Why the merger of two categories?

[Crothian]

I agree. The instructions on what information is needed and how to submit a fan site was a little lacking. As I said further upthread, I submitted a site (by email) but have no idea if I emailed the right person or even if it was received never mind considered by the judges.

We don't usually discuss what was entered. But in this case yes, your site was entered and the judges did consider it.

 

[Dextra]

I'm enjoying watching this discussion, and am glad there's some debate about whether it is reasonable to impose some sort of barrier to entry in order to whinnow the wheat from the electronic chaff, so to speak.

I think one of the points that I raised earlier hasn't been addressed, though, and I'm interested in your opinion on the matter and some potential solutions.

The Awards cost money- the ceremony and equipment rental, awards, booth dressing, printing... it all adds up. So we have to be constantly on the lookout on how to make and save money. Whether a category is for fans or publishers, it still costs us to run it.

It's thanks to sponsors (which reminds me, let's hear it for Avatar Art for their stepping up to the plate for this year's Awards, not only offering a cash sponsorship, but some prize support) and the donations of product from publishers help keep the wheels turning.

The disposition of the physical product is a large part of making all the effort of the judges worthwhile, and - more importantly to me - raising money. The publisher "donations" of their review products help offset the costs of running the awards. And I'll tell you, a CD of electronic products never fetches as much as money as a book or something more tangible. And a download will generate even less income.

So why should those publishers who are sending in print products (and ,to a lesser extent, CDs) bear the brunt of supporting the awards alone?

 

[Mark]

Oh yeah -- throw in some math, currency conversions, data entry, calculating an average cost based on the country in which each individual judge lives... piece of cake.

People can make purchases or send money through Paypal and all conversions are handled (I believe there are also alternatives to Paypal that do precisely the same) with no effort to the receiver whatsoever.

Yes, the manner in which electronic entries have been handled thus far throughout this millenium.

Wrong. Podcasts were submitted simply as a set of links in 2007. The CD for podcasts system was introduced in 2008.

PDFs in past ENnies were handled by CD submissions. So, podcasts were actually handled sensibly in the past and rather than upgrade the handling of PDFs in the same manner, the way podcasts were handled was downgraded?

So why should those publishers who are sending in print products (and ,to a lesser extent, CDs) bear the brunt of supporting the awards alone?

Indeed. Why should entrants not all shoulder some of the burden collectively through a entry fee system (like so many other similar contests and competitions) when nominees and winners all directly benefit financially and and by gained prestige? Seems to me a simple five dollar fee per entry is precious little to require for process and handling of entries, weeds out those who might simply send in everything they produce on a single CD as a whim, and would help to greatly offset the general costs of the awards.

And, honestly, who could really claim that votes are being bought when everyone pays the same per entry (as per above, print entries receiving a sort of voucher by emailing a scan of a shipping receipt)? Did anyone claim the collective publishers on Your Games Now had bought the awards last year? If anyone had made the claim would they have been taken seriously? That argument has no merit, IMO.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

Last year, the judges simply had links to ALL of the podcasts. This caused some major problems as many of the podcasts had roughly 52 hours of content to attempt to listen to. The only reason that I was able to make my way through the podcasts was the crappy job I had at the time. I was alone for 9+ hours out of the day and the podcasts were the *only* company I had.

Judges that didn't have stupid amounts of podcast time found it difficult to process the podcasts. Do they sample the podcasts? Try to listen to all of the episodes? In the end, many judges got ultra-frustrated and that frustration translated to some podcast hate.

So, this year, we opted for a method that gave podcasters a leg up: Provide your 5 best shows and really *wow* the judges. Guide them to your best products, while ignoring the shows that may be a little lackluster.

It was 100% better than 2007.

 

[Mark]

Do they sample the podcasts? Try to listen to all of the episodes?

A podcast seems more like a product line to me, FWIW. I'd suggest limiting it to one half hour of samples, chosen by the submittor (putting their best foot forward, so to speak [pun intended]) of their best show. Certainly one half hour per entry is no more (in most cases less) than one might expect for products in any category.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

A podcast seems more like a product line to me, FWIW. I'd suggest limiting it to one half hour of samples, chosen by the submittor (putting their best foot forward, so to speak [pun intended]) of their best show. Certainly one half hour per entry is no more (in most cases less) than one might expect for products in any category.

Which is exactly what we did, but we limited it to 5 entire shows. We weren't looking for a highlight reel, but a good look at what each show has to offer.

 

[Mark]

Which is exactly what we did, but we limited it to 5 entire shows.

That limit seem high. That also seems to be the general consensus from some CM posts.

We weren't looking for a highlight reel, but a good look at what each show has to offer.

That's my understanding of what a highlight reel is meant to be. I suppose you could supplement a highlight reel with some random spot checking of what is online just to check for consistency.

 

[Queen_Dopplepopolis]

I don't think it's possible to really sink your, um, ears into a podcast without listening to at least one complete show. So, while fewer podcasts wouldn't necessarily be a *bad* thing, I think that simply having a 30 minute highlight reel would shortchange the p'casters.

In the end, we weren't being annoying for the sake of being annoying. We were establishing a policy and format (archaic or not) to steamline the judging of podcasts because, last year, things didn't go especially smoothly in the category. The ENnies are constantly morphing and changing to reflect the needs of the companies and individuals that wish to participate.

I think it's pretty awesome that the organization is so responsive to the greater gaming community.

 

[Mark]

I don't think it's possible to really sink your, um, ears into a podcast without listening to at least one complete show. So, while fewer podcasts wouldn't necessarily be a *bad* thing, I think that simply having a 30 minute highlight reel would shortchange the p'casters.

In the end, we weren't being annoying for the sake of being annoying. We were establishing a policy and format (archaic or not) to steamline the judging of podcasts because, last year, things didn't go especially smoothly in the category. The ENnies are constantly morphing and changing to reflect the needs of the companies and individuals that wish to participate.

I think it's pretty awesome that the organization is so responsive to the greater gaming community.

No doubt on all counts. I wonder if a multiple choice private poll just for the podcasters could be put together to see if they would feel short changed by a reduction of some sort in the amount of listening for adjudication?

 

[zacharythefirst]

I think everyone wants podcasters to get the best look possible, but that does have to be tempered with time constraints. Me, I listened to the podcasts while doing yardwork, so I didn't mind.

I'm not against the idea of a highlight reel, but I do think it would have to be checked against at least 1 full episode. An edited highlight reel can potentially get rid of dead air, static, drops in sound quality, less exciting lulls in the show, and the like. All of which severely affect how enjoyable a podcast can be, no matter how sparkling & witty the hosts can be at times.