And the winners are…?

Posted on 19. Mar, 2007 by Jonathan Cherry in Advertising

…to be announced on Friday 30 March in Johannesburg.

That’s right – voting for this year’s awards is now complete and we wait for the results.

By all accounts, it has to be said that the exposure for this years awards has been over-whelming…far exceeding any expectations we had when we stuck a virtual hand up to get the ball rolling way back in 2005.

It’s rather nostalgic to go back to Joblog now and read the comment that started it all.
[Ironically it was the SA bloggers dissatisfaction with the set up of the International Bloggies, which gave birth to our own awards.]

There’s obviously been some heated debate around this year’s awards process - all of which is valid opinion and valuable feedback in the ongoing effort to improve the annual event.
The inclusion of a blogger panel to help with the administration of the nominating procedure and to have a say regarding the overall winners, was a controversial one.
The reason behind that decision was to improve the overall representation and fairness in a system, which at the end of the day is there to promote and showcase all individuals who write a blog in South Africa.

The obvious conflict of interest in that choice, was actively minimized by making sure that panel members were not involved in the evaluating of blogs where they may have had a chance of competing in.
Had we known there would be strong objection to that decision – a different plan of action would have been chosen. There was never any intention in that strategy other than to try make the awards as equitable as possible. There would really be little point in staging a public event that was purposefully flawed.

Clearly lessons have been learnt this year which will hopefully go a long way to making the South African Blog Awards even bigger and better going forward.
The awards belong to all South African bloggers [not just a select few] – and therefore all bloggers have the right and need to participate in their functioning to promote and elevate the relevance of independent publishing in South Africa.

That said – the winners (to be announced) are all very deserving. Hopefully the debate does not take away from the sterling work they have delivered this past year.

So – looking forward – the awards evening will be held in Johannesburg on Friday the 30th of March. If you’re a blogger from outside of Gauteng, you’ll obviously be needing to book some kind of air / rail transportation to the event.
If you need somewhere to rest your tired head while up for the awards, please let me know. We’re sure some of the legendary Joburg bloggers are dying to have you join their pyjama after-parties.

10 Responses to “And the winners are…?”

Nic

19. Mar, 2007

I think you have a done a great job in organising this years event (inspite of criticism). The event is a cool one and necessary in many regards. The criticism can only help in bettering the event in the future and you are doing a thankless and commendable job at the end of the day.
Cherryflava

19. Mar, 2007

Thanks Nic.
The Popular Front

19. Mar, 2007

My, what alot of silly bitchyness the awards kicked off. Reminds me of working in the local fashion industry… I think you did a great job of drawing attention to the local blog community and maybe some people should be more grateful for it, or alternatively get off their ass and do something more constructive than moan. To me it makes sense that the people most qualified to judge are other bloggers…
Martin

19. Mar, 2007

“As seen on TV” – haha, loved it.
But seriously, all this moaning and crap just proves one thing: how big a thing it’s become. Respect.
tripeak

19. Mar, 2007

Ditto to Martin’s comment. Still trying to watch the interview – without it being chop-ph-phy So… no auditors from Price Waterhouse Coopers? LOL
Simon

19. Mar, 2007

You have turned these awards into an absolute joke! Something NOT to be taken seriously! Jobs for pals or should I say Blogs for pals.
What an absolute joke all this is!
Idiot!
Wayne

19. Mar, 2007

Simon, could you explain then in a rational way why the awards are so bad or why you regard our views and association with it as a joke.
I have explained on the blog I share part of the mechanics of the judging process in an 18th of March entry. Are you familiar with that while you make your criticisms?
What exactly is wrong there that makes all of us a joke? Why are all the hours of effort and work we put in not worth consideration then?
michelle

20. Mar, 2007

Simon, are you actually Seth, you naughty boy??
B8

21. Mar, 2007

Wayne, WHY do you even share “part of the mechanics” of the judging process????
Why not just stay impartial? Why not stay completely independent of it?
These awards are and always will be a popularity contest. Let the public decide. No other judges are necessary and if they are, then make damn sure that they are 100% impartial and independent.
“What exactly is wrong there that makes all of us a joke? Why are all the hours of effort and work we put in not worth consideration then?” Wayne, stop crying, don’t make me call you an ambulance. BLOGS are not life or death, the world would still continue to exist if this blog or any other stopped today. Get some perspective my friend.
Fabs

21. Mar, 2007

Cherry,
I have been actively involved in this debate and from all that I’ve read, you seem to be the only one in the top ranks (and thank god you are at the very top) to intimate that you have learnt from this ordeal and in future will be running the awards in a different fashion.
As a member of the general public and a writer on my own very-unknown, un-important blog, i would like to relay to you some of my thoughts and suggestions for next year’s competition from the above-mentioned point of view:
I feel incredibly insulted when I hear that certain bloggers’ votes have been given an added weight purely because they are – as it seems – deemed by you or others in the top ranks to be worthy of this position. The idea of a panel just does not seem fair at all when votes are counting.
It is for this reason that I suggest that in the future you cancel the idea of a panel of judges with weighted voting for ALL CATEGORIES EXCEPT that of BEST NEW BLOG. This panel will firstly be made up of the previous year’s nominees for BEST OVERALL BLOG (so that the public can play a role in selecting them). The voting for this will obviously also be public, but I a s member of the public would welcome weighted voting in this category, as I simply do not feel I have the time or energy to sort through ALL the new blogs.
From what i can make out, you all have huge issues concerning those blog-masters with huge readership numbers who send their muppets along to vote for them, swamping out the voters of other blogs in the process. This, as I can see, sets up a (I daresay) Zuma-situation where supporters do not care to surround themselves with all the information regarding all the nominees in the categories before casting their votes. Besides saying “live with it” (as that is unfortunately the case with a free and fair democratic election), I would suggest this:
Create a situation where each voter has to be aware of the other sites before voting. This is simple in an award like “Best Blog Post”, where the voter would simply have to click through an html copy of each post before voting, but I’m sure that if you got creative, you could find a way to make this scenario real with the other categories as well.
Yes, it will most certainly involve a lot more admin for the voter, but wouldn’t you prefer to have 100 knowledgable votes by people who have made a concerted effort as opposed to 1000 votes by people who were simply directed their by their blog-master?
I hope you find these suggestions of value. Congratulations on all the admirable (and unenviable) work you have done so far and voorspoed for the future!

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