Wampum

i just want to say, i think that being a finalist for the 2006 weblog awards should factor in heavily in getting a nomination for a koufax.

really heavily.

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MBW said:I'd like to see a category added for Bloggers of Color, and/or bloggers who deal specifically with issues relating to "the Other"
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excellent idea,Best Native American

Gee, Dirk...what, for the like, five of us out there... Oops, forgot. Wampum is not eligible. Four, then. ;-)

It's a tough call. Some categories defy narrowing down to one selection, such as 'best post' or 'best series'. In such cases, I wish two or three or four or five could all be declared winners. The distinctions between Great and Greatest are often lost on me.

I agree with your suggested category, Mary Beth, and have wrestled with how to define it succinctly every time I build a blogroll. I recently decided to group bloggers together who discuss racial perspectives and experiences, or LGBT ones, or feminism, or advocacy for the disabled, under the category of 'Human Equality' blogs. Maybe that would work for what your aim is, as well.

Beyond that, some ideas:

1) On even-numbered years, one or two categories specifically election-related. Like 'Best National Election Analysis', 'Best State Election Analysis', or 'Best Proactive Election Innovations'.

2) Rather than 'Best Single Issue' blog, can that be broken out a little, such as 'Best Single Legal or Political Policy Area blog', plus Best Best Scientific or Single Academic Topic blog? It can be very difficult, presently, for example, to compare Talk Left to Pharyngula, or a Health Blog or an Economics blog. I'm not really sure how to break that up into two or three categories, but I think it could make decisionmaking easier.

Just some ideas. I'm wedded to none of them. Sometimes my brainstorms are partial showers.

I also want to throw out (though mostly to Dwight and Eric, though everyone's welcome to comment) that perhaps this year, we should spread the love around a bit, and put a one year moratorium on last year's winners being nominated again (for that category.) I know we've discussed this in previous years, but never acted on it. What do you think?

I don't like this idea. A blogger like David Neiwert makes great series every year, and richly deserved the two first awards for Best Series.
However, I would say that there could be some merit to saying that awards for overall work (best blog, best community, best expert etc.) rather than specific work (best series, best post etc.) could lead to a one year moratorium, but I think it would be unfair to introduce this rule for this year's award. Instead it should apply to this year's winners.

MBW said"

Gee, Dirk...what, for the like, five of us out there... Oops, forgot. Wampum is not eligible. Four, then. ;-)

Posted by: MBW | December 16, 2006 10:29 PM
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actually there are many native blogs or blogs that discuss native/indigenous issues.And why not,no body else is even thinking of promoting Native Blogs,why not Koufax Awards for progressive blogs
I was just suggesting a theme based on your idea for bloggers of color or other(and besides there is an award for Black Blogs already out there in the blog sphere).sorry for bothering you,perhaps I will explore the issue more on my own,see if there is any interest out there.
I just figured Koufax Awards were all ready established,and respected.As one who appreciates the Awards why not suggest a few new categories(for consideration)anyway...

Dirk, I was actually trying to be funny, hence the smiley at the end.

In all seriousness, though, yes, I think there needs to be a Bloggers of Color category, but I really don't want to narrow it down so much to one ethnicity, even my own.

I'd like to see a "Best Headlines" category, because I think I'd win. :>

I do like the idea of a one-year moratorium after winning one of the major categories, just because it gives other bloggers a more open field. And since the stated purpose of the Koufax awards is to expose people to more blogs, it works nicely toward that end.

Good idea to put a moratorium on previous winners. I go further than that and would say that once a blog or blogger wins a Koufax, they can't be nominated again.

It's time to broaden the awards instead of having little more than a clique.

OH YEAH! Best Native American blog! With only 4 or 5 of us, eventually I will win... LOL

I like the bloggers of color category. Can we nominate more than one blog in each category? I'll have a hard time narrowing it down to just one for POC blogs.

I like the idea of a moratorium on previous winners, permanently, with one exception. A new category for The Must Read Blog. That one can be the popularity contest. Maybe you can think of a better title for it, but I bet everyone has one blog that they must read everyday.

Again, I would say that awards for individual works (best series, best post etc.) should be possible, even if the author have won the year before.

The Koufax awards is about spreading the love, but it's also a showcase of the best work the progressive blogsphere has to offer, and I think that it would be sad if a great individual work doesn't get showed off, because the author has won before.

When it comes to awards for the body of works, I think the idea has merit, but I still think that it shouldn't be effective before after this award.

you know we don't do the nominating right? you may want to undertake that bit of heavy lifting on your own, or having one of your bouncy marsupial interns staff the task.

without being snarky, what makes you think i was talking to you specifically? seriously, i placed that out there for all blogtopias (and yes, i coined that phrase) to read for when it came time to nominate. i didn't think anyone at wampum would take it personally or seriously.

actually, it was more of a joke than anything.

and they say the left has no sense of humor.

skippy, i think eric was also being a bit snarky. as his sense of humor is a tad (understatement) on the dry side, much gets lost in byte translation.

The one really positive thing about the Weblog Awards (which are otherwise mostly a wingnuttapalooza) is the 'weight class' categories--the categories for specific levels of linkage/traffic. In the Koufax Awards, it seems just about everyone at the lower end of the food chain is competing for Most Deserving of Wider Recognition...and only blogs that are already pretty widely-recognized (which may well be most deserving of wider recognition) have a shot. So what about a 'small blogs' category (defined by some arbitrary traffic/linkage level, say), to promote good work that really hasn't hit the radar?

(And yes, there is some self-interest in this suggestion. Still.)

I'll second the call for a Canadian category - even though I'm biased.

I really like the idea of a "Human Equality" category, though I am afraid that the feminist blogs would sweep the board - blogs like Pandagon, Shakespeare's Sister, Feministe, Bitch PhD, etc., are so well-known compared to blogs that deal with other equality-related matters, e.g., racism, xenophobia, homophobia, etc.

Also, Single Issue and Best Expert have always seen a big overlap. I'd like to see something like "Best Scholarly Blog" for academics, law, history, philosophy, etc., and "Best Reality-Based Blog" for science, medicine, environment, skepticism and skeptical analysis of religion. That way Juan Cole and PZ Myers can each win one category LOL!

A one-year cooling-off rule for overall categories (but not posts/series) is fine with me. A way to set a precise criterion for who is "Deserving of Wider Recognition" is also a good idea as I agree that some quite well-known and respected blogs tend to win that category.

I agree that Weblog Awards-style "weight classes" would be nice, and that there ought to be *some* year-off-from-hogging-the-win kind of measures in place to spread the love.

Maybe past winners who have been benched ought to be assigned to generate some new categories for Koufaxes during their off years.

I like the idea of some of the new categories, especially the ones that highlight bloggers of color or who deal with issues related to that sort of thing... mainly because of all the "It's just that people of color are too poor to blog" type stuff that comes up every time there are conversations about exclusion.

Also, for the past winners, maybe have the main award thing for newer blogs or ones that haven't won before, and then one category for "Best of the Past Winners" or something like that, where people can nominate ongoing excellent work.

I expanded my thought a little (and aske dmy readers to come hit the PayPal button here) in this post.

i'm amused by the "why one, there are 200" comment, simply because i am offering to operate the national registry for the .um cctld, serving the population, some of whom might be blog writers, and some of whom might be blog readers, residing on wake island, johnston atoll, midway atoll, kingman reef, palmyra atoll, jarvis island, baker island, howland island, and in the carribian, navassa island. At last count, their populations were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0 and 0. which sums to 0. granted, these are all environmentally protected areas (national wildlife refuges) under the jurisdiction of the united states, and a statistical designation created by the iso3166-1 maintainer, formerly the din.de, now iso.org, not a "country" ...

writing (well, "blogging"), by progressives (whatever that means) ... for progressives (whoever they are) ...

i hope each year we will get closer to the point at which, like radio biling�e, and the press/la press bilingual/bilangue, we'll have progressive blog writers and progressive blog readers in the major languages of north ameria -- english, spanish, and french.

i am not insular. i've lived in, written in, and continue to read, works that are euro-centric, and for that matter, "global", as in atmospheric carbon loading, though mostly at draftgore. however, i'm also profoundly discomforted by "progress" that is linguistically defined. ... i've lived in segregated struggling to integrate, or divide, belgium, and i've lived in segregated california, and "english only" is something i've decided i've outgrown.

it means surrendering control, surrendering privilege, because i can't read american spanish with any real facility or ease, so i'd like to see someone who does have that skill join us in the grunt work. i can do american french.

so i favor "canada", as "progressives" within the nafta box can't really be "progressive" if they are isolated by nationalisms, but not just english-canada, and recognize that without a "canada" (or canada-en/canada-fr) category, those writers and readers will be lost in the larger united states pool of writers and reader.

more importantly, in my opinion, is "blogs in spanish".

yes virginia, there is always an england, and there is a "special relationship", but london is far, and and texas is stranger.

I don't know about England -- I learn an enormous amount by reading a variety of Brit blogs. Those folks are as afflicted by Blair as we are by GWB and perhaps face an even worse attack on the very notion of civil rights and liberties than we do. Of course, they suffer from their own imperial residue as well. Anyway, I think we'd all gain from doing a UK blog category. I could nominate several easily.

On the other hand, I realize I am proposing that somebody else do work and that violates my own ethical standards. Thanks for all you do.

Smashed Frog hits on many political fronts.

Road to Second Chance and Ain't No Senator's Son are blogs second to none.
to none.

Well worth Koufax Awards.

This "Smashed Frog" gal can write.

http://smashedfrog.blogspot.com

If the newbies don't get recognition, why should the old school blogs continue to do their best with the knowledge tha they are the best?

With the best and the brightest hot on their trail-yet unacknowleged-why even should those blogs who blazed the trail continue to aspire for exellence?

Moratorium for nominations? YES!

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