ENNies 2003 Jugdge Application Discussion/Questions

[ColonelHardisson]

Tch tch, Mr. G-House. Procrastinating til the last week? A word of caution to any applicants who happen to be chosen; do not leave over 80% of your reading until the last week or you will not feel as if you have given the submissions a fair shake.

I think I might have mentioned it before, but last year we got a lot of material rather close to the deadline. It wasn't really us procrastinating, but rather many who were submitting entries.

But, you make a good point. I began reading and evaluating material as soon as I got it. Pacing onself is much better than putting it off.

 

[Mark]

Hey, it wasn't my fault. Most of the material came in the last two weeks!

We were shipped the materials from the UK the first year, but last year it was coordinated in the US, wasn't it? This isn't a slight against the coordinator, but rather the US Post, or whoever carries the products to their final destination. Hopefully the committee will have a longer stretch of time to review them this year. No matter what steps are taken, there is no way to get any of the materials from their rallying point and then magically get them in front of the eyes of the committee members. Or is there...?

Since I am keen on brainstorming solutions, and not just pointing out difficulties, here's one-

I know that the policy in the past was that PDF materials be printed and sent in by the deadline, but if printed electronic materials make it in by the deadline and their accompanying applications are accepted, can PDF publishers send additional copies directly to the committee members to lessen the imapct of the shipping time constraints? Seems like with all of the flak that PDF pubs get, for simply not being print pubs among other reasons, taking advantage of one of the obvious strengths of PDF releases to assist in the committee process would be a fine idea and just makes sense. In this case, it would seem foolish not to get a leg up on the review process by using a PDF as it was intended, apparently, and giving a little credit to it for its PDFness.

Thoughts on this anyone?

 

[ColonelHardisson]

We were shipped the materials from the UK the first year, but last year it was coordinated in the US, wasn't it? This isn't a slight against the coordinator, but rather the US Post, or whoever carries the products to their final destination. Hopefully the committee will have a longer stretch of time to review them this year. No matter what steps are taken, there is no way to get any of the materials from their rallying point and then magically get them in front of the eyes of the committee members. Or is there...?

Since I am keen on brainstorming solutions, and not just pointing out difficulties, here's one-

I know that the policy in the past was that PDF materials be printed and sent in by the deadline, but if printed electronic materials make it in by the deadline and their accompanying applications are accepted, can PDF publishers send additional copies directly to the committee members to lessen the imapct of the shipping time constraints? Seems like with all of the flak that PDF pubs get, for simply not being print pubs among other reasons, taking advantage of one of the obvious strengths of PDF releases to assist in the committee process would be a fine idea and just makes sense. In this case, it would seem foolish not to get a leg up on the review process by using a PDF as it was intended, apparently, and giving a little credit to it for its PDFness.

Thoughts on this anyone?

I really wouldn't blame the postal system either. I think publishers who want to enter something should try to send in the material as early as they can.

 

[Mark]

It wasn't really us procrastinating, but rather many who were submitting entries.

*edit*

I really wouldn't blame the postal system either. I think publishers who want to enter something should try to send in the material as early as they can.

*end edit*

There's a deadline for submissions which includes the materials arriving at the rallying point. If that deadline needs to be earlier, that is a separate issue.

*edit* I do not think "blame" is the right word, really. More of a situation where you need to point up the situation for what it is, and make changes if there is a problem. *end edit*

But, you make a good point. I began reading and evaluating material as soon as I got it. Pacing onself is much better than putting it off.

No doubt.

And before someone brings it up again, I am not in favor of treating PDF materials differently in the ENnies than they are in the market place.

To whit, allow them to rest on their own merits as an option just as any consumer would. Do not segregate them to alternate categories any more than you would segregate a company with a given market share or level of assests. WotC competes with Mystic Eye who competes with CMG and CMG with WotC for customers.

When someone submits a hard cover book, they are not asked to strip the cover off of the book lest it gain an unfair advantage over a soft cover book, are they? And truly, when someone hefts a hard cover book it has a certain effect on the hefter. Let's allow for PDFs to have the same treatment and allow PDFs to be first realized in their electronic format, please.

I think we need to allow all companies and products to compete in the ENnies in the same way they do in the market, IMO.

 

[ColonelHardisson]

There's a deadline for submissions which includes the materials arriving at the rallying point. If that deadline needs to be earlier, that is a separate issue.

*edit* I do not think "blame" is the right word, really. More of a situation where you need to point up the situation for what it is, and make changes if there is a problem. *end edit*

Well, I meant blame in the more general sense, not that I thought anyone was crusading.

The final deadline was something like a week or so before the announcement of nominees. Material was still arriving at the rallying point up to (and sometimes beyond) that last deadline. Lots of material. Making the deadline for entry a month before announcements might make life easier for the judges, but I don't know if Morrus would want to do that.

 

[Mark]

Making the deadline for entry a month before announcements might make life easier for the judges, but I don't know if Morrus would want to do that.

It would seem there is little choice to do otherwise. Let's face it, there's a deadline there at some point, and anything beyond that by a day or a week or a month simply goes into the next year of the ENnies. I would surmise that most publishers would prefer a longer amount of time be given the products for review rather than the process be rushed.

 

[Morrus]

The problem there, of course, is that we end up with an ENnies year which is shorter than previous years. The deadline was July 1st last year, but with the (slightly) earlier Gen Con, it will obviously have to be earlier this year. If it was pulled back to, say, June 1st, I guess that wouldn't be so bad.

One awkward point is that the Gen Con program wil be finalised by May 2nd this year, and it would have been cool to actually have a list of nominees in there. But to do that, we'd have to have an entry deadline of, say, April 1st - which makes only a 9-month ENnies year.

That said, I do want to set a standard deadline which is the same *every* year, and perhaps April 1st would be a good date. it does mean one short ENnies year, but from then on everyone would have plenty of time receiving, reading and nominatijng entries each year (unless Adkison suddenly decides to move Gen Con to May...)

 

[Mark]

The problem there, of course, is that we end up with an ENnies year which is shorter than previous years. The deadline was July 1st last year, but with the (slightly) earlier Gen Con, it will obviously have to be earlier this year. If it was pulled back to, say, June 1st, I guess that wouldn't be so bad.

One awkward point is that the Gen Con program wil be finalised by May 2nd this year, and it would have been cool to actually have a list of nominees in there. But to do that, we'd have to have an entry deadline of, say, April 1st - which makes only a 9-month ENnies year.

That said, I do want to set a standard deadline which is the same *every* year, and perhaps April 1st would be a good date. it does mean one short ENnies year, but from then on everyone would have plenty of time receiving, reading and nominatijng entries each year (unless Adkison suddenly decides to move Gen Con to May...)

I'm not sure I understand the need for it to be an exact set date for all years, rather than a standrad period of time. IMO, it might make more sense to have the deadline one month and one week prior to the first day of Gencon. It floats but it will always be the same amount of time, will always leave one month for reviewing materials and one week for voting. Gencon is likely to move a bit from year to year, and that's just the nature of it. I think the important thing is to standardize the amount of time that products get reviewed, regardless of how long that leaves a year (it's give or take only a bit anyway.) *shrug*

 

[GruTheWanderer]

Here's a thought...category judging? Maybe as the Ennies grow, it might be useful to have judges only actually judge a few categories. This would allow the individual categories to get more careful consideration (and I'm not implying that they haven't in the past). It would also allow for more participation. The Ennies are unique because the fans recognize quality in the d20 game industry. More fans=more representative.

There's a lot to be said for this. Similar to the way academic conferences do peer review of papers. There's a few overall reviewers who help set the trends, oversee the quality of the various categories, and then reviewers in individual categories. Most would never be willing to review 500 papers (typical number of submissions), but would gladly review a smaller number.

WanderingMonster's point about demographics is also well taken. Speaking as one of the married guys with children whose entire gaming group is married.

Derek

 

[Krug]

I agree that category judging will be the way to go. No time to implement it for this year?