2006 ENnies discussion

[Dextra]

Judge selection for the 2006 ENnies will begin very soon. We're still ironing out some details, but I hope that the polls will open October 1st for one week. We're opening up the judge selection earlier this year so that publishers have the option of shipping product directly to the judges as soon as it is released. This will give the judges more time to evaluate each product, and reduce some of their burden come Spring. I'll open up a declaration of candidacy thread later, but I just wanted to give everyone a headsup so they can decide whether they want to throw in their hat. It's a big responsibility, and not one to take lightly, but it has its rewards.

This is not a definitive list of qualifications, but it should help you make up your mind:
-You may not have had anything published during the eligibility period.
-You may not have a professional relationship with any publisher. To clarify: This includes being involved in the publication of a product whether the product was a free one, a charitable one, or whether you were paid for it or not. Exception to this would be involvement in the Ceramic DM product. If you have a relationship with a publisher in which you receive money, product, or special consideration in exchange for your services, you are considered to have a relationship with them that might influence your impartiality, and must not seek judge status. The exception to this is receiving free product in order to review it for a fan site. Being paid for your reviews by a magazine constitutes a professional relationship with a publisher, and could disqualify you.
-You will be asked to sign a non-disclosure agreement, and keep to it.
-You must be prepared to give up countless hours of your life reading hundreds of RPG products.
-You must be able to read, write, and speak English.
-You must be at least 18 years of age as of October 1st, 2005 and able to enter into a legal contract.
-You must be able to commit to daily access to the EN World ENnies boards during the pre-nomination phase (usually the month of June), and maintain regular (at least weekly) access throughout the year.
-If for any reason you are found derelict in your duties, you will be asked to step down and you will bear the responsibility of shipping any product already received to your replacement (although if it is through no fault of your own, say a grave illness or death in immediate family, we can be a little more lax on this front).
-You should have a spare bookcase or some extra space in which to store the huge stacks of gaming material thrown your way.

One judge will be requested to act as Submissions Coordinator. This position entails shipping out product to the other judges (the ENnies pays/reimburses for it, but we need someone - preferably in the USA- who will handle the collection, sorting, packaging and shipping). It's a lot of work, but not entirely thankless. When you declare your candidacy, please specify whether you would agree to take on the additional work.

Chances are if you become a judge, some large, life-changing event will occur. You might get married, move, or have a relative or friend become sick. If you are the kind of person who can perservere and meet your commitment, even through adversity, then I welcome your participation in the process.

Perks and Drawbacks
1. Judges may dispose of received product as they see fit. While they are required to retain the product until the nomination period is complete, once this is done they may sell off, give away, use, or otherwise do what they will with the submitted product.
2. Fame/infamy. The ENnies are the RPG Awards. This bears some responsibility as well as notoriety. While I attempt to shield the judges from publishers, there will always be a few individuals (fans, too) who may belittle you or your choices. A tough skin helps.
3. Gen Con Indy: You get (to share) a free room at Gen Con Indy for 3 nights, and get a 4-day badge. You get free drinks at the ceremony, and VIP seating. You will also be expected to work at least one two-hour shift at the booth. As an official representative of the ENnies, you will be requested to act in a professional and impartial manner, so even your wardrobe choices can be called to question.

That's it for now. More later! Hopefully some of this year's and past years' judges will speak up and share their experiences with us, and help make your decision. You might be interested in reading the following thread for starters:
Crothian (Submissions Coordinator and Judge) Speaks out

 

[shaylon]

Dex, I think this is a great idea. Speaking with Crothian at length about this gave me a good perspective as to how much work this actually is, and the fact that the submissions coordinator is sending stuff all over North America made it more difficult. Crothian was fairly certain that his mailperson had it out for him.

Good luck and I look forward to another great Ennies in '06!

-Shay

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

Dextra you should list the age limit (over 18) in the qualifications, so you don't have a repeat of last year where a canidate had to drop out.

 

[Mark CMG]

Dextra you should list the age limit (over 18) in the qualifications, so you don't have a repeat of last year where a canidate had to drop out.

I believe Mister Kushner had other reasons for dropping out of . . .


Huh?

 

[moritheil]

-You must be able to read, write, and speak English.

Humor deleted. Good luck to all would-be judges!

 

[MavrickWeirdo]

I believe Mister Kushner had other reasons for dropping out of . . .


Huh?

I was refering to this

 

[Dextra]

Dextra you should list the age limit (over 18) in the qualifications, so you don't have a repeat of last year where a canidate had to drop out.

Good point.
Done.

 

[Dextra]

More details on the position

Requirements and Responsibilities of an ENnie Judge
1. You will help the Board of Directors determine and define some of the categories in which products will be judged.
2. You will help the Board of Directors determine the eligibility of products in each category.
3. You will be responsible for the selection of the five finalists in each of the categories. In some cases, you may be responsible for selecting in which category a product is best placed (for example in cases where less than 7 submissions were received in a given category).
4. You will be consulted in aspects of ENnies planning- marketing, planning the ceremony, etc.
5. You must be able to enter into a legal agreement, thus you must be at least 18 years of age as of October 1st, 2005.

-Expect to be deluged with books and other products throughout from November 2005 through June 2006. You are required to evaluate each product, reading it through (or using it in the case of not-book submissions), and judging it fairly.
-Expect to dedicate at least two weeks of full-time reading and another week of deliberation in June.
-ENnie judges may be physically located around the globe. Please be advised that judges will be responsible for paying for any customs/duties on submissions.
-To help defray costs, all judges (except the submissions coordinator) will be expected to contribute $50 each by Gen Con Indy 2006.
-All judges will need to be able to participate in online discussions with the other judges during the deliberation phase. This means you must be able to log on to the ENnies board at least once a day to spend a few hours hashing out decisions with the other judges during the month of June.
-One of the judges in the USA will be required to act as Submissions Coordinator, acting as a central mailing location to which the publishers can ship their submissions. If you volunteer as SC. If you are willing to act as Submissions Coordinator, please state so when you declare your candidacy. When all the judges have been selected, if none of them has declared their intention to act as SC, the judge with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated and replaced with the next highest-vote-receiving candidate who did say they would act as SC.
-Attendance at GenCon Indy is not mandatory, but should you attend, semi-formal attire at the awards ceremony is expected of all staff- judges included. If you avail yourself of the free pass, you will be required to work at least two hours (but no more than 6 hours) throughout the course of the convention at the ENnies booth.
-A judge may not have had an RPG product released during the span of the awards (June 1st 2005-May 31st 2006), regardless of whether it was submitted for consideration or not, whether it was published in a free or charity product or not. Judges may not have a professional relationship with any publisher.

Judge Perks
-a free pass into GenCon Indy
-a space in the ENnies block of hotel rooms for 3 nights
-piles of RPG books and products delivered to your doorstep

Since the ENnies are now open to all gaming systems (not just d20), a knowledge of other systems is mandatory. While it is impossible to expect a judge to enjoy a working understanding of every game system, we do expect judges to take the time to familiarize themselves with the basics of any submitted gaming system so it may be successfully evaluated. Familiarity with multiple systems is highly encouraged.

Although this is a volunteer position, we expect those selected to act responsibly and fairly. Any judge who is found to be cheating/accepting bribes or otherwise sundering the good name of the Awards will be removed and replaced immediately, and will bear the burden of paying for the shipping of the product to their replacement. An ENnie judge has every right to their own opinion, and has the right to express it, but must retain some sense of objectivity and fairness.

 

[Belen]

Hmm...I assume that a Wizards of the Coast Delegate cannot stand for nomination.

 

[Dextra]

Hmm...I assume that a Wizards of the Coast Delegate cannot stand for nomination.

That is correct. Even though you don't get paid in cash, you do get paid in product, and have a duty to promote a publisher, hence have a professional relationship with a publisher.

Of course, you're welcome to encourage WotC to either enter this year or (even better in my mind) act as sponsor.