A voting State of the Union
Okay - i could just say "There's four more days left to get those votes in", but i'm sure people are tired of posts like that - so instead, today i'm going to offer up some observations.
As i've said before, i picked up the task of keeping the awards going when they were dropped by the previous organizer since i believe they have merit and it's a tradition worth upholding. They should be a celebration and a fond look back at the previous year.
At the same time, i know that there are those who don't view the awards as positively. As with any type of award ceremony, there will always be those who feel that they are popularity contests and that the same names always pop up over and over. Even though i believe in the awards enough to oversee them, i'm also fully sympathetic to those views as well since i've shared similar concerns in past years.
So what changes someone like me from one side of the fence to the other? Because when i read an outstanding piece of fan-fic, view an inspiring piece of art, laugh hysterically at a post, see a well-written post that exemplifies Muppet fandom, see people sharing in their love and thoughs and appreciation, i see lots of wonderful moments that should be recognized. I've said before that award ceremonies are often ultimately what people choose to make them - if people want to see them as popularity contests then that's what happens because those holding on to those views don't participate.
As things stand right now, four days before the close of voting, when one compares the list of current frontrunners with a historical look at the awards, there are quite a large number of names that have won a significant amount of awards in the past.
Is that a "bad thing?" Some may think so - those who've held concerns about seeing the same names over and over again through the years may find themselves not as excited about things this year if they don't see a deviation in that pattern.
Myself, i don't see it as good or bad. Each award ceremony represents a particular year and i don't feel there should be any kind of cap or limit to the number of awards one can win or the number of times they can win it since the forum is home to many longtime members who not only make valuable contribution year after year but often get better and are more valuable to the overall forum's success precisely because of their years of participation. One's past successes or honors in 2009, 2008, or 2004 shouldn't have any bearing on their eligibilty in 2010. (The only exception to this would be the Lifetime Acheivement Award which by nature should only be won by a single person once...though it took a first few years for that to be picked up on!)
Let me be clear:
Whoever wins each award fully deserves it regardless of whether it's the first or the 25th time they've won something. I hope everyone will share in the celebration of honoring this year's winners circle (along with all the nominated people as well) rather than flooding the board with complaints about how things went.
If there's a point i'm getting to it's this - if one has concerns about how the awards go or anything doing with their distribution, they should actively do something about it beforehand when they have an active chance to make a difference about the very thing they have concerns about rather than complain after the fact since i can essentially guarentee that those who may be the first to complain or bring the awards down will be those who didn't vote in the first place.
This post is not to be construed or interpreted as my telling anyone how to vote or as an endorsement of any nominees over another. This is rather a series of observations that each person may draw from them as they wish and a reinforcement about how and why more votes are needed and appreciated during the last four days. Because forums such as this are enriched by the diversity of its membership, that same diversity will ensure that not everyone will share in the same feelings about the awards and indeed there will be those whose feelings won't change regardless of anything anyone says or does and that's okay. But at the same time, there are many who may be apt to view the awards negatively and be tempted to complain about them who never even tried to have a positive impact on shaping or fixing the very things they complain about. I want these to be a positive thing and a true celebration at the end of the day and in that spirit, i invite everyone who may be more likely to want to see them as anything negative to share in the process of helping shape them for the better and more closely match what they feel they should be.
Votes are due by this Saturday.
mcforumvotingbooth@hotmail.com
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