!
Features in Progress
Some additional things have been proposed and are currently being pursued. We hope these will come together, but they aren't finished yet.
How You Can Help
As a new award, Rose and Bay depends on everyone's participation and enthusiasm to make it a success. Here are some ways you can help that happen:
What Is the Rose and Bay Award?
The Rose and Bay Award was launched by ysabetwordsmith (Elizabeth Barrette) in January 2009, and quickly gained additional volunteers. This award focuses on a growing business model known as "crowdfunding" or "cyberfunded creativity," which directly connects creative people and patrons of the arts online. This award recognizes exemplary projects and enthusiastic patrons. It currently features five categories: Art, Fiction, Poetry, Other Project, and Patron. (Other Project includes any cyberfunded creativity that isn't art, fiction, or poetry -- or that spans more than one category.)
The award period for eligible activities spans January 1-December 31, 2009.
The nomination period spans January 1-January 31, 2010.
The voting period spans February 1-February 28, 2010.
Images for promoting the award are here. These include LJ icons, Nominee badges, buttons, and banners.
Award Rules
1) In order for a project to be nominated in the Art, Fiction, Poetry, or Other Project categories:
- It must be "cyberfunded creativity" aka "crowdfunding." That means it must be creative material marketed directly to an audience online, with money involved somehow. There are many variations of this business model; all are welcome; and if you're not sure a project qualifies, you may ask.
- At least part of the project must be visible online without charge. If the project is normally visible only to paying subscribers or the like, and the creator wishes for it to be eligible, then s/he may offer temporary or partial access for voting purposes. (If the available material is temporary and/or partial, it needs to say that at the top of the screen, to avoid annoying visitors who might otherwise think they're about to see a complete piece.)
2) In order for a person to be nominated in the Patron category,
- The person must have made a financial contribution to a creative project. This distinguishes patrons of the arts from the general audience. However, money is not the only consideration: Patrons may also be admired for their feedback, word of mouth promotion, suggested improvements to crowdfunding models, taste in items sponsored items, etc. -- and these are good ways to choose between patrons if you're not sure which to pick.
- The receiving project must qualify as "cyberfunded creativity" aka "crowdfunding." That means it must be creative material marketed directly to an audience online, with money involved somehow. There are many variations of this business model; all are welcome; and if you're not sure a project qualifies, you may ask.
4) For the 2009 round, nominations will be made in comments to each category's nomination post. (Links to the nomination posts appear above.) A nomination consists of the project title, creator name, award category, a link to the project page, and a sentence or few summarizing the project and its crowdfunding approach. Example:
Project Title: "Awesome Content"
Creator Name: A.J. Muse
Link: http://awe.some.content.com
Category: Other Project.
Summary: "Awesome Content" is a story about A.J. Muse's three ferrets, told in a combination of music and fiction, illustrated by photos; it is funded by a combination of donations and photo sales."
5) You may nominate a maximum of three projects per category. You are not required to make that many nominations or to cover all the categories. You may not nominate your own project, nor yourself as patron; that's tacky.
6) Nominations for each category will be collected by the handler of that category. (See list of handlers above.)
7) Voters are strongly encouraged to browse the nominees before making a final decision; that's what the links are for, and the purpose of this award is to promote the splendor of crowdfunded projects.
8) Voting will take place via LiveJournal polling in the crowdfunding community, open to all. You may cast one vote per category. (There may need to be more than one poll question per category, and runoffs, if the number of nominees is high. LJ has a limit to how many options there can be per question in a poll.) You may not vote for your own project, nor yourself as a patron; that's tacky.
9) Winners will be announced after the polling is completed. The winner of each category will receive a "Rose and Bay Award" certificate in recognition of their achievement.
2010 Rose and Bay Awards
The categories appear below with their 2010 handlers, links to the earlier nomination and voting pages, and winners:
Art: handled by ysabetwordsmith -- Voting Page, Nomination Page.
Best Art Project 2010: " Tod's Icon Days" by djinni (Tod)
"For months now, Tod has been offering free social-networking icons to people; he draws as many as he has time for, but if donations reach a certain cap he does all the requests. While other artists do icon days, Tod's was the first I ever saw; his Icon Days are frequent, he does hundreds of icons and he finishes them all in a timely fashion... and then turns around and does it again! His art is warm and bright and engaging and deserves more attention."
Fiction: handled by ysabetwordsmith -- Voting Page, Nomination Page.
Best Fiction Project 2010: "Daron's Guitar Chronicles" by ceciliatan (Cecilia Tan)
"Daron’s Guitar Chronicles tells the story of a young musician who arrives at music school in the mid-1980s, desperate to leave behind a dysfunctional family in New Jersey’s suburbs and discover himself. It was the advent of MTV, AIDS, and punk versus metal, all of which would affect him on his journey searching for fame, artistic expression, and the courage to seek out the sex and love he needs."
Poetry: handled by xjenavivex -- Voting Page, Nomination Page.
Best Poetry Project 2010: " Poetry Fishbowl Project" by ysabetwordsmith (Elizabeth Barrette)
"The Poetry Fishbowl begins with a theme; audience members give prompts and the poet writes poems based on those ideas. Patrons may sponsor a whole poem for publication, or donate to the general fund which goes toward whatever poetry the audience selects in a poll."
Other Project: handled by ysabetwordsmith -- Voting Page, Nomination Page.
Best Other Project 2010: "Little Tales" little_tales by gen (Genesis Eve Whitmore)
"Little Tales" is a furry webcomic. Updates are posted three days a week with slice-of-life strips on Monday and Friday and a retelling of the classic G.K. Chesterton story, The Man Who Was Thursday, on Wednesdays. (Ah, the irony! ;) The first year of strips has been collected into a printed volume and is available for purchase from the artist."
Patron: handled by xjenavivex-- Voting Page, Nomination Page.
Best Patron 2010: haikujaguar M.C.A. Hogarth for her support of the " Poetry Fishbowl Project"
"(She) cosponsored several poems during 2009. My main reason for nominating her is that she really launched the idea of crowdfunding individual poems by rounding up a total of 11 cosponsors for "Where Have All the Heroes Gone?" / "Different Gifts" ... thus demonstrating that a patron's influence isn't always limited by the size of their own budget."
Special Thanks To ...
The following people have volunteered their ideas, time, services, goods, and other resources to make the Rose and Bay Award successful. Please give them a round of applause.
jenny_evergreen for proposing the Patron category and the hardcopy certificates
siege for proposing the name "Rose and Bay"
haikujaguar for offering the black-and-white "Rose and Bay" logo
xjenavivex for handling the Poetry and Patron categories
valdary for offering several different versions of a full-color LJ icon
zyngasvryka for connecting with Dave Kirby of Ace Awards, and other promotional ideas
karen_wehrstein for connecting with Dave Kirby of Ace Awards, and colorizing the black-and-white logo
Dave Kirby of Ace Awards for offering to create and donate plaques for the category winners ... ooo, shiny!
Features in Progress
Some additional things have been proposed and are currently being pursued. We hope these will come together, but they aren't finished yet.
- Award plaques
- "I Nominated..!" buttons
- Blog badges, icons, etc. made from the "Rose and Bay"
logo ( DONE)
How You Can Help
As a new award, Rose and Bay depends on everyone's participation and enthusiasm to make it a success. Here are some ways you can help that happen:
- Make some nominations. Leave yours in a comment to "nomination open" post of the appropriate category. (See list above.)
- Mark the voting period on your calendar. Make sure you come back to crowdfunding in February to cast your votes.
- Promote the Rose and Bay Award by blogging about it, emailing your friends, posting it on social networks, or any other method you can imagine. Everyone is encouraged to spread the word as far as possible whether you are a creator of crowdfunded projects, a patron of the arts, or a curious onlooker. You may link to this landing page and/or the "nomination open" posts for individual categories.
- If you're a patron or audience member, highlight your favorite cyberfunded projects from 2009 and direct people back to the award. You may link to this landing page and/or the "nomination open" posts for individual categories. Are you following other patrons whose tastes match your own to see what they sponsor or recommend? Mention them too! This makes it easier for people to find eligible nominees.
- If you're a creative person, let your audience and patrons know which of your projects are eligible for the Rose and Bay Award, including a link to the relevant nomination page(s). You may link to this landing page and/or the "nomination open" posts for individual categories. Do you have an "honor wall" or other place acknowledging your patrons? Mention that too! Let your fans know there is a way for them to honor your project and the patrons who make it possible.
- If you're not a member of crowdfunding yet, consider joining. We welcome new members who are patrons of the arts, producers of crowdfunded projects, or curious onlookers. This is a good place to network and find out what's happening in the wonderful world of cyberfunded creativity.
- Add "crowdfunding," "cyberfunded creativity," and/or "weblit" to your Interests. This makes it easier for creative people and potential fans to find each other.
- Place an appropriate image on your website; there are general ones for promoting the Rose and Bay Awards plus special Nominee badges.